Harnessing the Potential of Early Career Attorneys in a Municipal Law Office

By Sofia Hernandez

Look around any municipal law conference, and it is clear that the municipal field tends to hire mid-to-late career attorneys. But how does an office build long-term institutional knowledge and bring in new ideas if it only hires from certain age and experience groups?

Prior to my hiring at the Durham City Attorney’s Office (CAO), the youngest person in our office was 49 years old. Let me be clear, as someone who has recently joined the over-forty club, I am not implying that someone in their forties is out of new ideas. However, having supervised dozens of interns and externs and taught classes at a law school, I have witnessed very different approaches to office culture and client services from those who are 25+ years out of law school than those who are 25 years old. Both bring value to a diverse and thriving office. So how does the municipal field actively work to harness the potential of early career attorneys to better serve local governments?

Over the last six years, I have contributed to the CAO’s intentional introduction of municipal law to law students and early career attorneys. During the three and a half years I coordinated our extern/intern program, our office hosted thirty-four students from four different local law schools. The students were talented and eager to learn about municipal law. Their sense of dedication, early legal acumen, and analysis impressed even tough client departments. Serving as the program coordinator instilled in me a certainty that some students, with guidance and supervision, could serve as municipal lawyers right after passing the bar. And many of our past students have gone into practice in the public sector: clerking at appellate and state supreme courts and the United States Supreme Court; working in direct-client services entities such as Legal Aid and public defender’s offices; and serving in-house at housing authorities and legal advocacy organizations.

Every term during my tenure as coordinator, inevitably, a moment would come when one or more students would ask about job prospects in our office. Feeling pleased that they were enticed by this great field, I also felt guilt answering, “Well, we usually hire folks five to ten years out of law school. We want them to have built some experience elsewhere because we are not set up to train new lawyers.” For context, historically, our office has had very little turnover. We are only 10 attorneys-strong, and folks tend to stay. When I got hired in 2018, the office had not hired anyone in eight years. And while I was given time to learn municipal law, I had also already spent eight and a half years in private practice. No one needed to teach or onboard me on foundational legal skills.

Fast-forwarding a few years, in the winter of 2023, after dozens of talented students had graced our intern cubicles, one of our most senior colleagues retired. Faced with his departure, we explored a new approach to filling his role.[1] We decided to reclassify his senior position into one tailored to early career attorneys: someone zero to three years out of law school. Of course, little in local government is as easy as simply deciding. Because the associate attorney position was a new job classification, it required council approval.[2] Our memo to Council stated:

Having hosted over 30 student externs/interns these last four years, the CAO has seen the great talent and passion young attorneys can bring to this work. Municipal law is a dynamic field that provides work/life balance and engaging and meaningful work to attorneys seeking work in the public sector. Young and early-career attorneys should have opportunities for entry into this career field. Further, this new classification enables the CAO to offer long-term growth and career development within the organization and is a meaningful step in the CAO’s organizational plan.[3]

Luckily, Council applauded our efforts and approved the position on October 16, 2023. That same day we were ready to post the job.

We acknowledged that welcoming an early career attorney would require guidance and supervision different from what was customary in our office. Fortunately, as part of creating a robust intern/extern program we had created a program manual, supervising guidelines for attorneys, project assignment forms, and other basic onboarding and training resources for municipal law. We had also fostered a culture in which all our attorneys invested and participated in the interns’/externs’ development. It was a great starting point.

Our goal was to hire a high-performing, public sector-minded colleague who would want to stay a part of our team for decades. We applied key principles and practical applications of Public Sector Motivation (“PSM”) from job creation to now, eighteen months into the tenure of our associate attorney hire. A concept developed in the 1990s to help reinvigorate and grow the public sector workforce, PSM is a person’s “predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions.”[4] Recognizing that “the importation of private sector management has not always yielded benefits for performance in the public sector,” over the last thirty-five years public administration and management scholars have created a body of work that provides public sector managers useful insights into motivating public employees.[5] In particular, a review of 144 PSM articles between 2008-2015 identified five key lessons having practical applicability:

1. Use PSM as a selection tool;[6]
2. Facilitate PSM through intra-office cooperation and a supportive work environment;[7]
3. Convey the significance of the work;[8]
4. Enculturate newcomers into public service values; and
5. Build leadership based on public sector values.

Below, I discuss how we incorporated the first four lessons into the process of welcoming our new associate attorney: (1) posting the job, (2) hiring, (3) onboarding and training, and (4) supervision.

1. Using PSM as a Selection Tool

We first used PSM as a part of our selection process by attempting to attract those with high PSM.[9] PSM studies recommend “job advertisements as means for projecting organizational images and for values as signals to job candidates, both important elements relevant to attracting high public service motivation staff.”[10] In drafting the associate attorney job posting, I reviewed dozens of job advertisements from public sector entities. I also connected with several former and current externs/interns to learn what attracted them to a public sector job posting and which factors were most important to them when considering a public sector position. We received 97 applications.

