A Meeting of the Minds

NEW YORK – Every summer associate rotating through the Litigation Department gets the opportunity to “shadow” a case—to attend all meetings, hearings, and phone calls that are relevant to a single matter. Since most summers jump from assignment to assignment to experience a diverse breadth of practice areas, case shadowing is a great way to experience the progression of a legal matter. For the past six weeks, I have sat in on internal discussions regarding a significant and high-profile U.S. bankruptcy.

The issues are both complex and fascinating, but the main appeal for me has been the opportunity to take a focused look at how Weil attorneys work as a team. Last week, I attended a strategy session with eleven different attorneys. It was the largest work meeting that I have experienced thus far. Having worked with almost everyone at the table, I knew the two partners leading the discussion had markedly different styles of lawyering, so I was curious to see how they would work together. They complemented each other seamlessly; in fact, there was an undercurrent of respect in the room that seemed to move the conversation along. What was even more impressive to me was that the same was true for when the most junior attorneys presented. Before I entered the Litigation Department, I had the sense that the work was more self-motivated than team-oriented. Seeing so many attorneys form a plan of attack together was both refreshing and inspiring.