ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE:
Dealing with the Legal Profession's Generation Gaps

By Douglas B. Richardson, JD, MA, CMC

The generation gap is nothing new: in a pattern as old as time, the successor generation has always viewed its forebears as stodgy and unduly authoritarian, while the "old folks" have tended to view the energy and impulsiveness of youth with suspicion, if not derision. It now appears, however, as if the accelerated rate of social change has also wrought profound and fundamental changes in how members of different generations relate, communicate, collaborate (or don't) and communicate (or not).  Not only are we not in Kansas, Toto, there may not even be a Kansas once today's emerging young leaders take the controls.

In the lingo of the social scientists, folks born between 1925 and 1945 are often called the "matures," "traditionalists," "builders," "seniors" or "veterans."  They comprise about 20% of the US population but less than 10% of practicing lawyers. They are in or entering their emeritus years, and to young lawyers they embody "the old days." The "boomers" born during the baby boom of 1946 to 1964 make up about 30% of the US population and a little under half of today's lawyers.  Their careers are now peaking, and a lot of 'em will be retiring in the next decade.  They drive the power structure of most firms, and although they think of themselves as more individualistic, more optimistic, and more committed to personal integrity than their predecessors, younger associates tend to view them as defenders of the power structure and status quo.

The Gen-X'ers, originally labeled the "slackers," were born between 1965 and 1979 and now sometimes are called the "busters" or the "e-generation." They presently represent about 25% of this country's population, but almost half of its lawyers. Temperamentally they are probably not all that different from the boomers, except that they tend to be they are more skeptical of authority, less self-centered, and more inclusive and collaborative. The Gen-Y'ers, born after 1980, are sometimes called the "nexters," "whys," or "echoes."  The youngest subset of the Gen-Y'ers, the "millenials," is becoming a dominant force in reshaping how our society buys, sells, learns and works. Their world view is so different from the boomers that many wonder if productive communication will be possible once the younger Y'ers (the Kaiser Family Foundation has dubbed them "Generation M," and soon they will be going to law school) come of age.  "They revere youth and change, and our age and experience are of little practical use to them," says one senior partner in her 60's. "I suspect that like Inuits, when their time comes they will simply put their elders outside the igloo to freeze. In fact, it's getting chilly already."

Some social researchers claim differences among generations are illusory, and that every generation becomes more conservative and more resistant to change as it ages. Others, myself included, see generational differences -- particularly between the X'ers and Y'ers  -- as very pronounced and very fundamental. 

The consequence for the legal profession? As a consultant who focuses on trying to build better communication, collaboration and cohesiveness among lawyers, I'm convinced that the complaints and styles of young lawyers are not just old rants with a new vocabulary. Fundamental attitude shifts are occurring, and older lawyers dismiss them at their economic and even career peril. Soon four generations with distinctly different values and motivations will be jockeying throughout a legal profession whose face has already altered dramatically in the last several decades, from profession to business…from collegial to ardently, rampantly competitive.

In law firms, the "old days" of conformity, lockstep loyalty and unquestioning commitment are gone forever, so these values can't be held up as ideals for young lawyers anymore.  The successor generation does not want to become like the predecessor generations, and traditional motivations -- particularly partnership and money -- are less important to them than before

One reason many law firms and legal departments are experiencing retention problems is the belief of young associates and staff attorneys that they are viewed as fungible economic commodities, rather than as individuals with unique needs and incentives. Increasingly, they are abandoning traditional notions of commitment and loyalty; they are determined to control their own destinies rather than march to the lock-

step conventions of traditional law firm career paths.  They do not feel grateful to be starting at $125,000, they do not necessarily feel honored to partake of their firm's august traditions.  They also see themselves as the levers of an emerging "free agent economy" in the legal profession, the beneficiaries of a "talent vacuum" that is bound to occur when you and the rest of the boomers head out to pasture. The stabilizing effects of deference and collegiality are being shaken by a new mantra: WIIFM.  That means, "What's in it for me?"

In terms of how best to socialize, manage and motivate younger lawyers, generational differences really are significant.  Traditionalists, for example, were taught to be respectful of authority.  The boomers learned to pay their dues to the power structure, deferring to authority until they were positioned to assume it, thereafter becoming increasingly authoritarian and parental in their tone. The X'ers have never been impressed by others' authority; autonomy is the order of their day. Ironically, Y'ers, who tend to have lived more structured and supervised childhoods than prior generations, crave strong leadership and management -- even to the point of trusting authority-figures rather blindly and indiscriminately -- but they seem to have difficulty relating to their superiors.

Equally relevant, different generations' perspectives on social and technological change differ widely. For the senior set, almost any social or operational change is seen as threatening, destabilizing, and something to be resisted.  The more optimistic boomers are convinced that they can manage and control change to their benefit.  Change has been a constant in X'ers' lives, so they have few illusions about stability and permanence: if nothing has changed in the last hour, it's just about to. X'ers therefore tend to crave immediate results and gratification and to structure their work into a series of ad hoc alliances and enterprises. To borrow Woody Allen's Annie Hall line, for them the shark must keep swimming or it will die. For Y'ers, change is an invisible environmental parameter, like water to fish. For them coping with the rate of change has become a motivational end in and of itself.  Accordingly, Gen Y'ers are resolute stimulation-seekers with relatively shorter attention spans than their elders. Patience is not their long suit.

Similarly, seniors distrust and gripe about technology, the boomers find it useful, the X'ers can't operate without it, and the Y'ers have it so hard-wired into their consciousness that it truly is an integral dimension of their operational DNA. Seniors berate those who shift their focus frequently as "undisciplined." Boomers stress out when compelled to multi-task too much or too long.  Gen X'ers are more experienced at handling multiple tasks better, but they claim to crave simpler, more balanced lives. Gen Y'ers assume that multi-tasking is the fundamental order of nature; it's the only reality they have ever known. As a result, they tend to multi-task incessantly, even when they feel as if their ability to process and perform is being overborne by a bombardment of diverse, high-speed inputs and demands.

To manage today's younger generations lawyers effectively, law firm and law department managers must relate to them as individuals, validate their self-interest, and communicate with them candidly and realistically.  Young lawyers watch partners actively marketing their "portables" in the open market and weekly see entire practice groups shift  from firm to firm, so they're not receptive to speeches about unquestioning loyalty.  The older they get, the more they want and need to know about their firm's operations and finances, their prospects for partnership and advancement and how they're stacking up in the unspoken internecine competition with their peers and colleagues.  They can get a lot of this information articles in professional magazines (many of which are not any more flattering than your upward evaluation).  Alternatively, the firm or the leaders of their legal department can make the time to talk to them, get to know them and try to custom-tailor their growth within the firm.