We also used PSM as a selection tool in our resume review and initial screening interviews. Because the position was targeted at early career attorneys, we looked beyond work experience in resumes and let programs of study, college jobs, and volunteer work establish high PSM. For our screening interviews, we asked each applicant why they (a) wanted to work in the public sector and (b) specifically serve our city.

We were similarly committed to PSM in our finalists’ interviews. As the research supports, “[a]ttracting and selecting employees with high public service motivation is a highly reliable way to capture the benefits of public service motivation, enhancing both employee performance and agency mission accomplishment.”[11] We crafted questions that allowed us to better gauge PSM in each of the finalists: Why do you want to work in municipal law? What gives you the most satisfaction in your work? Where do you see yourself professionally in five years? Excluding your role as a lawyer, who are you at work?

Focusing on public service in each step of the process resulted in hiring a bright, talented early-career attorney with high PSM, Sarah Laws. A year and a half into her time with the CAO Sarah feels “lucky” she found this work and this office. And while it is early still, she claims she is here for the long-haul. That kind of enthusiasm for the work and the office cannot but contribute positively to her relationships with her colleagues and client departments.

2. Generating PSM through Cooperation

To “create a supportive work environment that models and reinforces public service motivation,”[12] our onboarding plan encouraged Sarah to meet one-on-one with each attorney to learn about their portfolios and their particular path to public service. CAO leadership laid the groundwork for those one-on-one meetings by emphasizing the importance of welcoming Sarah, helping her learn municipal law, and acclimating her to the organization.

Since we could not expect an early-career attorney without prior municipal experience to have clear and specific interests within the field, our training plan facilitated Sarah’s quick exposure to a variety of work. During her first twelve months, we asked Sarah to assist different attorneys. She showed an eagerness to learn and willingness to alleviate others’ workload. The attorneys appreciated her enthusiasm and enjoyed teaching her. As a result, Sarah felt welcomed and supported in her new public sector workplace. [13]

3. Conveying the Significance of the Job

PSM research suggests managers should convey the significance of the relevant public sector job by “creating opportunities for direct contacts between employees and beneficiaries.”[14] In line with this PSM practical lesson, we encouraged Sarah to invest time to connect with departmental staff, seeing firsthand their services to the city. “Field trips and site visits!” We told her. Take a shift with the fire department. Visit the municipal cemeteries. Sit in on basic law enforcement training. Ride along with a code enforcement officer. Attend a parks department community event. The possibilities were many. The goal was simple: to show that the CAO’s work supports the work of the dedicated staff on the front lines.

The visits allowed Sarah to learn more about her different departments’ values so that she can best provide legal solutions with those values in mind. Further, the visits led to positive relationship-building between staff and our office.[15] Staff often appreciate when a city attorney wants to know more about their work. They share what they do for our community with eagerness and pride. That, in turn, helped build pride and eagerness in Sarah to serve her departments. PSM elevated all-around.

Also, within her first three months, we coordinated meetings with each of her department directors, her direct supervisor, and Sarah. We asked each director to address (a) how the CAO serves their department, (b) large, anticipated projects, and (c) how our office can meet their needs going forward. This proactive introduction and briefing on key upcoming public projects inspired Sarah and fueled her enthusiasm for the opportunities ahead in her municipal career.

4. Enculturating New Hires into the Office’s Public Service Values

While Sarah joined our office with high PSM, PSM research highlights that “imbuing public sector values through formal and informal training is an important way to create employee–organization convergence that produces a stronger public service ethos.”  We focused on introducing our office’s specific public service values by providing both formal and informal values-exposure opportunities.[16] Informally, CAO leadership regularly invites attorneys to discuss their work and its impact at staff meetings. As previously noted, Sarah was also encouraged to collaborate with various attorneys and gain valuable insights into what they appreciate about the organization and municipal work.[17] Additionally, we have facilitated informal mentorship from dynamic senior assistant city attorneys who have spent their careers in public service.[18]

Formally, we developed a deliberate and structured approach in establishing the associate attorney–supervisor relationship.[19] And I have had the pleasure of serving as Sarah’s supervisor. Even before her first day, we created a training and onboarding plan with the goal that Sarah would operate independently with a full portfolio in two years. Leading to that moment, she incrementally added discrete departmental divisions and projects to round out a complete portfolio. We intentionally crafted a portfolio of departments and divisions that expose Sarah to a wide variety of work involving direct service departments and city volunteer boards (e.g., code enforcement, the fire department, parks and recreation, and quasi-judicial boards). As she takes on new work, we have set aside time to reflect on her progress and discuss feedback.[20] During her first few months, we met daily. In our meetings, I serve as a mentor and advisor.[21] I share my PSM values. I am not someone simply interested in the work product, but in her development in our office long-term.[22]

It has been critical to be available and flexible for her growth. Sarah has shown skills and interests not initially noticed in the hiring process. She has exceeded our expectations. Twice over we have accelerated our initial growth and development plan. However, there have also been course-correction moments. For those, I prioritized listening, transparency, and accountability.[23] I also openly reflect on and share with her my own growth experiences from the early stages of my career in municipal law. After all, “[s]tories are a powerful tool for teaching people what’s important and what’s not, what works and what doesn’t, and what is and what could be.”[24] Often, our conversations lead us back to the impact of the work on the organization and community. And we adjust and move forward because we are motivated to serve.

