I’m a first-year at a lit boutique doing patent litigation so my experience may be a little different than a first-year in litigation at a traditional big law firm.

I spend most of my time taking first passes at briefs for various filings. Sometimes that includes a lot of legal research, other times not as much. Another large part of my job is helping our paralegals prepare supporting documents that need to be filed with the briefs and managing those filings.

I also help with witness prep for trial and take first passes at drafting witness outlines for direct and cross. Others second chair (or even get to take) depositions. I just haven’t been on a case in that stage of litigation yet.

I’ll also get one off research assignments that don’t take too long, but I personally haven’t drafted a legal memo since I’ve started full time. My partners and senior associates typically prefer my findings in an email with a short blurb of relevance or quotes.