Emotional intelligence for lawyers

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Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the degree to which one is:

*  aware of one’s own feelings,
*  able to discriminate among those feelings and to manage them to faciliate appropriate responses,
*  able to motivate oneself despite feelings of self-doubt, inertia, etc.,
*  able to recognize others’ emotions based on various cues,
*  empathetic to others’ feelings, and
*  skilled in handling interpersonal relationships and conflicts.

Research by Daniel Goleman, who brought EI to public attention with his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, shows that 85-95% of the difference between a “good leader” and an “excellent leader” is due to emotional intelligence.  Goleman’s new book, Social Intelligence, examines neuroscience to further support the idea that humans have a biological tendency to be empathetic, cooperative, and altruistic.  It’s no secret that we’d all prefer to work with and for nice people rather than jerks, and EI is a measurable way to describe how a a “nice person” behaves and to help pinpoint the areas for individual improvement.

Googling on “emotional intelligence” will turn up over 3 million hits; Googling on “social intelligence” turns up about 38,500 (but Goleman new book was released only in late September, so that will surely change).  Stephen Seckler has provided a link to a very well-written Altman Weil article on EI for lawyers, complete with a quiz to reveal your EQ.  Check it out.

Timesheet habits: don’t procrastinate.

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Timesheets routinely come up as a bemoaned part of practice, something that no one likes to do.  Many lawyers develop the habit of doing timesheets in bulk, usually at the end of the week but sometimes at the end of the month.  That’s a terrible habit for a wide variety of reasons.

Unless your notes are truly spectacular (i.e., timesheet quality at least in substance), you will lose time because it simply isn’t possible to remember every single call made or received, every in-firm conversation, etc.  I’ve seen some studies showing that lawyers who do end-of-month timesheets can lose up to 30% of their time.  That’s bad for the firm and for the attorney.

Approaching billing with this habit of procrastination makes what could be a fairly simple and straightforward task into a Huge Effort.  Timesheets become the constant millstone.  Sure, you get to ignore them for a month at a time, but then you’ll have to devote at least a full morning and probably longer to reconstructing your time.  The longer one waits to prepare timesheets after actually doing the work, the harder it will be to recreate the time and the longer it’ll take to prepare the timesheet.  Bad for the firm, bad for the attorney.

Moreover, it appears that clients may move from accepting monthly bills to wanting the ability to monitor lawyers’ work in real time using e-bills.  Technology may enable clients to demand not only a budget but also real time updates on how the budget is being used, whether it’s being exceeded, etc.  While that system isn’t in effect in the US today, it’s apparently coming in the UK, and lawyers would be well-advised to adapt their habits to minimize the pain if, or perhaps when, e-billing crosses the pond.  See also Tom Collins’ posts discussing the reasons for the move to e-billing and describing the software support that will assist in meeting clients’ demands.

If creating timesheets contemporaneously with completing the work is helpful for capturing time, saving time, and preparing for what sounds a lot like the next step toward client awareness and management of the performance of legal services, where’s the downside to developing strong habits?  Explore your billing software to see whether it has a timer function — most do.  If not, at least use your calendar to mark down your time as you work, and transfer it to a timesheet at the end of the day.  This one habit will increase both your productivity and your apparent productivity significantly.

Consistency in marketing, Guerrilla-style

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I ran across a fascinating marketing tip sheet recently.  It’s written by Jay Conrad Levinson, who has achieved notoriety as the author behind the Guerrilla Marketing series.  What I found is the 15 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing (no longer available).

I will admit up front that I haven’t read a single Guerrilla Marketing book or even an article.  However, one of the “secrets” caught my eye as being potentially true for everybody, but right on target for lawyers engaging in client development activities.  Levinson says:

Commitment: You should know that a mediocre marketing program with commitment will always prove more profitable than a brilliant marketing program without commitment.  Commitment makes it happen.

I hope it’s immediately apparent to you why this is applicable to lawyers, but just in case it isn’t, consider this:

Suppose you’re researching an area of law to get a feel for it, knowing that you’re going to need to affiliate with someone who’s an expert in the area.  Would you be likely to contact someone who keeps popping up as an articles author on your topic, someone perhaps with a treatise to boot, who’s spoken on the issue at a number of CLE meetings?  Would you be more or less likely to contact someone whose name comes up once as an author, once as a speaker, perhaps as a member of a relevant committee, etc?  I’d be willing to bet that you’d be more eager to speak with the first lawyer.

