Generational Similarities
By James J. Sandman

Have you seen those charts that compare the values and attitudes of different generations—the “builders,” “boomers,” “Xers,” and “Ys”? They lump tens of millions of people together and apply labels to them. They generally purport to identify a long-term trend toward short-term gratification, neediness, reduced loyalty to employers, and more self-centeredness. When applied to lawyers, they culminate in the modern “greedy associate” who is in it only for the money.

I think it’s all hogwash.

Like all stereotyping, generational labeling denies individuality. It ignores the diversity within generations. It falsely equates differences in life experiences with differences in character and motivations. And it tends to be based on distant observations and anecdotes rather than on personal relationships.

I’m a baby boomer—born in 1951, when, as my kids like to remind me, Harry Truman was president and Winston Churchill was prime minister. (They say this as if Truman and Churchill might have been contemporaries of Julius Caesar.) I am fortunate to have many opportunities to meet and get to know large numbers of lawyers younger than I am, including members of both Generation X (usually defined as having been born in the 1960s and 1970s) and Generation Y (born in the 1980s and 1990s). I recruit on at least one law school campus each fall. I know many associates in my law firm. And my bar activities bring me into contact with younger lawyers throughout our city in a wide variety of practice settings.

I see far more similarities than differences between lawyers of my generation and those who are entering the profession today. I see people going to law school today for the same reason my law school classmates and I did: to make a difference, to play a constructive role in society, to seek intellectual challenge, and to give something to the communities of which we are a part. Ask current law students why they chose to pursue a legal education and what they hope to get out of the profession, and, whatever your age, I don’t think you’ll find their answers much different from what you said at the same point in your life. Sure, making a good living is part of it, but it always has been.

You can find evidence of the endurance of the best values of our profession in many places. Here are a few examples:

1. Widespread Participation in Pro Bono Work by Younger Lawyers. The volume of pro bono work in Washington is going up by every measure—in absolute terms and as a percentage of the time lawyers spend on commercial matters. Since 2001 the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program has tracked the pro bono hours worked at 41 of the 50 largest law offices in the city, and the hours have gone up markedly every year. Other data indicate that a disproportionate amount of pro bono work is done by law firm associates and other young lawyers, and legal services providers in Washington confirm that younger lawyers are their predominant source of volunteers. Younger lawyers are more than maintaining the pro bono traditions of our bar. Law firms, recognizing the appeal of pro bono work to new lawyers, are expanding their pro bono programs and placing increased emphasis on them in recruiting.

2. Philanthropy. The younger members of our bar are generous. Last year law firm associates in Washington created the “Give a Little” campaign after the most recent round of salary increases. This grassroots effort encourages associates to contribute a portion of their earnings to one of four charities involved in national and international humanitarian relief. And in 2006 the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia raised a whopping $547,000 through its “Generous Associates” campaign, which targets law firm associates in our city.

3. Public Service. Government service continues to attract some of the best young talent in our legal community. So do our public interest and legal services programs. When public interest organizations and our legal services providers advertise for staff attorney positions, they find that they have their pick of highly qualified applicants despite the financial sacrifices that this work entails.

4. Voluntarism. Young lawyers are heavily involved in programs with our public schools, in nonprofit organizations, and in a variety of community-outreach programs sponsored by the sections of the D.C. Bar and by voluntary bar associations. Law firm associates founded and remain at the heart of Gifts for the Homeless, a zero-overhead operation staffed entirely by volunteers that every December conducts a clothing and fundraising drive to provide long underwear, hats, blankets, gloves, socks, and other clothing to more than 60 shelters, soup kitchens, and transitional homes.

So why the mischaracterizations of Generation X and Generation Y lawyers? I think there are two reasons. The first is just ignorance. If older people take the time to get to know younger lawyers as individuals, I think they’ll be impressed and inspired.

The second reason is the failure to appreciate the inevitable impact that changes in society—wrought principally by older people—have had on younger lawyers. The fact is, for example, that employers are less loyal to their employees than they used to be. Layoffs during economic downturns are now commonplace. In law firms opportunities for promotion to equity partnership are diminishing.

Is it really any wonder, then, that young lawyers would have less loyalty to their employers than young lawyers in the past did? And is there any reason to think that the young lawyers of the past would have behaved any differently had they faced the circumstances that young lawyers today confront?

I encourage my fellow baby boomers at the D.C. Bar to get to know our young colleagues. I think you’ll like what you see, and you’ll come away optimistic about the future of our profession.