Now, eighteen months into her tenure, we have established numerous practices and systems to warmly welcome yet another high-performing, public sector–minded early career attorney. And Sarah served on the hiring committee. Thus far, applying practical PSM research insights to the intentional design of our hiring and onboarding process has shown to be a successful strategy for unlocking the potential of early-career attorneys and sustaining our office’s excellence.

After graduating from Duke Law School in 2009, Sofia began her career in private practice assisting clients in commercial litigation and intellectual property. Seven years ago she joined the Durham, NC City Attorney’s Office where she advises city departments on matters related to public safety, code enforcement, and community engagement. 

[1] James M. Kouzes & Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 138-64 (7th ed. 2023) (a key practice of exemplary leadership is to “challenge the process” by searching for opportunities for innovative ways to improve).

[2] Durham, N.C., City Code § 42-4 (2006).

[3] Durham, N.C., Durham City Council Action Agenda, Item No. 7, New Position Classification – Associate Attorney, https://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=608&doctype=1 (Oct. 16, 2023).

[4] James L. Perry & Lois Recascino Wise, The Motivational Bases of Public Service, 50 Pub. Admin. Rev. 367, 367-73 (1990).

[5] Robert K. Christiansen et al., Public Service Motivation Research: Lessons for Practice, 77 Pub. Admin. Rev. 529, 529 (2017).

[6] Id. at 532; see also Adrian Ritz et al., Public Service Motivation: A Systematic Literature Review and Outlook, 76 Pub. Admin. Rev. 414, 421 (2016).

[7] Christensen, 77 Pub. Admin. Rev. at 533-34.

[8] Id. at 535.

[9] Id. at 532 (PSM research warns that overlooking PSM is a “serious omission in existing recruitment processes”).

[10] Id. at 533 (citing Christian Waldner, Do Public and Private Recruiters Look for Different Employees? The Role of Public Service Motivation, 35 Int’l J. of Pub. Admin. 70, 70-9 (2012); Torben Beck Jorgensen & Mark R. Rutgers, Tracing Public Values Change: A Historical Study of Civil Service Job Advertisements, 6 Contemp. Readings in L. and Soc. Just. 59, 59-80 (2014)).

[11] Christensen, 77 Pub. Admin. Rev. at 32; see also Ritz, 76 Pub. Admin. Rev. at 421.

[12] Id. at 534.

[13] Id. (“Organizations that intentionally nurture public service motivation develop stronger ties between the organization and employee values and goals.”).

[14] Id. at 535.

[15] Id. (recommended model rests on “the importance of interpersonal relationships between employees and beneficiaries that enable employees to experience their work as important and meaningful.”) (citing Adam M. Grant, Relational Job Design and the Motivation to Make a Prosocial Difference, 32 Acad. of Mgmt. Rev. 393, 393-417 (2007)).

[16] Christensen, 77 Pub. Admin. Rev. at 536.

[17] Kouzes, The Leadership Challenge at 207 (“leaders need to develop cooperative goals and roles, support norms of reciprocity, structure projects to promote joint efforts, and maintain durable social connections”).

[18] Christensen, 77 Pub. Admin. Rev. at 536 (formal and informal mentoring “may impart ‘craft knowledge’ and create a prosocial environment that may be particularly valued by new generations of employees”) (citing Barry Bozeman & Mary K. Feeney, Public Management Mentoring: A Three-Tier Model, 29 Rev. of Pub. Personnel Admin. 134, 134-57 (2009)).

[19] Kouzes, The Leadership Challenge at xxii (“leadership is fundamentally a relationship”).

[20] Id. at 78 (“. . . measurement and feedback are essential to increased efforts to improve performance”).

[21] UNC School of Government, Leading for Results – Civic Fellows, https://www.sog.unc.edu/courses/leading-results-civic-fellows (last visited June 24, 2025) (In Fall 2023, I participated in the Leading for Results two-week intensive program offered by the University of North Carolina’s School of Government. The program “aims to enhance personal and organizational leadership skills and competencies. Participants complete the program with a deeper understanding of the leadership strengths, skills for improving their organizations, and a renewed passion for public service.”).

[22] Kouzes, The Leadership Challenge at 243 (“When leaders coach, educate, enhance self-determination, and otherwise share power they’re demonstrating deep trust in and respect for others’ abilities.”).

[23] Len Kill Kelley & Debra Robinson, Effective Conversations: The Genetic Code of Relationships, The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships that Make Government Work, 81-111 (2012) (listening “is at the epicenter of successful leadership.”).

[24] Kouzes, The Leadership Challenge at 77.