Levine Lee LLP

Legal Analyst

June 2019 - July 2021 • New York City, NY

What I liked

For recent graduates who want to get as much of a hands-on experience at a law firm as they can find, working at Levine Lee is a great opportunity—one that I appreciate more in hindsight than I perhaps did at the time. The facetime with attorneys is great for anyone interested in litigation or law school in general. The boutique firm dynamic provides opportunities to form better professional relationships with both partners and associates that aren’t necessarily available at a larger firm. Such relationships have proven to be invaluable to me as a first-generation law student, particularly throughout the law school application process and on-campus interviews after my first year of law school. The attorneys at Levine Lee care about the professional growth of their analysts. While there are ministerial tasks involved with the role (i.e. making binders and maintaining document databases), they incentivized personal interest and curiosity into the firm’s matters with opportunities to become involved in bigger and more substantive projects. By the end of my time at Levine Lee, I was engaging in the type of work first year associates would do at a big law firm (all under close supervision by the firm’s attorneys, of course) – an experience I’ve come to learn was unique after talking to paralegals who worked at other law firms. Some of these tasks included document review, proof-reading, and taking notes on calls with clients. The work mirrored many of the projects I was involved with as a 2L Summer Associate this past year, and the experience I had with these tasks because of my time with Levine Lee proved to be immensely helpful. Working with the other legal analysts was an incredibly rewarding and positive experience. My editing and writing skills grew tremendously after comparing my proofreads with those of these analysts. These coworkers were incredibly supportive of me professionally and personally, and I was lucky to have such a great team of analysts to work alongside during my two years at Levine Lee. We remained close even while working remotely throughout the pandemic and have remained in contact throughout our law school journeys. Even though I was just an analyst, I truly felt like I was part of a team with all the matters I was involved with at the firm. I think this dynamic contributed greatly to our firm’s successful transition to remote work during the pandemic. Despite the remote work environment, I felt very supported by all my coworkers, especially when it came to certain decisions I had to make with respect to my own health and safety at the peak of the pandemic in Spring 2020. In my opinion, the way in which the firm handled the transition goes to show the perks of working at a smaller firm – I very much felt like a valued member of the Levine Lee. I strongly recommend this position to anyone who is considering law school but is looking to gain exposure to the practice of law before committing to three additional years of schooling. I think working in this type of role is critical before starting law school, and I’m really glad I chose Levine Lee when I was deciding between post-grad job opportunities.

What I wish was different

The primary thing I didn’t like probably would have been the case regardless of where I worked. Unfortunately most of my time at Levine Lee was during the pandemic, so I did not get as much in-person interaction as I had hoped for. I also wanted to experience a trial from the law-firms perspective, however the circumstances presented by the pandemic prevented such an opportunity from taking place. There were a couple of attorneys who are no longer with the firm I that I found to be overly critical and difficult to work with, especially within my first month at the firm. I became the most senior legal analyst at the firm within a few weeks of my start date, and I found out this was happening on my third day of work with the firm. This situation was out of the control of the partners, but it made the transition particularly difficult. That being said, I experienced immense personal and professional growth because of position I found myself in, and I think finding myself in that position helped me be really successful in this role. The learning curve was steep because I had only a month to learn the ropes. This experience is something I have since been able to draw upon in interviews to explain how I approach challenges in the workplace. I also think the analyst program has grown since my time at the firm, which will prevent scenarios like this from happening again.