Commitment pays off because it increase the depth of your experience and credentials in a particular area.  Whether it’s writing as in the example above or in pro bono work, doing a client development activity once is unlikely to make a significant impact.  But if you do it over and over, make it a regular part of your schedule, you will begin to gain some traction, to know people in the relevant area and to be known, and potentially to acquire a reputation as an expert.  Each of these attributes requires a sustained effort.

As you consider your client development plans, consider how committed you are to the plans you’ve set out.  Are you stretched too thin?  Do you need to let some activities go so you can work deeply in a limited number of areas?

Or perhaps you need to step back even a bit further.  Maybe you don’t have a client development plan or strategy.  You might make an unfocused effort to attend networking meetings, to agree to write an article if someone approaches you, to speak on a topic in which you’re competent but which is not central to your practice.  While any of these activities will get you exposure, this group of plans isn’t enough to get you consistently in front of the people who need to know about you and your practice.

Consistency demands that you evaluate your client development plans, select a limited number of activities that you will plan to accommodate in your schedule.  Then, schedule them and take part regularly.  Be sure you’re building a reputation that will serve you well; be sure your consistent, committed client development activities are directed toward helping you to build that reputation.

And, because I’m curious… Has anyone ever read Guerrilla Marketing?  And/or applied it to client development in the client context?  Interesting stuff, and I’d be curious to hear the results.

Peak or valley? Performing a realistic and meaningful self-evaluation

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Just about every firm has some formal mechanism for evaluating associates.  The format varies, but the general idea is always the same: to collect feedback on how well each associate is performing and to pass that on to the associate, preferably with some comments about how the associate might improve.  Fair enough, except that the method of communicating the results of that exercise to the associate often undercuts the effectiveness and benefit that an evaluation is supposed to convey.  Toward the end of the year (traditional evaluation time), I’ll discuss this topic in more depth.

For now, let’s consider self-evaluation.  A number of large firms are using the self-evaluation model to help associates determine their career path.  Again, the format varies, but generally the associate is asked to fill out a form that asks for the associate’s self-evaluation in certain areas and sets plans for the future.  If taken seriously, these programs can be very useful in helping to guide associates’ professional development.

The challenge arises, however, when the associate may begin to feel his or her path diverging from the firm.  Because the truth is that the self-evaluation and professional planning programs may benefit the firm just as much as they do the associate.  I encourage lawyers who are completing these self-evaluations to go through the process twice: once, without censoring anything, and a second time with an eye to how the firm might perceive her comments.  For instance, an associate might be unhappy about work/life balance, but it’s wise to pay careful attention to how that issue is raised.  Commenting that she’d like to focus on becoming even more effective in her use of time is palatable; commenting that she’d like to reduce her in-office hours is not.  But it’s possible to develop a lot of useful information in responding to the self-evaluation and planning forms that the firm provides.

If your firm doesn’t engage in this process, or if you sense that your professional desires may be leading you away from the firm fold, you may want to consider these questions.

1.  How satisfied are you with your practice setting?  Are you aware of any reason why a different practice setting (larger or smaller firm, sole practice, in-house, government, or public service) might be preferable for you?

2.  How well are you perceived in your firm?  Do you need to make an effort to raise your visibility?

3.  Are you taking advantage of what your firm offers in terms of training, professional networking opportunities, social/cultural opportunities, etc?  Are you cross-selling to your clients, and are other lawyers cross-selling your services to their clients?

4.  How well are you working with support staff?  Are any changes necessary?  Are you communicating clearly with the staff?  Are these any tasks you can effectively delegate?  Any procedures you could institute to make things run more smoothly?

5.  How are you doing in terms of skills development?  Is there any kind of training you need?  If so, what’s your plan for getting that training?

6.  Are you satisfied with the quality and quantity of assignments you’re receiving?  Is your level of responsibility increasing appropriately?  If the answer to either question is anything other than an unqualified yes, what have you done to rectify the situation?  If you’re not receiving an adequate quantity of work, is that because business is down generally, or is there a chance that it’s a reflection on your work or on how you’re perceived within the firm?  What do you need to do differently?

