Life at the Bar LLC Blog

By Julie A. Fleming July 31, 2008 2 Comments

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I’ll write more about this in a future post, but here’s a question for you to consider:
Are you playing to win?  Or are you playing not to lose?
Welcome back!

Coaching for lawyers

By Julie A. Fleming July 29, 2008 No comment

I’m attending a conference this week, so I thought I’d load up a few links to good articles and blog posts some of you may not have seen.
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Seven Simple Suggestions for Success and Happiness in the Law  The JD Bliss Blog recently posted a summary of a commencement speech by Stephen Ellis, a lawyer who has [...]

Quick hits

By Julie A. Fleming July 25, 2008 No comment

How many clients does it take to change a light bulb?  One: the client holds it and then expects the world to revolve around him.
Have you ever wished for ammunition to fire back against lawyer jokes?  Meet Giovanni Diviacchi, author of How Many Clients Does It Take to Change a Lightbulb?   Giovanni has created a [...]

 

 Giovanni Diviacchi interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Just for Fun

By Julie A. Fleming July 20, 2008 Enter your password to view comments

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Uncategorized

By Julie A. Fleming July 18, 2008 No comment

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 [...]

Client development, Musings

By Julie A. Fleming July 15, 2008 No comment

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:

For new lawyers, For summer associates, The practice

By Julie A. Fleming July 11, 2008 No comment

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 [...]

Coaching for lawyers, Evaluations and feedback

By Julie A. Fleming July 09, 2008 1 Comment

The latest issue of The Complete Lawyer features the theme “What’s Your Exit Strategy?” and includes articles that discuss exits including retirement, job changes, leaving the law, setting up a plan to ensure that your clients will be protected if you’re suddenly unavailable, and more.  Here are a few highlights:
Rob Hockett offers simple advice on retirement [...]

Coaching for lawyers, Leaving the practice, The practice, Women and the law, Work/life balance

By Julie A. Fleming July 03, 2008 2 Comments

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 [...]

Coaching for lawyers, For new lawyers

By Julie A. Fleming July 02, 2008 No comment

While describing an assessment I often use to a lawyer-client, I mentioned that it provides feedback about one’s natural tendencies and those tendences as adapted to work, explaining that almost everyone wears a “mask” of some sort at work.
“You got that right,” my client chuckled wryly.Â
We went on to discuss the discomfort this client feels in [...]

Coaching for lawyers