Tips from the Top: Sheryl Willert

Tips from the Top: Sheryl Willert

Sheryl Willert is managing director of Williams Kastner, and a member in the firm's Seattle office. Ms. Willert represents clients in complex commercial litigation, employment law and counseling, investigations and alternative dispute resolution. A national speaker and author on such topics as sexual harassment, age discrimination, and race discrimination, Ms. Willert has successfully represented individuals and corporations in such matters. Additionally, Ms. Willert has represented clients in matters involving professional negligence, product liability, personal injury, contracts, and civil rights.

Ms. Willert is a past president of DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, the nation’s largest association of civil defense attorneys with more than 22,000 members. She has the distinction of being both the first female and the first African-American to serve as an officer of the DRI.

Ms. Willert is also a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America. She serves on the advisory board for the National Employment Law Institute (NELI) and is on the board of directors of the USLAW Network.

10 Things Every Law Student Should Learn as a 1L to Facilitate Career Success

After finishing my 1L year at Vanderbilt Law, I must say that not only do I feel much wiser, but I also feel stronger and more resilient. Like climbing a mountain, I realize I still have a ways to go, but at least I reached the first plateau with a few breaths to spare. The lessons I have learned this year have been monumental and my experiences reflect many of the tips of sucess that practicing women lawyers have shared with me. In no particular order, here are "10 Things Every Law Student Should Learn as a 1L to Facilitate Career Success":

1. Make a connection, form a bond, secure a mentor. Whether it be law school or starting a new job, unless you already have some prior experience you most likely have no idea initially what you are doing. Mentors can serve as your go-to support system for advice and help. Sometimes it may be difficult to ask for help, but better you ask on the front end and prevent avoidable mistakes. Plus, forming relationships with people who have "been there and done that" can ease some of the stresses and anxiety that come with new experiences. 

Top 10 Tips to Ace a Telephone Screening: by Mardy Sackley

You got the call. Your dream employer wants to interview you! You’re doin’ the happy dance, envisioning a face to face meeting that involves a series of interviews followed by a swanky lunch. Then they let you know – this is a telephone screen. Say what?

Lucky for job seekers everywhere, the lateral legal market is greatly improved from the dark days of 2009. Since the recession, however, employers have been forced to do more with less. Hence, the telephone screen, a cost effective way for an employer to figure out if a candidate has the basic skill set and demeanor for the position at hand before investing in a full round of interviews.

In 2012, we have seen an uptick in the number of law firms and corporations requiring a telephone screen before an in-person interview. The screen may last anywhere from ½ hour to an hour and it is generally conducted by one or two interviewers.

A half hour may not seem like a big deal. After all, what can you mess up in a short thirty minutes? Plenty, believe me. My advice to interviewees – don’t underestimate the power of the screen! Remember, the purpose of the screen is to convince the employer that you are worthy of a face-to -face meeting. If you don’t pass muster, then you will not pass go, will not collect $200 dollars, and will not get the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting.

Breakfast With Tiffany...

You may recall reading the clever blogs of Tiffany Farber, one of my co-bloggers from Law Bulletin Publishing’s former series, Attorneys in Transition. Tiffany is the one who boldly told us all about her life and attitudes in transition, never sounding pouty or feeling entitled that the world owed her more than she received.  You may recall Tiffany’s blogs, full of energy after rolling up her sleeves, shutting down her laptop and taking it to the pavement.

In fact, when Tiffany’s staff attorney/pro bono coordinator position was eliminated from a small Chicago non-profit, she did some soul searching, as anyone would. She pulled together an elevator speech, she went out and met people, and she followed up with them too. Tiffany also reminded herself that, in addition to being an attorney, she also had a full life as a fiancé (now wife), daughter, sister and friend.

Not only did Tiffany bravely start to build her own practice a few years back, she also took it upon herself to learn new areas of law.  She joined groups for solo practitioners where she could listen to others’ challenges, learn, and give back. Soon enough, she found herself coaching other attorneys in transition, wanting them to benefit from her learning curve. She started writing blogs for Attorneys in Transition so that we, her readers, could find comfort from her and nod our heads with total understanding – and root her on!

Personal Branding Corner: Lawyers, Change & the Implication On Our Personal Brands

In personal brand management, a big key to success is your ability to adapt to circumstances and change.  If you aren't flexible and dynamic, then there's no room for you to grow, develop an effective and genuine personal brand and succeed.

Many industries are perceived as static and slow to change and grow.  One in particular is the legal industry and lawyers.  I work with plenty of fabulous lawyers and law firms up for the challenge of developing a personal brand that is dynamic and flexible.  However, the legal industry as a whole is not viewed as such.  For those of you who remember, think about the show, "Paper Chase".  Not sure that perception has changed over the decades since that show aired.

