Over the past fifteen years, coaching has emerged as the single most effective tool available for achieving goals and making changes. Countless people have accomplished more in their lives with less effort by having a coach. The media has devoted much attention to coaching and the power of coaching to change lives.

Coaching for lawyers is a collaborative partnership formed for the purpose of helping you reach your legal career and personal goals. In essence, we would be partners in achieving your success.

It works a lot like a sports coaching situation. Say you wanted to improve your golf score. A golf coach would look at your game and tell you objectively the good and the bad. He would make suggestions, help you brainstorm ideas to improve various problem areas, recommend a practice routine and expect you to follow it. The end result is that you improve your golf game. Coaching for lawyers works much the same way.

Like an athletic coach, I work with you to:

Clarify your career, personal and life objectives:

What do you really want in your legal career?

Should you use your legal skills outside of the law?

What is most important to you in your personal life?

What do you want to have accomplished in your life?

Set specific measurable goals:

How many new clients?

How many hours billed?

How many trials do you want under your belt & by when?

Develop a plan to reach your goals:
What is the first step? Then what?

How about this idea?
A plan is not a plan unless it is written down.
Every step must have a due date.

Overcome obstacles in your path:

What is getting in your way?

Let's think our way around that.

How about a different approach?

Help you stay on track to reach your goals:

This is what you really want, let’s go for it.

We need to stick to the plan.

Keep focused on what you want.

As your coach, I bring to the partnership:

Objectivity
Honesty
Ideas
Structure
Support
Accountability

To be effectively coached, you need to bring to the partnership:

A desire to get more out of your legal career and your personal life
A commitment to the coaching relationship
An openness to new ideas
A willingness to do the agreed fieldwork between sessions
The wisdom to see the value and power of collaborative effort

Coaching is not:

Therapy – emotional, mental and relationship problems should be treated by a professional therapist. Coaching is for moving healthy people forward.
Consulting – I don’t claim to have all of the answers. I do have knowledge, training and experience; however, coaching is about collaborative effort and working together over a period of time to accomplish objectives.

Coaching is:

The most effective way to achieve your legal career potential and improve the quality of your personal life.

Benefits to Attorneys

Coaching for Lawyers can be a powerful ally in maximizing your legal career. Below are a few of the benefits and some practical applications of coaching:

A silent partner working for your legal career success and personal happiness.

Someone whose only concern is for you and helping you get what you want. No hidden agendas or conflicting relationship, friendship or law partner issues.

A sounding board for your ideas.

Someone to brainstorm with.

Objective feedback backed by legal experience and coach training. I tell the truth about what I see and hear. If you are on the wrong track I let you know it.

Support when the going gets tough.

Someone to share the victories with you.

Someone to help you create a vision of the future you want and hold the vision for you.

An accountability partner who holds you to your commitments to yourself. Who keeps you on track to reach your goals.

A strategist to work with you on the nuts and bolts of your legal career and life plan. To help you decide what to do and when to do it.

You can make major changes in your law practice, your legal career and your personal life for less than the cost of a part-time law clerk.

Practical Applications:

1. Practice development:

Marketing for new clients

public relations & publicity

networking & referrals

developing expertise and credentials

finding a practice niche

building client relationships

2. Career planning:

legal job search and campaign

long range career goals

3. Career change:

determining whether the law is the right career for you

exploring career options using your legal training and skills

transitioning out of the legal profession

assessment testing

finding the right fit

4. Productivity:

time management

delegation skills

streamlining systems and procedures

5. Stress:

coping with it all and remaining sane

6. Interpersonal skills:

working more effectively with clients, partners, support staff and opposing counsel

7. Balance:

coordinating your professional and personal life

identifying your core values

assessing priorities

allocating time

being successful and having a life

Benefits to Law Firms

Coaching for Lawyers can provide value to your firm by coaching your attorneys in the areas below. We usually work on several goals as the same time; for example, we may work with an attorney to achieve specific marketing goals and, during the same coaching sessions, work to improve time management skills, organization, etc. All work we do with an attorney is included in the monthly retainer.

1. Marketing:

• Personal Marketing Plans:

Coaching for lawyers can support your partners and associates by working one-one-one with them to develop their Personal Marketing Plan; a client development strategy best suited to the particular attorney’s practice area, legal experience, networking opportunities, business contacts and marketing strengths. We then work with the attorney in regularly scheduled coaching sessions to implement and follow the plan to achieve the plan’s objectives. The result is increased income to the firm and enhanced marketing skills for the attorney.

Firm Marketing Plans:

We can also work with your partners and associates in following your existing firm marketing plan. Regularly scheduled coaching sessions assist the attorney in developing tactics and overcoming personal barriers and obstacles to client development. The support and accountability coaching provides assists your attorneys in contributing their full share toward reaching the firm’s marking goals and helps develop the attorneys into rainmakers.

2. Productivity:

Coaching for Lawyers can help your attorneys perform better, move cases faster and bill more. No one is 100% efficient and everyone can make improvements to their productivity. Often times the attorney knows where he is wasting time and needs accountability, such as to a coach, to improve work habits. Other times the attorney is unaware of the nature and extent of his time wasting activities. A careful review of the way the attorney’s uses his time together with the introduction of certain efficiency techniques and accountability to improve work habits can have a dramatic effect on productivity and increase revenues to the firm.

3. Managing Partner Coaching:

The firm’s managing partner has two jobs, his own law practice and the managing partner’s duties. Coaching for Lawyers provides a valuable perk for a valuable person. We work with the managing partner to help brainstorm ideas for the firm’s direction and goals, give objective, non-biased feedback on the numerous managerial and personnel issues at hand and give him a sounding board for matters that cannot be fully discussed at executive committee or partner meetings. In addition, we provide coaching help the managing partner maximize his personal law practice. We can work with the partner in the areas of marketing and practice development, productivity and efficiency, personal goals achievement and professional and personal life balance. Coaching is a deserved reward for the hardest working member of the firm.

4. Support for New Associates and Lateral Hires:

When the firm brings on a new attorney a considerable investment of time and money is involved. If the attorneys’ integration into the firm is unsuccessful, the cost of his salary and support staff usage plus the time and expense of replacing him can be significant. This figure could easily reach $15,000 or more. In addition, there is the risk of an unpleasant separation resulting in litigation and the potential loss of clients to the departing attorney. Coaching for Lawyers can help by working with the new attorney to ensure that his transition into the firm goes smoothly. Providing a coach for several months shows the attorney how much the firm wants him to succeed and provides the attorney a sounding board, objective feedback and support in dealing with the problems, questions and issues that inevitably come up in integrating into a new work environment. Providing coaching during this transition period is a wise investment for the firm.

5. Career Counseling and Outplacement:
In the event an attorney plans to leave the firm, by his choice, mutual agreement or at the firm’s request, Coaching for Lawyers can help make this transition as easy as possible for both parties. We can provide assessment testing and career counseling and coaching to assist the attorney in determining his best career path and in making the transition to new employment. This can occur while the attorney is still employed by the firm or after termination of employment as part of a severance package. The benefit to the attorney is professional assistance in transitioning to a position with a better fit. The benefit to the firm is maintaining a cordial, professional relationship with the departing attorney and ensuring a smooth transition