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As we’ve discussed several times on this show, there are 100s of law firms  throughout the country that are facing succession planning issues.  Baby boomers are aging quickly and firms that want to be in business in 10 years need to have a plan that makes room for the next generation.  How can firms make a successful transition and ensure the long-term viability of their practices?  What options are available to firms? In this episode, I’m excited to welcome Jeremy Poock who knows a lot about this subject.  Jeremy, who is Founder of Senior Attorney Match, works with lawyers who have practiced for at least 30 years. He helps develop, design, and implement succession plans for their law practices.  He has a great model for helping senior lawyers to get value out of their firms while ensuring a smooth transition into the future. More Resources Episode 58-Managing Your Exit (Career Succession Planning—with Bill Lahey) Episode 50- Late Career Shift to Public Service Episode 40-Succession Planning for Law Firms Meets Chapter 3 for Lawyers

In this episode, we return to a coaching session with Beth Masterman.  If you haven’t heard Part I, you should go back and listen to that first.  In today’s episode, several months have now past and Beth and I are continuing to explore my next career move. To recap,  Steve, is a 9th year real estate associate at Smith Johnson, an AmLaw 100 firm.  Steve was passed up for partnership and reached out to Beth for help. Steve is not a real person but he has issues which are similar to the issues that some of my clients have faced. After our first session, I reflected on some of the insights I gained from speaking to Beth.  Here is what I came up with: The decision by Smith Johnson was a business decision; it had little to do with me. While there are things I like about Smith Johnson and it has been a great experience, it really isn't the best platform for building my practice. Real estate is not a strategic focus of the firm and because my bill rate is so high, it is hard to generate the work I want to do. The partners I work with are not good role models for what I want from my life and my career. I've never thought about a Plan B and always thought that I'd make partner; but now I get a chance to think more critically. This session takes place several months after this first session.  In working with Beth, I reaffirmed that I actually do like practicing law and even like doing real estate (although it would be nice to branch out a little and do more than leasing).  I met with some contacts at several mid-sized firms but I’m now feeling  that running my own practice is the way to go. But I have some concerns. Additional Resources Listen to Part I of the Mock Interview Listen to my original interview with Beth Masterman What is attorney coaching and how does it work (follow links to see examples and read more about how coaching works.)

Counsel to Counsel is now in it’s third year and with this episode, we decided to try something a little different. Many people ask me to explain what coaching is.  While I’ve written about the subject and had on today’s guest in an earlier episode to talk about coaching, I thought that doing a mock coaching session would be a great way to demonstrate the power of working with an executive coach.  I decided that Beth Masterman would be a great guest to invite back. Thankfully, she agreed to do it.  Beth has been a wonderful mentor to me and I truly value her wisdom and the guidance and support she has given me over the last two years. Beth is a certified and credentialed by the International Coach Federation and has a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching.  She is also a lawyer and has a master’s in psychology. As an executive coach, Beth is great at helping her clients consider possibilities and interpret the big picture.  She was recently named the Number One Executive Coach in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Readers Rankings awards. In this mock session, I play Steve, a 9th year real estate associate at Smith Johnson, an AmLaw 100 firm.  Steve has been passed up for partnership and he has reached out to Beth for help. Steve is is based on a client that Steve Secker worked with several years ago. This is the first of two parts. Additional Resources Listen to my original interview with Beth Masterman What is attorney coaching and how does it work (follow links to see examples and read more about how coaching works.)

With aging baby boomer in the senior ranks of many law firms, 100s of law firms  throughout the country are facing succession planning issues.  How can the firm make a successful transition and ensure the long-term viability of their practice?  How will the younger partners step into the role of managing client relationships so the clients are well served in the future? Underpinning all of this is a reality for many firms. Lawyers are living longer, practicing longer, and have very strong professional identities as lawyers.  What will these attorneys do when they are no longer chairing a department?  What are some of the creative strategies that lawyers have used to figure out What Comes Next. My guest, Bill Lahey, has thought a lot about that subject.  Bill began his career in the public sector, worked for one large firm, one small firm and over 4 years, cut his hours by 20% per year and is not entirely out of the practice of law.  Along the way, Bill has experimented with pro bono work, taken a sabbatical in Bhutan, and explored graduate degrees in two fields.  He is anything but a “typical lawyer” and I invited him on the show to share some tips for senior lawyers who aren’t sure how to make their own transitions. Additional Resources Episode 40-Succession Planning for Law Firms Meets Chapter 3 for Lawyers Episode 50-A Late Career Shift to Public Service Episode 19-Canoeing vs. Whitewater Rafting-A Career Conversation With Jose Sierra Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

