“Do you have anything I can work on?”
It's a perfectly reasonable question. It's also not a particularly valuable one.
Instead of asking senior lawyers to give you work, start looking for things that need to be done.
“I noticed we're getting several questions about this. I put together a checklist.”
“I saw that you're spending a lot of time on this. I can take it over.”
“I noticed we're handling several cases involving this issue. I researched it and put together a memo.”
Now you're not asking for work. You're finding work.
The most valuable young lawyer isn't the one who constantly asks, “What should I do?”
It's the one who says: “I noticed something that needs to be done. I'll take care of it.”
Do This This Week: Find one problem nobody has assigned to you and solve it.
