Every year we take measure of the mood of midlevel associates as if we were taking the temperature of babies. We chart the small rises and falls, trying to decipher the concerns of the next generation. Are young lawyers less dour and more hopeful this year? If so, are firms finally doing something right? Or is it just the economic climate?
I don’t get what “satisfaction” for associates means. From where I sit, as both a former lawyer (I quit practice as a fifth-year associate) and as a spectator of the profession, being an associate has always seemed fraught with anxiety and confusion.
