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"Each generation waits for the generation that follows them to get it," said Krivosha, a baby boomer and partner at Maslon, Edelman, Borman & Brand, a mergers and acquisitions firm in Minneapolis. "What we found is that this generation that was following us was very different. They wanted us to be more cognizant of their talents and interests."

Rather than widen the gap, Krivosha and her firm have attempted to bridge it.

With help from outside consulting firms and focus groups, they established summer programs designed to give law students a personalized foray into the world of lawyering.

While most programs of this type require summer associates to learn a little from every department, Krivosha discovered millennials had specific ideas about what they wanted to experience. Each summer associate would say at the start what he or she wanted to see: whether it was a deposition, a corporate negotiation, etc. They would then work in a field of particular interest over the course of the summer.

This allowed the firm to make offers in a specialized area, such as litigation.

"What we found is they were more able to build on their own style based on what they could do," said Krivosha.

Krivosha's experience is familiar to the many firms throughout the country that are bracing themselves for the next generation of the American workforce. Roughly 70 million strong, the millennials (or Generation Y, a subset of the population born between 1980 and 1995) has arrived armed with IPods, cell phones, blogs and issues that could end up changing the way the legal workplace operates.

"One of our biggest concerns is the work/life balance," said Caroline Conway, a 26-year-old student at Suffolk Law School in Boston.

Conway has interned with a solo practitioner and a victim's legal rights clinic. "We prefer fewer hours and a more casual atmosphere – and that's a good thing."

While older generations may view this attitude as lazy, Conway argues it actually makes for better lawyers.

"There's a law of diminishing returns. If I work 60-70 hours a week and I'm exhausted, how does that help the client?"

Generation gap

Some experienced attorneys are appalled by the behavior of the new crop of associates.

Among the characteristics ascribed to millennials by more senior attorneys are:

• Higher expectations for time off and quality of life;

• Weaker proofreading skills than older employees;

• Lower standards for written work;

• Less loyalty to the firm; and

• More emphasis on the privacy of work e-mail and phone use.

Dan Hull, 49, said his firm has seen half of its millennial associates quit or be terminated within their first three months of employment.

Hull is a partner at California-based Hull McGuire PC.

"They seemed to have less energy, less ambition," said Hull. "There is sort of a little sense of entitlement as to what they should get out of an employer."

Scott Greenfield, 50, a New York City-based criminal defense attorney, said the mentality is the result of a "backlash" against the baby boomer generation.

"They've watched their parents, the baby boomers, as they work their fingers to the bone and got nothing but laid off," said Greenfield.

Margaret M. DiBianca, a Wilmington, Del. employment attorney said the issue is not that millennials are lazy or don't care, but they are frustrated with what they perceive as less important work at the beginning of their legal careers.

"They want to have a role, a voice, right from the start," said DiBianca. "If they are just abandoned in the workplace, they will feel like this isn't a rewarding experience for them and won't work as hard."

DiBianca said her firm typically places young associates on technology subcommittees where they could be most helpful.

Some firms are more accommodating and have begun allowing more relaxed hours and a more casual dress code.

Others say the key to finding the type of millennial associate who will thrive is asking the right questions during the hiring process.

"Just ask them about their work ethic and their commitment to a client," suggested Greenfield. "They are awfully happy to tell you. And if they don't, you can see it in their appearance and how they approach you."

Firms have to be themselves

The direct approach can be an asset for firms looking to recruit the right associates.

Lynne Lancaster is a partner at Bridgeworks, a Minneapolis-based consulting firm dedicated to generational issues in the workplace. She has worked with several law firms on ways to integrate new values into the practice while maintaining a successful legal business.

Lancaster said the first step is to give a blunt assessment of life at the firm during the recruiting process.

"Don't try to create an image you can't live up to," she said. "Law firms today know Gen-Y attorneys are more interested in balances, so they put all sorts of messages in print and on their website about the work-life balance; they show people biking and hanging out with their dogs and children. So when young lawyers join the firm and find it's the same old 80-hour work week, that's the beginning of high turnover."

Once millennials are hired, Lancaster suggests that firms implement mentoring programs designed to make them feel like part of a dynamic team. For example, some firms will allow millennials to sit in on a client meeting but won't bill the client for the extra lawyer in the room.

"This is a generation that was taught to speak up," she said. "They don't want to just sit quietly at meetings. They want to be a part of the process and have their work matter."

The adapting process needs to be a two way street.

Lancaster said it's important for millennial attorneys to approach the firm as if they were adapting to another culture.

"They must learn the correct language to use, how to act in a meeting, who to avoid, who not to tick off," she said. "They must ask questions and not assume they know everything. They need to be prepared to pay some dues. Whenever I interview associates, they always say that law school did not remotely prepare them for the business of law.

They have to make that transition from learning the law to learning the law firm."

Questions or comments can be directed to the writer at: justin.rebello@lawyersusaonline.com.