Joining a new firm is a transition.
Joining a new firm means learning more than new software and procedures.
You have to learn how the firm approaches cases, communicates with clients, works across offices, uses support staff, makes decisions, and defines good work.
At Pacific Northwest Family Law, we treat that transition deliberately. We give attorneys new to the firm time, access, feedback and real work so they can learn how to practice in the PNW Family Law way and become part of the team.
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Your First 90 Days
New attorneys generally spend their first 90 days in a structured transition period.
The first week or two may include daily meetings with a partner to review cases, discuss strategy, look at written work, and address questions as they arise. From there, the amount and type of guidance changes depending on the attorney.
A recent graduate may need more frequent review and instruction for a longer period. An experienced lateral may move quickly through substantive legal issues but need more time learning our systems, client-service standards, or approach to case management.
An attorney moving into family law from another practice area may need something different altogether.
We structure the transition around each attorney’s experience, background, and needs.
Start With Real Work
Attorneys can join the firm without a book of business and step directly into active work.
Pacific Northwest Family Law has an active caseload, and we bring attorneys new to the firm into existing matters as part of their transition..
A new attorney will often begin as second chair on cases already underway. That creates an opportunity to learn the history of the matter, participate in strategy, work with the client, prepare written materials, and begin assuming responsibility without having to build a caseload from nothing.
Senior attorneys review work and remain involved while responsibility shifts.
As the new attorney demonstrates readiness, the balance changes and the attorney begins taking greater ownership of the matter.
Our goal is to give a new attorney enough work, enough context, and enough feedback to become productive and independent.
Bringing Your Practice With You
Experienced lateral attorneys often join the firm with active clients and matters already in progress.
We help lateral attorneys bring their existing clients and matters with them.
A partner oversees the transition, while administrative and intake staff handle much of the operational work involved in bringing matters into the firm. That can include conflicts checks, new engagement agreements, setting up matters in Clio, transferring paper files when necessary, and communicating with clients about the change.
The lateral attorney continues representing those clients.
We organize the transfer so clients continue working with the attorney they know while gaining the support of the broader firm.
That means the attorney can continue focusing on the substance of the representation while the firm helps move the matter into its systems and support structure.
Attorneys also receive origination credit for clients they bring to the firm through their own efforts, including clients who transition with them.
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We are generally willing to accept matters that lateral attorneys bring with them. If a matter falls outside the firm’s ordinary practice areas, we discuss whether we have the experience and resources to support it well. An attorney who already has deep expertise in that area may be able to continue the work here; otherwise, we may recommend keeping the transition focused on matters where the firm can provide meaningful support.
Mentorship Is Not Just for New Lawyers
Mentorship begins during the transition into the firm and continues as attorneys work together throughout their careers.
Experience is rarely uniform.
The relationship changes with experience. Early mentorship may involve frequent case review and direct guidance. Over time, it becomes more reciprocal as attorneys draw on one another’s different experience.
An attorney with twenty years in practice may know far more than a newer attorney about litigation, but know less about a particular family law issue. Another attorney may have substantial experience in one county, with a particular type of case, or with a procedural problem that someone else is encountering for the first time.
The roles of mentor and mentee change with the issue, the case, and the experience each attorney brings.
At different times, every attorney should be willing to ask for another perspective and willing to offer one.
The purpose of mentorship is to help attorneys make better decisions, develop judgment, share useful experience, and become effective members of the PNW Family Law team as quickly as possible.
For attorneys new to the firm, that begins with more deliberate guidance during the transition period. As the attorney becomes established, mentorship becomes more reciprocal and integrated into the ordinary work of the firm.
We Practice Law Together
Our attorneys do not operate as isolated practices under one name. Our attorneys regularly work together across cases, offices, and experience levels.
Every week, the firm’s attorneys participate in the Weekly Attorney Mastermind, where one attorney brings an issue, development, case question, or practice idea to the group for discussion.
The subjects vary because the experience around the table varies.
A lawyer may have encountered an unusual procedural issue. Someone else may know the local practice. Another attorney may have handled a similar evidentiary problem, negotiated the same kind of dispute, or found an approach that worked well in a recent matter.
Those conversations continue throughout the week in the firm’s attorney chat.
Attorneys ask questions, compare approaches, share prior work product, discuss developments in the law, and help one another solve practical problems as they arise.
Experienced attorneys contribute what they have learned.
Newer attorneys bring fresh questions and perspectives.
Lateral attorneys bring knowledge developed elsewhere.
Everyone is expected to participate.
Our approach allows every attorney to benefit from the experience of the group when making individual strategic decisions.
Feedback Continues After the First 90 Days
Regular feedback continues after the formal 90-day transition period.
Attorneys meet regularly with managers and partners to discuss performance, progress, workload, and development.
Monthly One-on-One Meetings
Attorneys meet with a manager at least monthly. These conversations focus on performance, progress, workload, and areas that may need attention. They can happen more frequently when useful.
Quarterly Partner Meetings
Attorneys also meet quarterly with a partner for a broader discussion about professional development, expectations, and progress within the firm.
Daily Office Huddles
Each office holds a short daily huddle to identify immediate concerns, scheduling issues, and problems that need attention.
Weekly Attorney Mastermind
The firm’s attorneys meet weekly to examine legal and practical issues and learn from one another’s experience.
The point is regular contact, clear feedback, and early correction when something is heading in the wrong direction.
If You Are Considering a Change
Starting at a new firm always involves some uncertainty.
You have to learn new systems, new expectations, new colleagues, and often a different way of approaching familiar problems.
You will be expected to learn, ask questions, accept feedback, and take increasing responsibility.
You should also expect experienced people to make themselves available, review your work, share what they know, and help you become effective here.
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