7.  Are you satisfied with your level of client contact?  What can you do to provide better service to your clients?  Do you have a client development plan, and are you working it on a regular basis?

8.  How is your relationship with the lawyers who supervise your work?  What can you do to make it stronger?  How do they perceive you?  What changes would you like to make?

9.  What are your career goals for the next three years, both in terms of substantive/skills development and in terms of your position with the firm?  What’s your strategy for reaching these goals?

10.  Are you satisfied with your work/life balance?  Are any changes desirable or necessary?

These are, of course, just a sample of the range of questions you might ask.  The most critical part of your self-evaluation is to take a realistic look at where you stand professionally now, to reflect thoughtfully on where you want to be professionally in at least the next one to three years, and to think strategically about what adjustments you need to make so you can reach those goals.  You may find it particularly valuable to perform this kind of self-evaluation with the assistance of a mentor or a coach, either of whom can help with each of these three steps.

PMBR Infringed NCBE’s Copyright

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Though most readers likely took and passed the bar exam some time ago, perhaps this post will be of interest nonetheless.  This may be old news to some, but it was new to me…

On August 22, Judge Fullam of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered an Order and judgment on behalf of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, against Multistate Legal Studies, Inc., Robert Feinberg, and Dona Zimmerman, better known to scores of bar-takers as PMBR. The Court found direct evidence of copying (which, for those not familiar with copyright law, is quite unusual in an infringement case) under striking circumstances.  Feinberg took the Alaska bar exam five times before barely passing it on his sixth attempt, and he was caught removing a sheet of scratch paper with notes on it at the conclusion of the afternoon session of his third try at the bar.  The Court concluded that “nearly all” of the 113 PMBR questions challenged by the NCBE as infringing were substantially similar to copyrighted MBE questions, and imposed a variety of remedies including nearly $12 million in damages.

When I took the Georgia bar in 1993, most students took only Bar/Bri.  But when I took the Florida bar in 2005, I quickly discovered that most students took both Bar/Bri and PMBR.  I took the 3-day PMBR course described in the Order and found it useful.  (For anyone planning to take the bar, working as many questions as possible is critical preparation, in my opinion.)  I was of course attracted by the promised similarity between the PMBR questions and what I’d find on the actual bar, though I did view that claim somewhat skeptically.  But when I took the bar itself, I was surprised to find substantial differences between it and the preparatory questions I’d worked.  Not just a lack of repetition; the format of the questions bore little resemblance to PMBR’s practice questions or to the questions released by the NCBE.  And now I know why: in July 2005, the NCBE reprinted the exam because PMBR’s copyright infringement “had compromised the initial version.”

I have no bones to pick with PMBR.  I passed the Florida exam and went on my merry way.  But I do find this story fascinating… And I wonder what PMBR’s enrollment statistics will be for the next bar exam prep period.

Dual career and commuter families

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It’s tough to be married to a lawyer.  I should know, since my husband is a lawyer; pity for him that I am too.  The careers that our spouses or partners engage in may determine quite a bit about our lives.  Lawyers are often accused of arguing in a relationship as if in court, or of cross-examining children rather than gently probing.  Some doctors have the reputation of bringing clinical detachment home.  Scientists may demand amounts of evidence that would exhaust ordinary mortals — other, of course, than lawyers.  Social workers stereotypically give so much to others that they may find it difficult to be emotionally available for their own families.  Fortunately, all of these suggestions describe nothing more than inclinations that may or may not hold true for any individual and, if true, may be overcome with an intentional decision to behave otherwise.

What about dual career families, though?  Each partner will bring the tendencies of his or her career to the table, along with the career’s demands.  I remember that in law school one professor advised married students to seek out the best jobs they could find without regard to location.  That advice may or may not work for all couples, but it’s certainly a popular approach.  The result is to have a commuter family, where partners may live apart for a time or permanently.

