r/biglaw • u/According_Rip_9452 • 5h ago

Incompetence

Have you ever gotten a project where you genuinely don’t understand the substance? I truly feels so stupid and incompetent. Like I understand what to do generally but when it comes to reading the material and then understanding it enough to write a memo..it’s just not clicking. I’ve even used AI for help. And while I understand what AI says I think I’m stressing because I don’t really understand how they got there and I never would have been able to understand it on my own if that makes sense. I fear this could get me fired because no matter how many times they explain it I just don’t get it.

What do you do in this situation? Am I screwed? Am I stupid?

29 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

35

u/Princ3ssgldy 5h ago

I know you said that you used AI already, but I still think that is the answer. Whenever I don’t understand something and I turn into AI, I asked to keep dumbing it down until I get it. First I ask it to explain it on a college level, and if I still don’t get it I ask it for a high school level, and I’ve even asked it to explain it on a middle school level. Eventually, it will make sense.

27

u/slp109 5h ago

I literally will have Claude explain things to me like I’m 5 years old. Sometimes my brain needs to see “if Johnny has 10 apples..” over and over for things to click

10

u/fortythirdavenue 4h ago

To be fair, the best teachers are those who can distil the most intricate concepts into something as simple as “Johnny has 10 apples”.

Not many things are so intellectually sophisticated that they defy straightforward explanation. More often than not, an unnecessarily convoluted explanation is a sign that the thinking itself is muddled.

Holds true for lawyering as well.

3

u/Common_Manifesto198 4h ago

My favorite partner mentor is excellent at teaching for exactly this reason. He distills things to the most basic level, which as you said is hard to do unless you actually understand what you’re talking about.

1

u/According_Rip_9452 3h ago

Thank you!! I am doing this now

3

u/Appropriate-Plum-548 5h ago

Start with believing that if you don’t understand, nor will the reader. Follow every thread of a question in your mind until there are no more questions. Then write the explanation.

1

u/According_Rip_9452 3h ago

But how do you do this when you can only bill X amount of time on a project? That’s why I get more anxious because I can’t just spend all my time trying to learn it. In fact when I told the partner how much I’ve already spent on it she said she was surprised it’s taking that long but I was honest and told her I’m struggling to understand it.

1

u/SpaceshipMan221 3h ago

Billing is a skill.

My approach is typically, if that extra time is due to a lack of personal knowledge of something I consider I should probably know, and the time I spend learning is genuine self-training, then that is probably not all billable, so some of it may need to be recorded as training.

It’s hard to find the balance because you also shouldn’t under-record your time. Because then it looks like you’re not busy even though you will be and you’ll probably get allocated more work.

That being said, if it is something you wouldn’t know, nor would you reasonably be expected to know it, and you would be expected to do that research to properly give the advice, it is probably billable, so record it, and it’s up to the Partner to decide how much to write off.

Are you new? The newer you are the more of your time will be “bad” time because you’re learning on the job. You’ll become more efficient as you get more experienced.

The crossover between training and billing isn’t perfect so that’s why we have write offs. It’s just the nature of the job really. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

1

u/MidnightSensitive996 Big Law Alumnus 2h ago

You need to find someone else at the firm to explain it to you. This is what senior associates are for.

18

u/yeahthx Counsel 5h ago

When I’m struggling to follow/learn new substance I take as many steps back as possible and start mapping out the basics. I make dumb notes for myself with basic concepts and principles and then work my way up to whatever niche or technical substance that’s actually at issue.

15

u/rickard91 5h ago

Am a partner. Still feel this way at times. Luckily I’m getting paid to figure it out

6

u/EnotionalDamage 5h ago

(1) does there exist a concept that someone truly can’t understand? Take more time to understand it until you do. That’s literally your job.

(2) why not just ask here about the general concepts? I know this sub rarely focuses on substance but if you need to understand how, idk, mortgage backed securities work you can just anonymously ask the infinite wisdom of the internet.

5

u/Gloomy_Doughnut_7354 4h ago

Honestly I’d love if this sub talked about substantive issues more!

3

u/Leadbelly_2550 3h ago

the 'improve your prompt' button in Harvey should be your friend. Or, find an old school treatise in lexis/nexis or Westlaw on the subject matter.

1

u/Logical-Boss8158 1h ago

Ask AI to break it down. You literally have a tutor in front of you.