Stephen Poor Quoted in The American Lawyer

The August issue of The American Lawyer highlights the annual mid-level associate surveys. For two decades, The American Lawyer has surveyed midlevel associates about their attitudes on everything from pay to partners. During that time, the business of law has changed dramatically. Firms are much bigger, and the financial stakes are higher. But the striking thing about the midlevels survey is how little the scores have changed. The frustrations of 1986 are very similar to the ones experienced in 2006.

Granted, there have been major changes for associates, too. Partners say associates in 2006 receive far less individual mentoring than they did when they were midlevels. And more work is expected of associates in a shorter time. Those changes, however, have done little to budge the way that associates feel. Regardless of generation, midlevels face the same questions at this point in their careers: Will they stay on to become partners? Do they enjoy working with clients? Are they prepared to make the sacrifices necessary for a successful legal career, especially when it comes to their personal lives?

"The fundamentals haven't changed. You're at a stage where you're making some key decisions and trying to figure out how career demands fit with the rest of your life," says J. Stephen Poor, chairman of Seyfarth Shaw."