Hi Bachcha. Generally speaking, an associate with 2.5 years of experience is expected to have the capability to run simple enforcement matters (like matters with no overlaps, matters with low degree of overlaps, or matters relating to sectors where approval is typically easy like PE, mutual funds, insurance, etc). On the enforcement front, one would expect that you can run advisories on your own and for litigation work - you can prepare initial strategy covering all the basic defences. This is a bare minimum expectation. For the above average associate (not good or great), one also expects some degree of original thinking and argumentation (for both combinations and enforcement). For basic queries from corp colleagues, an associate of your experience should be able to satisfactorily resolve 50% of the queries (I am not a mathematician), and for the remaining queries your initial reaction in most cases should be the same as an SAs / PAs answer.

If you think your current competence is off what is set out above, there may be one of two issues.

1. Your team has let you down terribly. And this is quite plausible. In my experience, few of the tier 1 practices run in a manner where original thinking is highly looked down upon. In such teams, for combinations you are expected to pick up an old draft and then just change the bare minimum to fit the current transaction. For enforcement - you are dictated a structure by the partner and you are expected to expand it based on language used in previous matters. If you display any original thinking - even if that is an improvement, you are hammered down quite a bit. This kind of work culture is not present in all tier - 1 firms. In many, the junior is given a significant amount of free hand to learn and present original thought, language and ideas. While it is possible that the proposed ideas / language may be trashed and knocked down by the senior in the matter, this mechanism allows you to learn how to think and how not to think. This kind of environment is vital to be a competition lawyer and not to remain a competition secretary. So, if you are in the first kind of tier 1 practice - run away.

2. You are just not a very motivated / quality associate, and you are one who does the bare minimum and gets on with his / her life. This kind of associate / dead wood is present in almost all firms. As explained in a previous reply - such associates are poorly trained because the seniors lose interest in them after a few months. This is because, such associates rarely make a senior's life easy and generally - consistently make a mess for the senior to clear up. If this is your case, then recognition of this problem is key. Once recognised, learn how to work harder and may be look for a new firm where you can start afresh. Sometimes it is difficult to grow in a place, which is rife with disadvantageous preconceived notions.

I wish you the best.

An ex-competition law associate.

The above is based on my experience which is somewhat dated now. If things have changes dramatically, I will not know.