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Personal Branding Corner: Is Your Pain Your Passion?

In personal brand development for clients, we often try to have people see that what makes us unique and develops into a great story about us is our adversities and life challenges. It is often very difficult for clients to: 1) unearth and face their life challenges and adversities and 2) be open to sharing this information with others in an effort to build connections with potential clients and employers.

As humans, we connect with people over things we have in common. That's why alumni networks and fan clubs are so popular. We also connect with people over hardships. Even if we have not suffered the exact hardship, we respect people who are brave enough to share their hardship. We also view those people as ones who have endured to live on and prosper. They give us hope for our own future.

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It’s All About Who You Know – 5 Tips for Successful Networking: by Julie Locke

I guess you could call me the poster child for career movement and taking risks. I graduated from law school, joined a big firm as a litigation associate, realized within two years that big firm life was not for me, and have been on an alternative career path (always in the legal profession) ever since. I won’t bore you with the details; you can visit my LinkedIn profile if you’re curious - http://www.linkedin.com/in/julielocke .

 After twelve years in the working world and a number of career moves, I am certain of one very important thing. Finding your best career options at any stage of your working life really boils down to who you know and how you leverage your relationships. Whether you’re a law student, junior associate or seasoned practitioner who is looking for the next step, building and continually nurturing your community of contacts – i.e. “networking” – makes all the difference when you are ready to make a move, especially when you want to pursue an opportunity that isn’t perfectly suited to your background and experience.

When I really started getting out there and meeting people, which didn’t happen much until after I left the big firm and actually had time for it, I was resistant to the idea of networking. Networking to me meant boring cocktail events filled with people in suits wearing name tags, carrying wine in a plastic cup, hoping to engage in at least one awkward conversation so they appear to know somebody. (Yes, my view was pretty negative.) What I quickly learned is that networking is about so much more than a cocktail event, and the key to building a strong network is leveraging who you know already. These five simple tips have time and again proven effective for me in building my network at every stage of my career.

Walking Away from the Dream Job (Twice) and Never Looking Back: by Lisa Forbes

I have made two job changes during my career as an attorney, and both were met with the same line of questioning: You’re doing what?  You’re going where?  Why would you do that?  Fantastic…after months of battling my own inner demons (particularly that irritating overachiever who tends to define herself by what others think of her decisions and, therefore, always wants to go to the “best” law school, law firm, etc.), now I have to deal with my colleagues and mentors making me feel like I’m making a huge mistake.  Rewind ten years to me, about to graduate from Harvard Law School and on my way to Chicago to join the corporate group of a top‑tier firm as a fresh‑faced and eager first year associate. 

Then fast forward two years to me, having pulled multiple consecutive all‑nighters on a deal and literally crying at the copy machine because the pages of the document that I’m trying to scan keep sticking together.  Cue the weekend operations manager gingerly taking the document out of my hands and telling me to “walk away from the copier and get some sleep.”  Not a pretty sight. 

Why would I leave a job like that?  Hmmm.  Don’t get me wrong - my big firm experience was fantastic in many ways.  I loved (most of) the people that I worked with, and in the two years that I was there, I gained an incredible amount of experience.  That said, I had a moment of fatigue-induced clarity at the copy machine that day and realized that, while it was without a doubt one of the premiere law firms in the world, it was not the right place for me. 

Personal Branding Corner: Got A Common Reality With Clients/Prospects?

Just recently on American Idol, we saw a new twist.  It seems that not only are the producers looking for talented singers, but now they have smartly turned their energies towards finding someone who also looks and fits the part of the singer they are cultivating.  Makes total sense to me - if you are trying to brand yourself as a country music singer, then you need to look the part so that your fan base sees your visual brand/appearance fit into their overall reality of the singer.

What American Idol did wrong, in my opinion, was to get Tommy Hilfiger to be the stylist/style guide for the contestants. The entire point of giving any advice or being a consultant and running your own business is the following:  You have to understand 1) your reality of what you do for a living/what you provide your clients and 2) your clients'/prospects' reality and what they need from you.

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Profile: Community Prosecutor Sharla Jackson

“I find that I can try a case, put a bad guy in prison for life, go home and bake cookies and knit socks.” -- Sharla Jackson

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sharla Jackson, Senior Assistant District Attorney and Zone 5 Community Prosecutor for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, GA. ADA Jackson is a native of Miami, Florida. She graduated from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and then went on to attend the University of Miami Law School, earning her J.D. in 1990. After passing the bar, ADA Jackson’s first job in the public sector was prosecuting municipal code violations for the City of Atlanta Solicitor’s Office. She joined the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in 1998.