I’ll explore this topic more over the coming weeks, but it was put into sharp focus by an article in the October 1 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, available for only a few days for free here.  (The online version requires free registration and does not include photos; when the link expires, it will remain available in the archives for a small fee.)  The article describes a marriage between an Emory University professor, living in Atlanta, and a Samburu herdsman living in Kenya.   Imagine the cultural and business conflicts generated by such differences, and exemplified in this story:

Sidney Kasfir’s cellphone went off, signaling an urgent text message from her husband: “We are being attacked by cattle rustlers.  We are abandoning Tinga.”

Kashir was terrified.

“I was very worried that somebody in my family would get killed,” said Kashir, who was at a conference in Senegal when her husband, Kirati Lenaronkoito, messaged her from his home in Kenya on his cellphone.

Now, your dual career family doesn’t seem so challenging anymore, does it?

Do you delegate well?

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An important skill to learn for practicing law is how to delegate. All lawyers delegate; few lawyers delegate well.

Whether you’re just starting out in practice or whether you’ve been in practice for many years, part of your responsibilities will include delegation. If you’ve ever received an incomprehensible assignment, consider these tips so you don’t perpetuate the cycle.

To delegate well, think in terms of the “5 Ws” that you likely learned years ago: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Of course, in this context, some of the Ws are less important than usual — but they’re a helpful organizing model nonetheless.

Who  First, select the person to whom you’re going to delegate. This is often an easy step, but do consider whether the person you have in mind has the ability to do what you need done. For instance, you might delegate preparaing documents for production to a brand new associate or a 3rd year associate, but if you’re concerned about intricate privilege issues, you’d be wiser to select the more senior associate.  (But you’ll review the “close call” documents either way — right?)

What Define exactly what you want done. Define the project specifically. Until you’re skilled at delegation, you might even consider writing down the request to make sure it’s clear. And then consider what you want to receive. If it’s a research project, do you want the work product in the form of a memo, an outline, or an oral report? Do you want the treatise-length exposition of all of the ins and outs of the issue, or do you want a quick-and-dirty answer? Do you want to see the cases cited? In addition, consider how much background you need to provide in the assignment. If you’re requesting research on a fact-specific issue, you’ll need to provide the relevant facts or a source from which they can be determined.

Doing this when you make the assignment will save you much time in the long run.  There’s little more frustrating than getting the answer to the wrong question.

When Two components here: When should you make the assignment, and when do you need the project you’re delegating to be completed? Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to review the work — in other words, don’t request critical research for a brief to be delivered to you on the morning the brief is due to be filed. Although many lawyers seem to raise procrastination to an art form, your practice and your life will run more smoothly if you arrange a schedule that leaves adequate time in case there’s a misstep.

Where If you’re assigning an off-site project, provide whatever information is necessary. Except in the case of document review, this isn’t usually a factor.

Why It’s tempting to say that the only answer to “why” the delegated project should be done is because you’re the lawyer and you said so. Fight this urge! Consider whether explaining why you need something done will increase the likelihood that you’ll get what you really need. For instance, if you need legal research to prepare you for an argument, the person to whom you delegate the work will be able to keep that in mind as he’s performing the task and will therefore be more likely to note any procedural issues in the cases that might be relevant.

How If you have preferences on how a project should be completed, say so. For instance, if you are requesting your secretary to set up a filing system for you and you have particular preferences about how your files are arranged, communicate that.

It may take a little extra effort, at least initially, to delegate well. The effort is wisely invested, though, because good delegation will increase the chances of getting the project done when you need it and in the way you need it. You’ll also be a better colleague, which always pays dividends.

Working Mother magazine’s Top 100 places for moms to work

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Working Mother magazine released its annual list of the top 100 places for moms to work, selected on the basis of each company’s flexibility, leave time for new parents, child care, elder care and the number of women occupying top jobs.

Three law firms made the cut: Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

The website for Working Mother magazine is down at the time of writing, but I’ve linked it in case it comes back up.  Bad day for it to be down, huh?

When personal life impacts professional life

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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.

Sometimes, the relationship between the professional and personal sides of life becomes blurred.  That may be a work/life balance issue that calls for reflection on the degree, if any, to which the lawyer wants to separate the two.

