Monthly Archives: August 2014
Lateral Partner ROI
August 24, 2014
By Sang Lee – At the request of a particular law firm’s managing partner, I recently interviewed several partners who had joined his firm laterally within the last 12 months. The interview goals included, among others, the identification of strengths and weaknesses (oops, insert “areas for development” here) in the firm’s “thoughtfully conceived” and freshly launched
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A Lawyer Advancement “Hot Button” That Should Not Be Ignored
August 24, 2014
By Lisa Horowitz – I was recently asked to speak with a group of law firm attorneys about navigating office politics. While I initially balked at the invitation (as dealing with office politics is hardly one of my favorite past-times), I ultimately faced my own demons and facilitated a robust discussion. All organizations, including (or dare
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Why More of Your Women Lawyers Aren’t Leaders
August 18, 2014
By Ellen Ostrow – People in law firms and legal departments keep telling me that they wish they had more women lawyers in leadership but they can’t find enough interested women. When I ask them what they are doing to develop the talent of their women, they tout their training programs: “We have four sessions of
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The Evolution of the “New” Legal Professions
August 18, 2014
By Terri Mottershead – For a long time now, law firms have categorized their staff into two broad groups: lawyers and non-lawyers or professional and support/general staff. The categorization often and unfortunately, has gone hand in hand with a hierarchy or belief that lawyers and what they do is somehow more important than the work done
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Financial Literacy – No Longer Optional for Lawyers
August 11, 2014
By Betsy Munnell – Last week I had coffee with an old friend and former law firm partner who quizzed me about my post-practice career as a business development coach. We discussed the considerable challenges facing lawyers, young and not so young, struggling to build robust professional networks and self-sustaining practices. We bemoaned the miserable progress
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Helping Lawyers Learn From Their Mistakes
August 11, 2014
By Kathy Morris – I led a program for people in large firm lawyer training on recovering from mistakes resiliently, one of six skills attorney respondents to a practice-readiness survey identified as important yet “not teachable.” The program addressed: (A) what lawyers should do [face and fess up to a mistake; bring solutions to the assigning
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Expanding the Business Case for Talent Management
August 8, 2014
By Steve Armstrong – However firmly talent management programs are imbedded in law firms, those responsible for the function still need – and always will need – to make the “business case” for its value: how does it contribute in a fundamental way to a firm’s success? For those reading this blog, the answers seem obvious.
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Turning Law Students into Client-Service Providers
August 8, 2014
By Heather Frattone – As we prepare our students for the “fall” recruiting season, we are increasingly focused on helping them to understand the transition from law student to client-service provider. As law students, you are educational consumers and are expected to take advantage of the school’s opportunities to develop your legal and analytical skills, your
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How to Help Lawyers Find Happiness
August 7, 2014
By Sue Manch – Those of us in the legal talent development arena devote our time and efforts to programs and policies that will improve the success and happiness of our lawyers and law students. We implement competency-based performance models, create tailored mentoring programs, develop substantive and varied curricula, gather meaningful feedback, and provide one-on-one
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E-learning – Significant Results Without a Significant Investment
August 7, 2014
By Steve Gluckman – Get this… In 2009 33% of learning and development budgets across industries were dedicated to “tech-enabled learning,” including e-learning, learning management, mobile learning, and other such resources. That’s one dollar out of every three spent on some kind of technology-based learning tool or solution—a big number to be sure. However, by
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