During my third year of law school, I was a member of the Lamar Inn of Court at Emory Law School. For those unfamiliar with the American Inns of Court, it’s an organization based on the English Inns of Court and designed to bring together law students (known in the Inn as pupils), junior practitioners […]
Law as business vs. law as profession is a conversation that has largely lost its meaning and relevance, especially in today’s economy. Lawyers must understand some of the basic law firm economics from day 1, if not before. I happened across an article that presents these basics along with a handy acronym, RULER: Rates: lawyers’ […]
When “Carl,” a 4th year associate in a large firm, contacted me about lawyer coaching, he was dreading an upcoming evaluation. The office rumor was that associates were being asked to explain what they’d done to meet the goals they’d set in the previous year’s review, and Carl was nervous. He explained that although he’d been […]
An anonymous email I received shortly after I began coaching haunts me. This person (I don’t know whether male or female, but I’ll assume male here) wanted desperately to leave the practice. He was responding to something I’d written, and he explained that he’d practiced law for nearly 20 years and hated it. He never liked […]
While describing an assessment I often use to a lawyer-client, I mentioned that it provides feedback about one’s natural tendencies and those tendencies as adapted to work, explaining that almost everyone wears a “mask” of some sort at work. “You got that right,” my client chuckled wryly. We went on to discuss the discomfort this client […]
It’s been a busy weekend at the Fleming-Brown household. One of my dogs, Jake, is the most cowardly animal I’ve ever met when it comes to thunderstorms — and the most wily. Both dogs sleep downstairs in crates, mostly because my cat would become a canape if they were allowed free reign at night. We’ve […]
I’ve been doing a lot of speaking and coaching lately on business development, and someone asked a great question: what are the top obstacles to rainmaking success? I’ve identified three universal challenges. Do any of these sound uncomfortably familiar to you? 1. “I don’t know what to do.” There’s so much information out there about […]
One of the ways that I describe the work I do is “professional and personal coaching for lawyers.” Although I occasionally do what amounts to life coaching for someone who happens to be a lawyer, my passion lies in helping lawyers develop their professional lives, which often relates in some way to their personal lives. […]
Leaders are better rainmakers. Bold statement, isn’t it? But think about it. Would you easily place your trust in someone who manages a team of worker bees who don’t make much individual contribution – knowing that if the manager goes down, the team will at best miss a few beats? Or would you select someone who is […]
The subtitle of Maxwell’s book is “Follow Them, and People Will Follow You.” Each time I read that, I hear a rejoinder in my head: “Don’t follow them, and people won’t follow you.” Revised and updated in 2007 for the 10th anniversary of The 21 Irrefutable Laws, this book is rightly regarded as a foundational […]