Insights

Love it or hate it, public speaking is a need-to-have skill in the legal profession. Presenting at client events, CLE seminars, and industry conferences is key to effective business development and marketing. It’s a skill that comes easier to some — we’re looking at you, extroverts! — than others. (Don’t worry, introverts, we’re not looking at you!) But anyone can develop and master public speaking. First, a pro tip if you genuinely dislike public speaking: Untangle your social...

Being a good listener may seem like a soft skill, but it’s actually critical to establishing strong business development and marketing strategies. You may think you have this skill down, but take stock: If your phone buzzes mid-conversation, can you ignore it without pausing to wonder who sent the text? During a long Teams call, can you resist the temptation to check your email? We are all overloaded and overwhelmed in a world filled with distractions, and we could all use a refresher on how...

In our previous post on networking, we talked about how to deepen your relationships with existing contacts by reframing networking as an ongoing effort to connect with others, rather than merely a self-interested transaction. But what about when you are looking to expand your network by initiating new relationships? This has always been a tricky aspect of networking, and the hybrid work world has only made it more challenging. If it has been a while since you’ve ventured out, or if you...

We tend to think of networking in purely transactional terms (“What can this person do for me?”) which is why many people dread it. Asking for something from someone you have no relationship with feels distasteful for a reason — because it is! But reframing networking as relationship building, an ongoing effort to connect with others, can make it feel a little less intimidating and a little more appealing. Consider what makes for a successful relationship: authenticity, generosity, and...

A 2022 Leopard Solutions report shows — unsurprisingly — that women lawyers continue to leave Big Law for in-house jobs or positions with smaller firms. The reasons why are familiar: Essentially, the pressure at the largest firms to maximize billable hours incentivizes a type of work (crisis focused) and approach to work (reactive instead of proactive) that lead to unpredictable schedules and unsustainable demands. Firms that have failed to address...