I’m a mid-level associate and have been working closely with the same partner for over a year. I received very positive feedback in my year-end review and was told I’d be managing the set of cases we’re handling this year (though so far that work has been slow for other reasons).
Lately though, I’ve noticed that most (if not all) of my assignments are coming through a senior associate. Either the work is being assigned directly by that senior, or I’m included on an email where the partner assigns something to both of us but clearly loops the senior in as an intermediary (“work with senior to finalize”)
I’m trying to understand what’s going on. Is a layer being added between me and the partner? Is this normal when you’re told you’ll “manage” cases?
To complicate things, the senior doesn’t really delegate well and tends to take on most of the substantive work themselves. I feel like I have to fight for the work I want to do — even when it seems like it was assigned to both of us.
Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you handle it?