Career Profiles: Janine Sickmeyer, NextChapter
By Nicole Moriniere • June 13, 2017 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Mentoring and Networking, Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law, First Women, •Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them
This month I had the opportunity to have an exchange with one of the ABA's 2017 Women of Legal, Janine Sickmeyer, the CEO & Founder of NextChapter, a web application for attorneys to prepare, manage and file bankruptcy cases online. As a business leader and entrepreneur, Janine provides strategic vision and direction for NextChapter and is particularly fascinated in the intersection between law and technology in the bankruptcy market. In addition to being selected as one of ABA's Legal Tech Resource Center's Women of Legal Tech 2017, Janine is also a Pledge 1% Women Who Lead of 2017. I had a few questions for…
Fueling the Career Fire: Networking Events as Motivation
By Nicole Moriniere • May 06, 2017 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Mentoring and Networking, Features, First Women
Even if you have your dream job, there are some days or weeks when your motivation can falter. Maybe you're distracted with other things going on in your personal life or you have to complete certain tasks that day or week that aren't the tasks you enjoy the most in your job. During these times, I find it helpful to find motivation and inspiration outside of myself and my work. I find one really good way to get inspired again is to attend events on a work-related or work-adjacent topic that I'm interested in, and that will also attract a…
Winding Career Paths: Managing Risk and Uncertainty
By Nicole Moriniere • April 06, 2017 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job
One of my favorite sayings is that you should be stubborn about goals, but flexible about your methods. I love this idea but I've found that I have to interpret it correctly for it to be helpful. In terms of career goals, I've interpreted this to mean being stubborn about certain fundamental and underlying aspects of what I want out of my career, such as a career that is purposeful, that matches my interests and skills, and that affords me a certain level of independence and flexibility. I used to focus on specific positions as my goals, which was a mistaken approach…
Six Months In: Looking back on half a year in legal tech
By Nicole Moriniere • March 05, 2017 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Exactly six months ago, I had recently moved to London and had just started my job working for a legal tech startup. I've been reflecting on the past six months I've now spent working in this new sector and the lessons I've learned during that time. I learned that not all your career steps need to be meticulously planned. I was always told that you often don't end up where you expected to. While I was in law school I was not even aware of the legal tech sector, let alone considering working in it. I was focused on traditional legal…
Getting from A to B: Transitioning from Law to Tech
By Nicole Moriniere • February 05, 2017 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
It took me about three months to complete my transition from law into legal tech, from the time I made the decision until I found and was hired at an exciting legal tech startup. During this time, I reached out to my network, did a lot of reading and attended numerous events. Although I benefited from many resources during my search, I also found it more difficult given that I was going down a non-traditional career path for JDs. Hopefully, my experience can help provide an example of one way to transition from the traditional legal industry to a career in legal…
Lawyers can be techies, too: An Introduction to Legal Tech
By Nicole Moriniere • January 05, 2017 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues
First things first, what is legal tech? Originally, the term referred to the technology and software tools, products, and services targeted at or created for the practice of law, namely law firms (such as e-discovery or matter and practice management, and including well-known companies such as Lexis Nexis and WestLaw). A new generation of companies is now changing this definition to include companies focusing on disrupting the practice of law and innovating in the legal industry, much like startups in other industries such as education or healthcare. Why should law students or practicing lawyers care about legal tech? Legal tech…