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 [...]
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Only 34 days remain in 2007, including weekends and holidays. Before we know it, the books will close and another year will have passed. What’s the most important step you can take today to ensure that you’re well-positioned as you move into 2008?
Business development: Perhaps you could set aside a couple of hours to evaluate [...]
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Evaluation season is coming up soon. I recently received a question that might be paraphrased as follows, with identifying information removed: “I’ve had a difficult couple of years for reasons that are partly out of my control (a serious, but now resolved, health issue and a slowdown in the work available) and partly within my control (some [...]
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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 [...]
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As soon as I finish typing this post, I am going on retreat for the weekend. I’ve checked into a hotel that has a nice view, a good desk, 24-hour room service, and oodles of peace and quiet. The high-speed ‘net connection is working here — unlike at my office — and I am preparing [...]
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July 11, 2008 
