Kenney & Sams, PC

Advice to law firm management: (1) Spend more time training associates in typical construction workflows before assigning them a caseload and/or create and maintain better reference documents that not only summarize various legal issues, but explain the typically flow of resolving the issue to provide guidance to associates in place of an acessable partner.

(2) Make sure every matter has an available partner to direct the case.

(3) Create new procedures to ensure all communications on a matter includes all of the assigned attorneys and staff to avoid confusion and unnecessary duplication of work.

(4) Hire more staff.

(5) Review and clarify expectations on responsiveness - what is told to associates does not tend to match the reality.

(6) Stop cutting associate time instead of adjusting hours down and/or editing the language where is reasonable to make those changes.

(7) Create incentives for client development for associates. Time does not count towards billable requirements in any way, but it's not optional. This causes a fair amount of resentment.

Pros: The people at the firm are all nice, friendly, and easy to get along with. The benefits are good, and the firm is flexible with hybrid work, and the firm is also pretty understanding about life changes/difficulties and accommodating employees as needed. There are plenty of social events for the firm throughout the year, and families are always welcome. The firm is also VERY active and intentionally present in many MA bar associations and various industry groups and will happily support associates who want to become involved.

Cons: The workflow structure needs a lot of help. The main "rainmaking" shareholders are too busy with client development and heavily rely on associates to push cases. However, the firm typically hires newer associates with little to no construction experience, and does not provide much meaningful training prior to being assigned a caseload. The structure causes unnecessary stress where associates can't reach the main partner for instruction/direction/questions, and other lawyers at the firm are not familiar with the client or case.

Additionally, the top rainmaking shareholder, who most associates get their work from, won't review drafts of anything. Associates are expected to have their assigned mentors (who have their own caseload and practice areas) review all drafts. This causes a bottleneck for productivity and leaves a lot of room for sub-par work where the reviewing mentor isn't familiar with the case or client, the associate is not experienced, and the main partner who knows the matter and the law will not typically review work product before it goes out.
These structural issues, combined with the heavy caseload and expectation of quick responsiveness creates unnecessary stress and is inefficient, which has lead to a lot of associate turnover in prior years. The management is aware of the problem and is attempting to address it by assigning a midlevel partner to each matter who can be more available to work closely with the associate. This change has yet to make a meaningful impact on daily life though.

Additionally, many of the senior attorneys are conservative republicans with consistent social views. The firm is openly accepting of LGTBQ+ employees, but also hires people who are openly bigoted. Beyond being conservative (in a typically old-money way) many of the senior attorneys are also openly supportive of Trump specifically, and it's a fairly frequent topic of conversation around the office. The newest/youngest shareholder holds more modern liberal views, and to the extent he represents the future of the firm, gives hope for its culture long-term. However, for the time being, younger and/or liberal attorneys may find themselves in uncomfortable conversations semi-frequently.

Current or former employee?: Current Employee

Job type: Full time

Pros: 4.0 Current Employee, more than 3 yearsTalented Lawyers, Busy Practice, Fast Paced Suburban FirmNon-Equity Partner ProsFirm is well respected by Boston and Mass legal community; competitive pay, good benefits, supportive of business development, dynamic and smart colleagues, good support staff, nice suburban offices, busy litigation, construction, employment practices; interesting variety of types of cases, ethical approach to practicing law, some great hires over past 2 years helped stop turnover; remote work/hybrid policy important for working parents and has been very well received; firm has made remote/hybrid work by attorneys a policy. I don't work many weekends and billable hours requirement is around 1800 so not terrible. Top partners generate a lot of business/firm looks positioned well for immediate future. Best fit is for lawyers looking to grow book/work on complex cases with supportive colleagues. Would recommend to high energy, competent, driven professionals esp if you live MetroWest.ConsFor a smallish firm it has a lot of complex litigations, a decent amount of which go to trial or arbitration. It can mean balancing heavy caseload and expectations that you can immediately jump into new cases (even when overwhelmed with ongoing workload); attorneys often have to learn on the fly ; junior lawyers expected to handle many aspects of cases (can be pro or con depending on each lawyer); grind it out/push cases forward mentality can be an adjustment b/c firm has demanding clients; attorneys and staff are very busy and juggling a lot which can make for unnecessarily stressful moments. Firm says it wants to be over staffed but it needs to hire 3-5 more lawyers... would make a big difference. High number of cases per attorney combined with expectations of immediate responsiveness to clients can be frustrating; ability to stay calm while putting out fires is critical; firm's rapid growth means it can be a struggle to spend as much time with each case as you'd like given the complexity of some of the cases. Hope they really do hire more good lawyers and keep the people here.

Current or former employee?: Former Employee

Last Year at Employer: 2022

Job type: Full time

Pros: 5.0 Current Employee, more than 5 yearsK&S really caresAnonymous Employee in Boston, MA ProsI have never worked for a firm that cared more about their people. We are a family. Management is always doing fun things for us and are always there when we need support. I hope to stay here for a very long timeConsFast paced environment- you wear many hats

Current or former employee?: Former Employee

Last Year at Employer: 2020

Job type: Full time