Advice

Strong organizational skills is a must with the firm. The attorneys rely on the analysts to maintain multiple document databases and be able to find specific documents in a pinch. These skills even prove to be helpful when making binders of documents and preparing for trial. If organization is not your strong-suit, this position will not be a good fit unless you put in the effort to improve those skills. Ask questions about the assignments you are working on! The attorneys at Levine Lee very much want you to get an assignment right the first time, so they are very open any questions you have that will help you achieve that goal. This may seem intimidating at first, but I found everyone to be very receptive to the questions I asked and points of clarification I needed. They also were happy to explain some of the legal terminology that I was not familiar with. Perhaps most importantly, I found these attitudes towards asking questions to be true no matter who I was working with (whether it be a partner or an associate). The attorneys have high expectations, but they reward you for meeting their expectations with more responsibility and engagement in the firm’s matters. Consequently, being a self-starter will do wonders for you at Levine Lee. The learning curve felt steep when I first joined, and some of the attorneys (who are no longer with the firm) were very intimidating to work with and critical. That being said, some of the advice these former Levine Lee attorneys gave me has stuck with me to this day, and I certainly was motivated to improve my work product because of the comments I received.

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Legal Analyst

June 2021 - November 2022 • New York City, NY

What I liked

As listed in the job description, there were opportunities to sit in on witness/client interviews and calls with co-counsel. Through my responsibilities tracking, proofreading, and organizing documents for attorneys, I gained familiarity with the litigation timeline and process, as well as direct experience with reviewing documents produced through discovery. I was able to see how motions and briefs were drafted, and I was also able to assist the defense team (with administrative support) in a federal trial and observe arguments presented to the court. For those who want to learn what litigation looks like in practice or how private firms interact with various agencies and play a role in government investigations, you might have opportunities to learn this. You'll also have opportunities to read legal documents like motions/briefs in their drafting process. Since it’s a small firm, there are opportunities for direct interaction with attorneys, and to network if you wish.

What I wish was different

The things I wish had been different were probably embedded in the culture and practices of the industry as a whole, and may not have been specific to the firm. With that acknowledged: I wish that there had been a more kind and supportive and collaborative culture that valued interpersonal and emotional intelligence. There were unspoken expectations and assumptions in the firm that made it difficult for me to feel able to fully speak and thrive in this environment. The firm's culture made me feel uncomfortable, isolated, disempowered, and like I didn't deserve to ask for better treatment. I developed anxiety around asking for time off for appointments, and with setting any kind of work/life boundaries. Providing safe channels for sharing feedback would have been much appreciated. Many of my assigned projects were tedious and repetitive, to the point where upon leaving work at the end of the day it really felt like a huge waste of my abilities. I wasn't able to develop any new skills other than skimming a mass amount of documents very quickly and learning how to send certified mail. Projects involved bulk organizing/sorting documents via Excel, making Table of Contents/Table of Authorities, looking at redlined documents and highlighting paragraphs that were inserted, emailing back and forth with vendors to upload/download productions, tracking and organizing documents via Excel, mass reviewing hundreds and thousands of documents and "tagging" them according to their degree of "Attorney-Client privilege", making indexes for binders, printing sticker labels, downloading documents and putting them in chronological order to make digital binders. I felt like a human computer – critical thinking skills were not very necessary, and my input was never asked for. At this job, it was often implied that we analysts should be grateful for this position. When I made mistakes, I got yelled at and was told that I was "smarter" than this – which, over time, became demoralizing without any constructive feedback. I also would have appreciated if the firm had been more direct and transparent about the administrative/secretarial responsibilities in the hiring process: loading the dishwasher, restocking kitchen supplies, setting out the snacks for client interviews, fixing the printer, mailing packages, ordering lunch for the attorneys, etcetera. Which is fine, but the way that they sent us these requests and chided us for not doing them correctly was condescending. Overall, for a first job out of college, perhaps this experience is typical and standard, but I highly recommend considering all your options. It felt like my professional growth truly stagnated during my time there, and I wish I had given myself time to consider taking other job positions. If you make the attorneys really happy you might come out of the position with industry connections and a perspective of what this field of law looks like in practice, but not much else when it comes to development of concrete professional skills – at least speaking from my personal experience.

Advice

If they ask you to commit for two years but don't put it in a contract, you're not obligated to commit for those full 2 years. If you realize at any point this job is not a good fit for you, you're free to apply for another job and it will only benefit you to work at a place where you thrive and can develop the professional experiences that you're looking for.

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