By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

For many companies, young employees are more than workers. They are long-term investments.

Nowhere is that concept more true than in the legal profession, where firms often recruit students who are still in school. They train them through internships or clerkships and, in some cases, have multiple years invested in them before the individuals are even ready to practice law.

So what steps do Western New York firms take to protect their investment? And what are some preventive measures to make sure that today's 26-year-old superstar attorney doesn't become a 30-year-old burnout?

On one hand, law firms must serve clients, bill hours and grow their business, so pressure is simply part of the deal. For the modern generation, however, social and family time is important, too. How do their two worlds mesh? And what do area firms do to help make it all work?

Tom Cunnigham is managing partner of Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham & Coppola LLP. He said for many young attorneys there, it's their first experience working in a professional setting and they should expect a period of adjustment.

"We have them work with older attorneys who have been through the transition from law school to the firm," Cunningham said. "One of the things we emphasize with our younger attorneys is developing good organizational systems and time management systems. We teach them how to organize their days."

He said he knows what law students hear about: unattainable billable hours requirements, mandatory weekends, 18-hour workdays. His firm, however, works hard to dispel those myths and to maximize the productivity of new associates without burning them out.

"We teach them they have to organize their personal lives in a similar way to their job," he said. "I remember there would be attorneys 15 years ago that would have to cancel their vacation with their family because they had a trial. And really, in our firm, we tell our attorneys that's inexcusable. You have certain obligations to your family, and if you organize your personal life the same way as your work schedule, you can avoid missing those important family things."

In the past, local attorneys have discussed the atmosphere in Buffalo as being more conducive to raising a family and maintaining one's sanity than in other cities. That is certainly the case at Rupp Baase, according to Cunningham.

"We have reasonable billable hours requirements. We're not like a New York City firm that might require 2,200 hours a year," he said. "However, some things are going to be unavoidable. Our clients' interests have to come first and we explain that to our young associates, but there is a balance to be had."

Across town at Damon Morey LLP, Sherri Mooney leads the associates committee, where she regularly interacts with each of the firm's 24 associate attorneys.

"We work with the associates, whether it is getting them acclimated, dealing with day-to-day issues, whatever it may be," she said.

Damon Morey's methods of dealing with new associates has evolved through the years, she said. Now the firm is in a good place in terms of recruitment and retention of young attorneys.

"I think we got a little better with working with recruiting, so we set up firm expectations of what is expected of new associates," she said. "But we also worked to demystify the life of an associate at a big firm."

Mooney said by clearly outlining expectations and offering a comprehensive orientation, Damon Morey offers associates a clear vision of their future there. Like other firms, it offers new associates a mentor to help them get established and learn the ropes. That comes with a twist, however.

"Our mentoring program isn't a traditional one," Mooney said. "We actually set them up with someone from a different department, and we try to hand-pick the relationships as a way to aid in the success of the young attorney and to give them just someone to talk to besides their supervising partner."

While protecting its investment in the associate and ensuring their professional success is critical, some firms take things a step further. Gary Schober, president of Hodgson Russ LLP, cited the importance of hiring, training and grooming successful attorneys, tying it to the history of the nearly 200-year-old firm.

"We all know that someday our time will come to a close," he said. "It is our mission - it is our responsibility - to make sure that when that day arrives and we walk out the door, we hand the law firm over to people who are adequately trained and have the capability of running our law firm through the next generation."

While Schober echoed the sentiments of his industry colleagues in terms of nurturing and guiding the younger set, he took a pragmatic approach to the matter.

"There is only so much you can do to protect a young lawyer from the pressures of practicing law," he said. "It is a service business with clients who demand a great deal from their attorneys. And it is a business that requires many sacrifices to be successful."

Schober said Hodgson Russ makes every effort to reduce those stressors, for the good of all involved.

"Our job is to make sure we are adequately staffed to meet clients' demands," he said. "Another thing we do is to reduce associates coming in on weekends when there is nothing really to do."

He called it one of his pet peeves: a senior attorney who expects the young associate to think they have to come in on a Saturday "just because you are a lawyer," he said.

"I feel strongly - and have felt this way for a very long time - that if a client needs something, I will do it whether it is a Saturday, Sunday, nighttime, so be it," Schober said.

"But I don't want anyone at Hodgson Russ to be in the building just because they think that is expected of them," he said.

"If there is work to be done, you better be here, but we don't do things just for show, like in some firms."

That approach, according to Cunnigham of Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham & Coppola, is the key to success for young attorneys.

"A lot of it comes down to how they approach the job," Cunnigham said. "Come in early, work hard while you are here, don't take extra-long lunches and you should be able to enjoy those things you want to do in your downtime."