Paul Morton has a lot to say about the term “non-billable hours”.  Paul is the COO of the law firm Burns and Levinson in Boston.  He has been a figure in law firm administration for well over 30 years and he has seen a lot of changes during that time including increased billing pressure on lawyers.  But according to Paul, billable hours should not take priority over all non-billable work.  In fact according to Paul, the phrase “non-billable hours” should be replaced with “investment hours”. Simply put, attorneys need to generate income for their firms in the short run.  But they also need to invest time in marketing, law firm management, professional development, and self-care.  In the long run, investing in these activities is good for firm profitability, career satisfaction, and mental health. Carving out time for “investment hours” is challenging for many lawyers.  There are many things competing for an attorney’s time and time management is not a skill taught in law school.  And once you are on a law firm, you are largely rewarded for the number of hours you bill. So how do you balance the two? Dr. Sarah Reiff-Hekking, has some answers!  She is an expert on the subject. Sarah is the founder of True Focus Coaching Inc. She is a speaker, coach, and Productivity and Time Matters Expert with over 20 years of experience.  She empowers professionals and entrepreneurs to get a grip on time so that they can get to the next level in their lives and businesses. In this episode, Sarah and I discuss some of the challenges that busy lawyers face in managing their time. Sarah offers some very practical tips to help us understand how to be more productive, more effective, and more present.

In many ways, practicing law and being an entrepreneur are completely opposite activities.  Entrepreneurs are all about possibilities: What might be? What problems can we solve? Where are the gaps in the marketplace? Lawyers, on the other hand, spend their days identifying risks, thinking about what can go wrong, and managing those risks. There are numerous examples of lawyers who have left the practice to pursue a law-related entrepreneurial opportunity. There are legal technology firms that have been started by former practicing attorneys.  There are lawyers like me who have gone into legal recruiting and coaching. There are also attorneys who decide to move in an entirely different direction and start a restaurant or some other business which is not law-related. But what about lawyers who want to continue to practice law but operate a business on the side? My guest in this episode, Lori Mihalich-Levin, is someone who has done just that. Lori is a partner at the law firm Dentons.  But she is also the creator of a successful consulting business. Lori and I discuss the genesis for her business, how she grew it, and how she balances her work as a lawyer with her business.  Lori also talks about how practicing law makes her a better entrepreneur and how being an entrepreneur makes her a better lawyer. Lori, is a partner in the health care practice at Dentons and the founder and CEO of Mindful Return.  She is the author of Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave, and co-host of the Parents at Work Podcast. She is mama to two wonderful red-headed boys (ages 7 and just turning 10). Her thought leadership has been featured in publications including Forbes, The Washington Post, New York Times Parenting, Thrive Global, and The Huffington Post.

If you are an attorney, what does it mean to be a professional?  What is the borderline between zealous advocacy and uncivil and obstructionist behavior?  My guest in this episode, Don Frederico, has a lot to say about that subject.  Don is a lawyer I met over 30 years ago when I began my own legal career at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.  At that time, Don was a litigation partner at the law firm McDermott Will and Emery. Today, Don leads the Class Action Defense Practice at Pierce Atwood.  I met hundreds of lawyers during my days at MCLE.  While many of our volunteers were true experts in their fields and generous with their time in helping to educate the bar, there were some standouts.  Don was not only someone who was willing to step up when asked, but he was an enthusiastic participant and someone who I thought really modeled true professionalism in the way he treated everyone. In this episode, I speak about Don’s career, how he has found career satisfaction beyond serving clients, and what he thinks it means to be a professional in the law.

