Legal Career Development

Big firm or small, there's a single question the partners ask about young associates: "Is she a keeper?" And, while legal skills certainly count, we all know what ultimately swings the pendulum on that question: "Can she bring in clients?" Help ...

You're in a small firm with one or more baby boomer senior partners, and they’ve just made you an offer of partnership. Congratulations. Maybe. Before you accept, there are lots of questions you should ask. Here are just a few, starting with the ...

For many young associates, their first “real” job is at a law firm. If you fall into this group, it’s likely that you’re receiving honest — sometimes glowing, sometimes harsh — feedback about your work for the first time. On the other hand, you ...

It is said that new lawyers only face two challenges when opening their own practices: not knowing how to practice law and not knowing how to manage a practice. Other than that, the rest is easy. Other than that, the rest is easy. In ...

Athletes often discuss the fact that each time they advance to the next level the game “speeds up.” The leap from high school to college ball is a significant one. Players are bigger, faster and stronger, and the game moves at a more rapid pace. ...

A great deal has been said and written about the epidemic of the unhappy lawyer. Surveys suggest that career dissatisfaction among lawyers, and even rates of depression, are on the rise. Law firm associates are not immune. In fact, a survey from ...

Regarding your self-promotion, I have good news and I have bad news. Good news: There are more opportunities to promote yourself than ever before. Bad news: The sprawl of marketing opportunities is so fractured and vast, you'll need multiple ...

I'll begin by pulling the Band-Aid off quickly: After 15 years, I'm leaving the e-discovery space. For those who know me, this will come as a really big surprise — especially given my longtime social media moniker "eDiscovery Gold.” In truth, ...

Having your own clients and business has long been characterized as “critical” for lawyers in firms of any size. Now that’s elevated to the survival level. The days of paternalistic law firms maintaining client-less lawyers at their long-time ...

When we talk about generational issues — and we do that frequently — we tend to focus on millennials. That’s only natural because we depend on them to carry law firms into the future. But we also need to pay close attention to baby boomers, the ...