Coming to the law later in life: working with second-career lawyers.

• Author: Engel, Eric Paul

When it comes to first-year associates, the image of fresh-faced, inexperienced mid-twentysomethings who went straight from undergrad to law school typically comes to mind. But the fact is, over the past five years, between 6 and 20 percent of students in law schools are either over 40 years of age or have had at least one career before entering law school, according to a 2007 article in the National Law Journal.

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The growing number of Americans over 40 embarking on second (or perhaps third) careers as lawyers can disrupt traditional socialization and management structures at law firms. While much has been written and discussed about the differences among the generations currently in the workforce--Millennials vs. Baby Boomers vs. Gen Xers vs. Traditionalists--the presence of second-career lawyers can throw these types of assumptions based on physical age into a tailspin [see "Technology and Different Generations Cause Shifts in Law Firm Dynamics," March 2009, p. 10].

Law firm marketers need to be aware of the differences between 45-year-old, first-year associates and their 25-year-old counterparts. Fortunately, these very differences can offer opportunities for the marketing department. Their unique experiences can offer law firm marketers the chance to create fresh business development strategies. And if a firm wishes to brand its culture as one that embraces diversity of all kinds, its recruiting Web page and marketing materials should reflect its willingness to hire recent law school graduates who are older.

Socialization Out of Order

Our culture's tendency to assume certain patterns and behaviors according to someone's chronological generation overlooks newly minted, second-career lawyers. They may be the same age as senior partners, yet they espouse attitudes toward work habits and technology that parallel those of their academic peers; that is, the people with whom they graduated from law school and were socialized into the profession, rather than those in the same age bracket.

For example, a friend of ours (whom we'll call Doug) transitioned from a music career to the practice of law in his early 40s. He started law school around 2000, at a time when Westlaw and Lexis were already established as the standard, preferred methods for conducting legal research. Doug's experience in law school resulted in his becoming quite proficient at online legal research and working with computers, in...