On this podcast, we talk a lot about relationship building.  Doing great work should always be your number one priority as a lawyer.  But successful careers are not built on merit alone.  The people in your network are critical.  Whether you are thinking about an in-house move or growing your law practice, relationships matter….a lot.  In this episode, I speak with someone who is a master at relationship building.  Ben Sigel is a lawyer who has been a litigator at several mid-sized and large firms, Director of Client and Community Relations for an AmLaw 100 firm, a Candidate for the United States Congress in my district, and President of the New England Chapter of the Hispanic National Bar Association.  He is someone who actively works to build communities and a natural connector. He is also someone with deep roots in both the LatinX and Jewish Communities. About a year ago, I began working on a diversity initiative with ProVisors, a great business networking group that I belong to. I talk about ProVisors a lot on this show (and to anyone who will listen). When I was thinking that I wanted to build deeper ties in the Hispanic legal community, everyone said Ben is someone I should meet. And so we had coffee in the lobby of his office building and he taught me something very important.  If you want to build connections in a new community, you need to show up. Since that time, I’ve seen Ben show up over and over and over again.  He cares deeply about building bridges and he embraces both his LatinX and Jewish heritages.  Ben and I will be talk about his philosophy about bringing together constituencies and what it was like to run a congressional campaign during a pandemic. .

The New Year is finally here and without getting into it, let’s just say that many of us are happy to welcome 2021.  A new year brings hope, a chance for a new beginning, and if you are in private practice, a great opportunity to ramp up your marketing and business development. So today, that is what we will be focusing on: how to grow your practice in 2021, and what it is like to work with a business coach to achieve that goal. For this episode, I have invited Alay Yajnik, award-winning business coach and founder of Law Firm Success Group. Alay's firm helps law firms owners across the country make more money, get better clients, and take more vacations. He hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, and we met through our business networking group ProVisors. I’ve already appeared as a guest on his podcast  the Lawyer Business Advantage.  Additional Resources Can Hiring a Coach Enhance Your Practice and Your Life? How Coaching Can Help Attorneys Increase Career Satisfaction-Stephen Seckler on the Legal Toolkit  Coaching to the Next Level-My Guest Appearance on the “Be That Lawyer” Podcast 

For the last 10 months, most interviewing has gone on-line.  Zoom interviews are the norm right now and new hires are even being on-boarded virtually.  While the world will eventually shift back to in-person interviews, Zoom, WebEx and other virtual platforms are likely to continue to play a significant role in the hiring process.  The convenience of bringing together parties who are in different locations and have different schedules, it high.  As we enter 2021, I decided to that updating my interviewing tips was long overdue.  In this episode, I share with you the latest tips for on-line interviewing.  Click here to read my more comprehensive interviewing guide which covers both live and virtual interviews. I also invite you to listen to a conversation with my former colleague Amy Levine.  Her advice on interviewing is pre-COVID; but her tips remain very relevant (Nailing the Job Interview).  And as always, I welcome your emails and phone calls if you would like to discuss.

It has been a hard year for most of us.  But we have a lot to be thankful for as well.  In this special edition of Counsel to Counsel, here is my list of things to be thankful for.  What's your list?  Practicing gratitude is one way to provide solace to ourselves.

Many lawyers choose public service early in their careers.  In a public agency, attorneys may find that they are getting more responsibility than they might get at the same stage in private practice.  Assistant district attorneys, for example, find themselves trying cases almost from day one.  Lawyers working for agencies that regulate industry may be given a lot more responsibility for crafting policy than they might otherwise be exposed to as an associate at a law firm. But salaries in the public sector generally lag far behind salaries in private practice and for many lawyers, the career path often runs from government into the private sector. In truth, there are many opportunities for lawyers who are further along in their careers to move in the other direction.  At the highest levels of government, politicians often turn to the most successful attorneys in private practice to head agencies or craft policy later in their career.  For these senior lawyers, it is a win-win.  It is a chance to give back and find another burst of career satisfaction at a time in life when the economics are less important. My guest in this episode, Rich Johnston, did just that in 2015.  After a long and successful career as a litigator at Wilmer Hale (a firm that was Hale and Dorr for most of his professional life), Rich was brought on by Maura Healy, the Attorney General of Massachusetts, to be her Chief Legal Counsel. In this episode, I speak with Rich about his path to the Attorney General’s Office, what he loves about public service, and advice he has for lawyers thinking about making a move like this after a lengthy law firm career. Related Episodes Episode 22-From Litigation to Public Service to Government Affairs with Former U.S. Senator Mo Cowan Episode 35-A Career in Electoral Politics-A Conversation with Senator Becca Rausch Episode 14-From Biglaw to Government to In-house