But sometimes, a lawyer will experience a personal problem that he can’t keep entirely separate from his professional life.  Serious illness is one example, though the challenge there tends to come when the actual crisis is over, when recovery begins.  My take on that situation is rather clear: do whatever is necessary to ensure your reclaimed health, no matter what professional consequences may follow, but conduct your affairs so that your clients don’t suffer.

Then there are the personal circumstances that don’t have the potential for personal life-or-death consequences.  Examples are a family member’s prolonged illness or death, facing the prospect or reality of divorce.  Although most of us are practiced at putting on the “game face” and getting on with work, events of this magnitude may make it difficult or impossible to manage that.  Each person is, of course, different, and no solution will fit everyone.  Here, however, are some ideas of coping mechanisms.

Support.  Get the support you need, whether that’s counseling, a support group, a coach, or some blend of the three.  Asking for help may not come naturally, but it can help you avoid mental or emotional tunnel vision and help you identify your best options.

Consider whether to share your news.  Depending on the situation, you may need to let a colleague or supervisor at your firm know what’s going on.  There’s no need to share details, but especially if you suspect that there will be an actual conflict between your professional responsibilities and your personal ones, it’s often best to let someone else know.

Practice centering exercises.  Whether it’s meditation, yoga, or just deep breathing, physical activities can help you center yourself so you are better prepared to deal with work while you’re working and less likely to be pulled away mentally or emotionally by whatever is causing you distress.  This can be as simple as sitting in silence for 3-4 minutes and paying attention to your breath, gently releasing any thoughts that may come up.  The beauty of a practice this simple, of course, is that you can revisit it at any moment, without even letting others know you’re doing it.

Excellent self-care.  Get enough sleep.  Eat real, healthy food.  Don’t drink too much alcohol.  Keep your body well-hydrated.  When you’re under severe stress, it’s easy to let his go, but the extra effort will serve you well.

Be realistic.  You may need to cut back on your hours, take a “vacation,” or even take a leave of absence.  Or you may not.  But don’t try to be a hero.  A realistic appraisal of your energy will keep you from taking on too much, causing yourself to crash and burn.

Reflect.  Journal writing can be a terrific tool for working through difficult issues.

Manage your energy.  Take advantage of the days when you have sufficient energy to work hard.  Although you can take steps to keep your energy as high as possible (the other steps suggested here, for instance), it’s a reasonably safe bet that your energy will lag at some point, and you’ll be able to work with that rhythm if you maximize your output when you can.

Remember that this, too, will pass.  It’s a trite saying that may not offer much comfort in the moments of deepest pain, but the difficult times will not last forever.

Goal-setting and The Last Quarter

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Saturday is the first day of fall.  Days are getting shorter, football is in full swing, and we’ll be in the holidays before we know it.  Realistically, we have about 3 months left for 2006.

Today, I encourage you to pause and think about what you’d like to do with the last quarter of your year.  What kinds of goals did you set back in January?  This is a good time to reconnect with those goals, whether they’re personal or professional, and to put in some focused time to move forward on them.  Even those of us who don’t adhere to the practice of setting new year’s resolutions (and I am firmly in that camp) benefit from starting a new year better off than we started the previous year.  If you didn’t set goals in January, or if you haven’t been setting goals, consider identifying steps you can take between now and the end of the year that will advance you in some way.

If you’re setting goals, making them SMART goals will increase the chances that you will accomplish what you aim to do.  SMART goals are:

* Specific
* Measurable
* Achievable
* Realistic
* Time-based

Setting goals in this way allows you to be very clear about how you will engineer your approach and how you’ll know when you have achieved the goals.  It’s also a built-in check system, because nothing is quite so discouraging as “deciding” to do something — say, to go from being a couch potato to running an end-of-year marathon — when, realistically, the goal in’t achievable.  Don’t set yourself up to fail.  Instead, aim to go from couch potato to walking a 5K on new year’s eve; that’s a SMART goal, and if you end up running part or all of the goal (and you want to be a runner) then you will have reached and exceeded your goal.

For further help on setting these goals, check out Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles.  It’s a big book, but a quick read with some good reminders.  Check out the Achiever’s Focusing System, available on to The Success Principles website (click on the first link on that page, keyed to Principle 8 ), a planning sheet developed by Canfield to help you set 90-day goals.

And please contact me if you need help in setting and reaching your goals.