It had been about three years since I started working for the company and I just expressed interest in taking on more responsibility to my manager. She said, “then stop brining me problems and start brining me solutions.” Her advice has served me well. So, I will pass the same advice along to you. Do not bring problems to a partner; that is why partners have clients. Bring them solutions. As a freshly made lawyer, your job is to provide answers both to clients and to your supervisor. Any reasonable partner will understand that you will not always have the answers. But that does not mean you have to provide them with more problems to solve.
From my experience, providing solutions demonstrates that you have critical thinking, resourcefulness, and respect for others time. When encountering a tricky legal issue, conundrums on a brief, or an apparent dead end during research, try to avoid telling your supervisor “I couldn’t find anything.” Avoid giving them one more problem to solve. The partner has enough problems. Instead, a better approach I have found is one of action. Clearly outlining the search terms and databases you used, summarizing the secondary authorities or persuasive case law you did find, and pitching a well-reasoned potential solution or alternative direction will be much more helpful.
Developing this habit early transforms how supervising attorneys perceive your contribution to a case. Even if your proposed solution is ultimately modified or outright rejected (if it is halfway reasonable it will not be outright rejected), taking the initiative to map out potential paths forward shows that you are actively engaging with the client’s broader strategic goals rather than just executing tasks passively. By taking an active investment in the problem at hand, you will be able to serve the partner and client much better. As an added benefit, this active approach also signals professional maturity and builds the trust necessary to earn more complex, high-level assignments down the road.
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