Many lawyers who start out in private practice don’t expect to stay in a law firm setting.  Sometimes the move in-house is planned.  At other times, moving in-house becomes a more realistic option when partnership doesn’t seem likely. And after moving in-house, things can also change quickly. My guest in this episode, Bill Gabovitch, has a lot to say on the subject of adapting to change.  Bill began his career in private practice, experienced a layoff, ended up in-house and found his role in-house changing rapidly one day. Today he is General Counsel of Primark US but he previously worked in-house at Staples and for three major firms in Boston. Bill is someone I always run into at non-profit events.  He is one of the most civically engaged lawyers I know and someone who has a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion.  Bill and I discuss his career path, how he has pivoted several times in his career and the role that his non-profit work has played in helping him to find more career satisfaction.

Lateral partner movement is alive and well in the practice of law.  While partners and practice groups were changing firms with increasing frequency in the past decade, the pandemic has not really slowed down the process. There are many reasons why law firm partners seek out greener pastures. In this episode, my guest Susan Mendelsohn, talks about some of those reasons.  But what makes a lateral move a success?  Why do some partners make a lateral move and stay for years while others quickly discover that another lateral move may be in the offing. Susan Mendelsohn has a lot to say on the subject. Susan Mendelsohn has been recruiting in the legal space for over 20 years. While she is based in Chicago, she serves clients throughout the United States and not only does recruiting, but like me, Susan also spends a portion of her time on coaching. Other Resources Episode 12-The Lateral Partner 20 Questions For Law Firm Partners

Many attorneys I speak with think about transitioning to an in-house role at some point in their career.  For some lawyers, the path to in-house is planned and deliberate.  But for many lawyers, in-house opportunities arise through serendipity.  That is what happened to my guest in this episode. Jonathan Moll, had a long and successful career in private practice.  But by developing an expertise in education, a great in-house opportunity arose with one of his clients and he seized the moment. Jonathan and I  talk about what drew him to education and how early on, he developed an early niche in crisis management.  He also talks about taking advantage of the opportunities that come your way and what he is doing now in the latest stage in his career. Jonathan is someone who has always been very generous to me with his time.  He has always been willing to be a sounding board and I’ve benefited a lot from his career wisdom.  He currently serves a General Counsel to Arx Urban, a real estate development company run by his two sons.

In this episode of the Counsel to Counsel podcast, I am joined by a talented communications expert, Charlotte Dietz, Founder of Speak Well Partners. Charlotte is a communications and public speaking coach and business story strategist.  She shares some great insights into how we can all do a better job communicating in a virtual environment. Since March, most of us have been getting a crash course in how to use Zoom (or other virtual platforms). In some ways, Zoom is really just another phone call and most lawyers are very accustomed to speaking on conference calls. But Zoom has its own nuances and as many of us are learning, there are pluses and minuses of being able to connect visually from a distance. In the early days (we back at the start of the pandemic), many people were experimenting with virtual backgrounds, learning to unmute themselves (and at appropriate times, shutting off the video camera.) Some of us have tried to improve the optics through better lighting and even through better equipment.  But the main issue that many of us are grappling with his is how to make a real connection with other professionals when we are not in the room with them.  This is true when we are one-on-one, and it is even more true when we are in a group or even delivering a presentation.  These issues are challenging when we are in person.  But in a virtual world, it is that much harder to be “heard”! Charlotte has some great tips to help us communicate more effectively on Zoom or other virtual platforms. Additional Resources If You Don’t Like Sports, Try Becoming a Sports Fan Fan Be Interested; Be Interesting Getting the Most from Networking Meetings and Troikas [podcast] Zoom is a Great Tool for Relationship Building—But Use it “Right”

