Counsel to Counsel - Career Advice for Lawyers

If I had to name one thing I work on with almost every client, it would be FOLLOW UP! Follow up and persistence are critical if you want to build your business relationships, generate referrals, find that great in-house job, or get alignment from the partners you are trying to lead. The explosion of email and the added proliferation of spam filters, has made this all the more challenging. If you add in the fact that many lawyers don't like "sales", follow up is challenging....but critical. If you want to generate work, leverage your network to find your next great career opportunity, or be an effective leader in your law firm or corporate law department, follow up is a core skill to cultivate. But at some point, you actually can overdo it! Listen in for some practice tips on how to follow up in a professional and effective way.

According to Bruce, the ability to consistently attract great clients sets the best lawyers far above their peers. Your best clients are:

💲 Easier to manage 💲 More profitable 💲 Quicker to buy 💲 Provide more referrals 💲 More fun to work with

Sounds simple. But as it turns out, it takes work to figure out who these clients are and what they are really looking for in a lawyer. And clients may not be completely frank with their attorney. That's where The Client Whisperer comes in.

In this great conversation, Bruce talks about the ways he helps his clients grow and work smarter, rather than harder. Bruce can be reached at [email protected] .

We speak all the time on this podcast about the many ways, lawyers can advance their careers and find more satisfaction in an out of the law. If you at a law firm that emphasizes professional development, chances are, you are learning how to be successful in your practice area.

If you are fortunate to have a good mentor, perhaps you are also learning how to succeed at your firm and maybe how to begin to build your own practice. But if you are like most law firm associates, it is on you to decide what direction you want your career to go. Career counseling has not traditionally been provided by your employer. That was for your law school career services office.

But if you have been practicing for a few years, maybe you are unsure what comes next. Is partnership in your future? SHOULD you be building a practice? Is in-house an option and how do you get there? Is an alternative legal career in your future? Do you want to leave the practice of law altogether?

Most law firms leave those questions for you to figure out on your own (or by seeking out resources outside of your firm). But there are several firms that have now brought that function in-house. In this episode, I am very pleased to bring in one of the pioneers of the field of law firm career counseling, Kevin Agnew.

Kevin Agnew is Director of Attorney Career Services at Latham & Watkins an international law firm with almost 3000 lawyers. He runs the firm's Career Design program and oversees the global alumni program. In a confidential coaching environment, he works with attorneys on the full range of career issues. Kevin also is an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he was named Adjunct Professor of the Year in in 2017.

Kevin shares valuable career advice for associates and describes how Latham has embraced the notion that there can be different definitions of success (and that each of these paths can be benefit attorneys and their firm).

Related Podcasts

• Episode 30-The Key to Happiness in the Practice of Law
• Episode 27-Downsizing from Biglaw
• Episode 25-Thirty Years of Biglaw Wisdom

There is a lot of talk in my business networking group ProVisors about building a personal brand. But what is a personal brand? How can it help you build your law practice? Why should all lawyers create one?

In this episode, I speak with an expert on branding. Barbara Kaplan is CEO of BSK Strategies, a business development consulting practice helping individual lawyers and law firms build their brands, target and win new and higher-value work, establish thought-leadership, and develop innovative strategies and approaches to distinguish themselves in a competitive marketplace.

She brings to her consulting and coaching work over 20 years of experience helping clients define, pursue and win the business they want. She is devoted to helping them make that skill second nature.

Join us for a great discussion about how to differentiate yourself in the marketplace by creating a personal brand, taming your inner critic so it doesn't interfere with your efforts to self brand, and a host of related topics.

Lauren Rikleen knew from a very early age that she was destined to become a lawyer. She was the one in her family who was always questioning. She was the one who was always concerned about injustice. One of her earliest childhood memories was trying to stop bullying on the playground.

Today, Lauren is President of the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership. She is a nationally recognized expert on developing a thriving diverse and multi-generational workforce.

I recently sat down with Lauren to reflect on her career and what she has been doing since she left the practice of law.

Lauren was a guest on one of the first episodes of C2C where she spoke about success strategies for women in the legal profession. I invited her back to update us on her work since then and to talk about what inspired her to do the work she now does. She is an inspiration to me and to many women in the legal profession!

