Goal Setting for the New Year
The end of the year is a natural closing point for many things and it usually calls people to evaluate goals and look to the future. Neither one of us is big into making New Year’s resolutions. Rather we like making concrete plans and setting goals for ourselves for the coming year. Here are five steps to setting yourself up for success in the new year.
The Courage To Say it Out Loud
The biggest challenge is to get started. It can be scary to put yourself out there. You may wonder what people will say. You may be worried that you don’t have something worth contributing. Or you may start to play the comparison game and think you’ll never be as good as the person you follow on social media. Have courage and take the first step to say it loud. Your voice, your perspective, and your ideas are valuable.
Finding Deeper Meaning in Litigation
Being a lawyer is hard. Litigation is a particularly difficult practice area. We find deeper meaning in the practice of law through litigation.
Follow Up and Follow Through
Networking is more than just a business card exchange. It’s about building relationships. Just like any other relationship networking relationships are based on trust and a big part of that trust is follow up and follow through.
Clearness Committee
This week we revisit Greg McKeown’s book “Effortless” and talk about the clearness committees utilized by the Quaker community. In the Quaker community, the clearness committee is a group of community members that a person can meet with to present a decision they are trying to make. The goal is for the clearness committee not to instill their opinions in the matter, but to ask questions that will assist the person to gain clarity in their decision.
The Law student’s guide to networking
We remember, vividly, being in law school and being told that to find our first legal jobs we needed to network. We knew we needed to network, but we didn’t know how to network. That’s where the seed for a practical course to teach law students how to network was planted.
Not Everything Requires Going the extra mile
As lawyers we could slave over every detail and every possibility. But it that really what the tasks requires? Is that the best way to serve our clients? These are questions you can ask yourself before you go overboard. Some things do require the extra mile - but NOT everything.
Stop “Shoulding” All Over Yourself
Being a lawyer takes a certain amount of drive and ambition. Law school overtly and intentionally pits student versus student and those comparisons are very well known. This environment makes it very easy to consider all of the things you think you “should” be doing - but all of these “shoulds” make it easy for you to lose sight of yourself in the process. But how do you stop “shoulding” all over yourself?
Leveraging Your Bar Benefits
As a lawyer, your bar association offers many benefits. Some of the benefits attorney members may take advantage of include, continuing legal education, networking events, and other perks such as hotel and travel discounts, clothing, dry cleaning, and fitness.
JMT Speaks - with Haley
Authenticity is something that Jenn speaks about quite a bit. I was lucky to get a taste of this from her during this episode. She talked about how authenticity not just learning who you are, but also who you are not. She also explained the value that vulnerability plays in the journey to finding your authentic self.
Building Your Network
Networking is all about building relationships. A great place to start building your professional network as an attorney is through a reciprocal relationship. Law students and lawyers alike should be thinking about building networking relationships to build their practice and career.
Focusing on the ABA
This week we are starting the conversation about the recent ABA Journal article, “ Are Women Lawyers Paying Enough Attention to Upward Mobility?”
Managing Client Expectations
Part of the pressure placed on lawyers comes from clients and their expectations. If you can optimize setting expectations for your clients that can relieve pressure from your shoulders.
Leaving the Law
For now we are discussing a few of the reasons why attorneys start to ponder leaving the law - lack of control, pressure, and a general dissatisfaction. Lack of control is not unique to law or any specific practice area. However, within each practice areas the level of control you have and the areas over which you have control vary.
Networking With Confidence
Networking is something that professionals think about regularly because it is critical to a successful practice. Yet, it can be intimidating, overwhelming, and time consuming. Do you feel like networking does not come naturally to you? You are not alone!
A Decade in Practice
We answered questions about our expectations before law school and then after law school, our biggest challenges, and whether we would do it all again, there are also some other questions that really resonated with us.
You are more than your transcript
For the three years of laws school we were hyper-focused on whether or not our transcript would be good enough to make all of this work worthwhile. Would it tell prospective employers that we would be good employees? Was it reflective of all of the sacrifices? What did it tell us about our futures?
Amy’s LLM Journey
Getting an LLM in taxation is something that was always in the back of Amy’s mind as she worked in an estate planning firm with a tax focus. Finally, after seven years in practice, she felt ready to investigate. She was hesitate to go back to school, but wanted to learn more - what’s the harm in applying?
Measuring Success
The key to true success for you is the why behind the goals you set for yourself. These must be tailored to fit your personal and professional values.
Finding balance
Balance is an illusion, and yet, a common goal. We strive for it, and likely you do too. But is it realistic?