In this episode I speak with Dave Dykeman, a Co-Managing Partner of the Boston office of Greenberg Traurig.  Dave and I met almost 20 years ago, not long after he moved to Boston and since that time I’ve watched his career take off as he has successfully built an IP practice in the life sciences.  Whenever I coach lawyers on marketing and business development, my starting point is getting my clients to define their ideal client.  While this doesn’t always include what industries they serve, having an industry focus is a good way to differentiate yourself. In a crowded marketplace for legal services, it is critical to define your niche and find ways to make yourself memorable.  While work ultimately comes from the relationships you build with clients, potential clients and referral sources, “choosing your lane” is the best starting point. My guest, Dave Dykeman, is someone who has not only clearly defined himself as a lawyer, but over the last two decades, he has done an outstanding job of building relationships that have been critical to his success.   In this episode, we’ll be discussing how Dave built that reputation, grew his practice, and what it has been like to move into a management role at an AmLaw100 firm.  He talks about coming to Boston, a city where he didn't know anyone. David Dykeman, serves as Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig's Boston office and co-chairs the firm's global Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group.  He is a registered patent attorney with more than 23 years of experience in patent and intellectual property law. David's practice focuses on securing worldwide intellectual property protection and related business strategy for high tech clients, with particular experience in life sciences, medical devices, robotics, materials, and information technology. David provides strategic patent portfolio development and intellectual property advice for clients including major research institutions, multinational corporations, and start-up companies. He also performs patent due diligence to assess patent portfolios for venture capital investment, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing opportunities. He is a prolific writer and speaker on intellectual property law.  He is also someone who has held numerous leadership roles in bar associations, industry groups, and philanthropic organizations. David is the founding co-chair of the ABA’s Medical Devices Committee. He was honored as one of Boston's "40 Under 40" innovative business leaders by the Boston Business Journal and was named to the "40 Medtech Innovators Under 40" list by Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry (MD+DI) Magazine. David has also been named one of the top 250 Patent and Technology Licensing Practitioners in the world by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Magazine, an "IP Star" by Managing IP magazine, a "Life Science Star" by LMG Life Sciences, one of the World's Leading IP Strategists in the IAM 300, and listed in Chambers as an IP practitioner. Additional Resources Episode 39-An In-house Career in the Life Sciences 47 Inexpensive ways to Build Business Relationships Episode 18-Starting Business Conversations at Networking Functions and Beyond Defining Your Target is the First Step in Effective Marketing

In this episode, I speak with Steve Fretzin, a premier business coach, trainer, and speaker on business development.  Steve focuses on the legal industry but comes with experience in other industries as well.  Steve and I discuss the importance of networking in building a professional services practice, how you can get more out of your networking meetings, and how to do this in a time of social distancing. The ability to generate work has never been more important for lawyers and other professionals. We are in a recession right now and adapting to the demands of the marketplace is critical.  But knowing what services your clients want is only a starting point.  A good business plan requires a healthy mix of marketing (or reputation building activities) and business development (or relationship building activities).  For lawyers and other professionals, it is the second leg, the relationship building, that is more challenging to master. Attorneys come out of law school knowing something about a broad cross section of legal subjects.  Law school graduates enter the workforce knowing how and do legal research and write briefs.  While clinics and internships help aspiring lawyers to start learning how to do deals, litigate cases, or counsel clients, most lawyers enter practice with limited knowledge of how to build and manage a law practice.   In particular, as lawyers begin their careers, they often know little about building business relationships. On this podcast, we’ve talked many times about the tremendous importance of relationship building whether to set the stage for a future job move or whether it is to generate clients and cultivate referral sources.  In this episode, we focus on the networking meeting and its close cousin, the troika which is a networking format that Steve and I participate in through our business networking group ProVisors. Steve Fretzin has been coaching and training professionals on business growth for over 20 years. His focus for the past 13 has been working with lawyers to dramatically grow their law practices. In addition to being a regular contributor for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Steve has written three books on legal growth. His most recent endeavor is his podcast show BE THAT LAWYER, where he interviews rainmakers, marketing gurus and legal industry insiders to provide tips and insights for his attorney audience.  He lives in Chicago. Other Networking Resources Is Your Networking Working Ways to Leverage Your Network 8 Do’s and Don’ts of Dating—and Networking Etiquette 11 Ways to Reciprocate in Networking Starting Business Conversations at Networking Functions and Beyond Be Interested; Be Interesting Overcoming Fear of Networking Using Affinity to Build Business Relationships-a Podcast w/Stephen Seckler Documenting Your Networking 47 Inexpensive ways to Build Business Relationships Building Business Relationships 101-Where to Begin Generating Leads Making Selling Easier for Lawyers-Transcript from Legal Toolkit Podcast

