Every in-house lawyer we surveyed for our AI Fluency Report is using AI. So the question isn’t whether Legal uses it anymore, but how well they use it. 

Join us on October 14 to unpack our report’s most surprising findings - from why confidence in using AI doesn’t always mean proficiency, to why so few legal professionals are giving AI the context it needs, and how they can do it better. 

Hear from Summize's legal experts (General Counsel Lexi Lutz and Legal Counsel Tom Pratt), plus CodeRabbit's Legal Director Rory Douglas and legal ops leader Patty Corey. 

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I have no memory of writing a formal self-assessment as a law firm associate. It's possible I did one, but if so, it wasn't memorable. Neither were my reviews. Like most of my junior peers, I was told I was doing great and to keep it up. Nothing in particular was celebrated or criticized. It was an era when all of us in big law litigation were blowing past every billable hours expectation, whether written or unwritten.

So my first year in-house, when it came time to write my self-review, I sat down to a blank screen with no notes to back me up. I also had a baby at home, which meant I was running on very little sleep and even less memory. It took me far longer than it should have, and I'm sure I left out real accomplishments.

The next year, I started preparing in January. I've done it every year since.

If you haven't been preparing, or haven't prepared as well as you'd like, you're not too late. Starting now beats waiting until the night before your review is due, staring at that blinking cursor.

Here's how to start.

Nine months of the year are behind you, which means most of the work you'll be reviewed on is already done. The evidence is out there. You just need to go find it.

Start with ten minutes and a blank page. List every big win you remember from the year. Then add the things you weren't sure mattered but that other people treated as wins. Your sense of what was important and your business colleagues' sense of it probably don't line up perfectly, write down both.

The things you spent the most time on are worth acknowledging, but aren’t automatically the most valuable. So don’t just focus on what took up your time, focus on places where you made a meaningful impact.

Next, skim your calendar month by month, looking for time blocked around major work you've since forgotten. You don't need to account for every hour. You're looking for the big shapes.

Don't skip this one. More than once, I've gotten to December and realized an entire project or deal I did in January had fallen completely out of my head.

Then go to the places you've already been reporting your wins. If you keep notes ahead of weekly check-ins with your manager, or send monthly updates, those are (or should be) a running record of your year. The same goes for board decks. If you contributed legal updates, each one is a dated snapshot of what you were driving that quarter.