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Promo Strategies for Women-Owned Law Firms
By Susan Smith Blakely • May 07, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues
A lot is changing in the law profession today. The legal websites, blogs and periodicals are following all of it, and I have an article coming out soon in the ABA Journal addressing what law firm leaders can learn from coronavirus. I will share a link with you when I have it. Technology has rapidly changed law practice during the isolation we all are experiencing, and there is well-informed speculation that these same technological applications will be just as valuable post COVID-19 as they have been during mandatory working from home. The need for expensive brick and mortar offices will be…
Difficult Clients: Here’s How To Deal With Them
By Keith Brais • April 26, 2020 •Careers, Issues, Mentoring and Networking, Other Issues
Since many lawyers began their careers with months on end reviewing documents, it is no wonder that engaging with clients can seem to be a significant achievement and a welcome break from being in the document review den. Yet as you begin to communicate with customers, you know that there is now an entirely new problem: that is your customers. While it is not entirely external to a GAP shop, legal services may have a clear sense of retail. You have to say often sometimes that the customer is wrong and always keeps the customer satisfied with their job,…-100x100.jpg)
Practice Pointers – Drafting an Effective Resume
By Natasha Alladina • April 25, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job
Let’s get right to it. For most, resume writing isn’t the sexiest of drafting tasks. But it’s a necessary one. And in what’s become a rapidly tighter job market, you know it’s better to go ahead and tackle that dreaded task now. As Eminem wisely wrote: Look If you had One shot Or one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted Would you capture it Or just let it slip? Pretty sure he wasn’t talking about resume writing, but he might as well have been. Your resume is your first impression, your one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you…
What Can Law Firm Leaders Learn from a Pandemic?
By Susan Smith Blakely • April 23, 2020 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
Law firm leaders come in all shapes, sizes, skin colors and backgrounds. They are both male and female, young and old. Some are effective, and some are not. And the differences in their effectiveness as leaders are especially apparent during a challenging time like a pandemic, which changes all the traditional rules in a very traditional profession. Like wheat and chaff, like milk and cream. Only the best rise to the top --- or, at least, that is the way it should work. So, what can effective leaders learn from a pandemic. It is an odd question, but it needs…
Are Law Firms Training Leaders or Followers?
By Susan Smith Blakely • April 16, 2020 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
I have been wondering about this for years. Are law firms training effective leaders --- or are they simply creating followers? We are seeing a lot of ineffective leadership in public office these days on both sides of the aisle --- “leaders” who would rather tell us what we want to hear rather than what we need to hear. And some of that ineffective leadership also is right here in our own profession. Effective leaders have plans to make things better. They do not shy away from leadership because they know that will create models for followers. And followers do…
Will Kindness Prevail in Law Firms Beyond the Days of Coronavirus?
By Susan Smith Blakely • April 09, 2020 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating to so many lives and complicating and stressful to so many others. It has left many experiences in its wake that will best be forgotten, if that is even possible. Images from the news each night, alone, will be hard to forget. As much as we want to forget much of what has gone on in America during the last 90-plus days, there are some things that I hope we remember. I hope that we remember the kindness. I hope that we remember the caring. I hope that we remember the civility. I…
Working at Home During Coronavirus
By Susan Smith Blakely • April 02, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues
I know that you probably have read articles on line recently with advice about working from home in the age of coronavirus. The themes are generally the same. Here is my take on it for young lawyers. I believe that the best way to survive an extended isolation and working from home is to maintain a ROUTINE. Establishing a routine and sticking to it will reap huge rewards when the time comes to go back to brick and mortar places of business. You will have created fewer bad isolation habits. Routine also will help you establish a healthy mental…
Ms. JD Virtual Toolkit: Maximizing Opportunities, Maintaining Productivity & Exercising Good Judgment in Challenging Times (4/21)
By Ms. JD Editor • April 01, 2020 •Ms. JD, Careers, Issues
Ms. JD Virtual Toolkit Webinar Series "Maximizing Opportunities, Maintaining Productivity & Exercising Good Judgment in Challenging Times" with Debbie Epstein Henry, Founder of DEH Consulting, Speaking, Writing & Executive Consultant of Axiom Register today at https://bit.ly/msjdvirtualtoolkit6
Practice Pointers – Finding Your Tribe
By Natasha Alladina • March 29, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
March 2020 has been… rough. Uncertainty abounds, and Tiger King reigns supreme. Zoom is no longer just something my dog does when she’s got way too much energy. Life’s surreal right now. Very surreal. I’ve been doing my best to get through each day without a mental breakdown, and some days have been especially tough with incessant fears and tears. But this isn’t a post about my anxiety. It’s about what’s been helping me navigate this upside-down world we’re living in: the people in my life. In the past, I’ve rolled my eyes at all the “find your tribe and…