In this episode, I speak with Lisa Cukier, a partner at the law firm Burns and Levinson in Boston.  Lisa practices in a number of related areas.  We talk about how she has built what she calls a concierge practice.  We also discuss what it has been like to serve on the executive committee of her firm, and how she has modified her own marketing and business development in a time of social distancing. Whenever I am thinking about guests to invite on this podcast, I look for lawyers and other professionals who are good role models.  Law is a competitive and stressful business.  If you want to maintain and build your career satisfaction in a law firm, it is important to keep evolving your practice and get involved in non-practice activities that give you fulfillment. Lisa Cukier, is someone who has done that on many levels. She has developed an aggressively creative and emotionally intelligent approach to managing family conflict and mental health law issues.  She has also increased her own enjoyment in the practice of law by getting involved in law firm management.  And she is someone who gets energized from building relationships with her referral sources. Lisa Cukier is a Partner and Executive Committee member at Burns and Levinson, a firm of about 125 lawyers. She concentrates her practice on all aspects of estate and trust litigation, fiduciary litigation, probate law, child custody, parentage issues and divorce.  She also works on guardianship and conservatorship matters,  elder financial exploitation, matters and serves as concierge trustee for many clients who feel protected by her approach to problem resolution.  Her work includes representation of blended families. Lisa is a frequent speaker and author on the topics of trust and estate litigation, estate planning, and family law, including undue influence and financial exploitation of elders. She was named to the 2019 "Top Women of Law" list by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and named a National Law Journal - Divorce, Trusts & Estates Trailblazer in 2017. Lisa is considered one of the most tactical, passionate and aggressively creative attorneys in her field. She is the attorney that other attorneys refer their complicated and multi-issue laden or "unresolvable" cases. Cukier serves as trustee and fiduciary for her clients upon request, orchestrating high-touch concierge level service to her clients who wish to have her personal oversight of their multiple life affairs. Attorneys refer their clients to her to serve as a private adjudicator for creative resolution of challenging custody and guardianship disputes.

Law is a conservative profession.  In law school we read the great appellate decisions and learned about the tremendous importance of precedent in our legal system.  In truth, the law is always evolving and adapting to changing societal attitudes and new developments in business, the sciences and technology.  New statutes and regulations are always being adopted to address new legal concerns and even case law evolves. If you want to remain relevant in the profession, it is important to keep reinventing yourself.  The current pandemic and accompanying financial upheaval underscores this.  In the past two months, for example, every business and employment lawyer has needed to become an expert on the CARES act.  In the past 2 years, every corporation that collects any personal data has had to learn how to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act, GDPR in Europe and similar state privacy statutes. The digitization of our economy has had a particularly strong impact on our legal system.  It has never been easier to create, store and copy massive amounts of data.  This has had great implications for privacy, the protection of intellectual property rights and the tension between IP protection and creating strong incentives for innovation.  Lawyers will continue to play a key role in shaping and interpreting the competing legal interests of law enforcement, private citizens, businesses and artists.  So where are the career opportunities in the midst of all of this disruption? In this episode, my guest, Professor Jessica Silbey, answers that question.  Professor Silbey is Director of the Center for Law, Innovation and Creativity at Northeastern University School of Law (also known as CLIC).  She is a leading scholar and nationally recognized expert on intellectual property and the use of film to communicate about law.  Professor Silbey is the author of several books on intellectual property, creativity and invention. She studies the role that intellectual property plays to sustain and frustrate creative and innovative communities. She is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, and a Guggenheim fellow. CLIC combines the study of innovation and creativity with Northeastern University School of Law's social justice mission. The faculty teach courses on information security, privacy regulation, entertainment and media law, intellectual property, Internet and e-commerce, lawyering and entrepreneurship, and creative communities.