We talk a lot on this podcast about marketing and career management. While great lawyers have great technical skills, getting the work you want and advancing your career, requires a different set of skills. The same is true for lawyers who move from being an individual contributor to taking on leadership roles in their firm or in their corporate law department.

In this episode, I speak with an expert on how to make a successful transition into leadership. We discuss the things you should be thinking about if you have already made that move. Whether you are chairing a department for the first time, new to the role of managing partner at your firm, or promoted to general counsel, this is a great conversation for you.

My guest, Steve Smith is the President of GrowthSource Coaching, an Orange County CA based business and executive coaching company. Steve serves business professionals that want to become extraordinary leaders and savvy business owners. He has coached nearly 600 clients over 14 years and enjoys moments when his clients gain the clarity that lets them know they can achieve what they want. He has worked with many lawyers, and I am very pleased to say that he is my own coach!

It has never been easier to create digital content to market your law practice. But what is the right mix? How much should you be leveraging LinkedIn and other social media platforms to build your visibility. Are email newsletters effective? Should you be using SEO to get more visitors to your website? What about podcasting? What should you being doing yourself and when should you outsource?

In this episode, I speak with Marc Apple, a real expert in digital marketing. Marc is the owner of Forward Push, a marketing agency that creates dynamic websites and manages SEO for companies in a range of industries. His clients are startups and small-to-medium sized businesses including law firms. Marc and I discuss how to leverage the full array of marketing options that are readily available and when to turn to an agency for help.

I speak to a lot of lawyers who are interested in moving into in-house roles. While not every in-house lawyer is happy leaving private practice, on the whole, I find that the in-house lawyers I meet have higher levels of career satisfaction. In-house lawyers generally don't keep track of their time, at least not in the same way. And while the hours can still be demanding, lawyers who work in corporate law departments often have more predictability.

In-house lawyers also enjoy having an ongoing relationship with a client that they get to know on a deeper level. And for many in-house counsel, being the company lawyer means the opportunity to participate in more business decisions.

The path to in-house is clear for corporate lawyers. Employment attorneys also have a relatively easy time moving in-house. But for litigators, the path is less obvious.

In this episode, I speak with Evan Slavitt, a former litigator who has some great advice for litigators looking to go in-house. I recently reconnected with Evan after many years and after we spoke for a while about his experience as a General Counsel. I quickly realized that I had to have him on the show.

EVAN is the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation in South Carolina. Before joining AVX, Evan spent many years in private practice where he concentrated on complex commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense. He also did a stint at the US Attorney's office in Boston in the 1980's. I met him during that time when I was a law student working as a clerk in that office. Evan can be reached at [email protected],

Launching your own law practice can be both energizing and scary. For lawyers who are accustomed to earning a steady paycheck, hanging a shingle means saying goodbye to security. Leaving a large firm means that there is no one between you and the client. You need to figure out how to advise them without the help of partners who are just down the hall. You also need to develop your own infrastructure.

At the same time, starting your own practice means having a lot of flexibility and a chance to really build something of your own.

In one of the first episodes of Counsel to Counsel, I interviewed Matt Yospin, an IP lawyer who went solo after several years at an AmLaw 100 firm. Since that time, I have coached a number of lawyers who have started their own practices.

Matt Yospin spoke a lot about how he has leveraged technology to make his IP practice run smoothly with far fewer resources. In this episode, I speak with Allan MacLean about starting a solo employment law practice, what he wishes he had known when he launched his firm, and how he has shifted the nature of his work after leaving a large national labor and employment law boutique. Allan described what it was like to start representing employees after focusing on representing only management. He also talked about how workplace investigations are a nice adjunct to the litigation he is doing.

Allan MacLean is the owner of MacLean Employment Law in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he concentrates on employment law and civil litigation.

Allan now counsels and represents both individuals and employers regarding the full range of employment matters, including leaves of absence, compensation issues, terminations, and harassment and discrimination claims. He also assists clients with "non-compete" agreements, and a growing part of his practice is workplace investigations.

Early December is a great time to start planning for the New Year. Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals is a great way to make sure that you achieve what you set out to do. In this special edition of the Counsel to Counsel Podcast, I define S.M.A.R.T. goals and then share with you my own S.M.A.R.T. goals for 2022.