How to Speak up in Meetings & Get Heard

Lawyers spend many hours in meetings, whether Zoom or (soon to be) in person. I like these tips from the Harvard Business Review on how to speak up in meetings. Knowing when to chime in and not speak over others is hard, so get a plan ready: Understand it’s difficult to speak up because you’re […]
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Want to Become an Exec? Check out These Post-COVID Recruiting Trends

Today’s Wall Street Journal reported key changes in executive recruiting due to COVID. During COVID, executives stayed put, and companies wanted to maintain stability during uncertainty, which resulted in a 61% drop in CEO turnover. Now, however, experts expect CEO turnover to rise by up to 30%. Some trends in executive hiring due to COVID: Virtual interviewing […]
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How to Respond to Bias

Yes, diverse attorneys face bias whether at firms or in-house. I have heard hair-raising stories from minority attorneys about being mistaken for the help. The Recorder recently ran an interview with Olivia Luk Bedi, an Asian American woman partner, who tells this story: “I was at a contentious hearing in federal court about eight years […]
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In Honor of MLK

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day! I remember as a 1L my professor played a recording of MLK’s “I have a dream” speech, and I was struck by its power and hope: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will […]
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Alternate Paths to GC: A Case Study

The classic path to GC is to start at an Am Law firm in corporate securities, then go in-house to a capital markets team (being sure to pick up SEC, M&A, employee benefits, IR support, and other adjacent practice groups). The person would climb the corporate ladder internally or join a smaller company as the […]
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RIP RBG. She Left Us Good Advice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has departed this world, but left words to guide us. She wrote “advice to the living” a few years ago for the New York Times: Be a little deaf. “I have employed it as well in every workplace, including the Supreme Court. When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune […]
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3 Things that Haven’t Changed for In-House Lawyers over Last 10 Years

In my 10 years of recruiting in-house lawyers, I’ve seen a lot of changes. But what hasn’t changed that you think would have by now? Titles are still pretty consistent. From junior to senior the basic titles are: Associate Counsel (rare), Counsel, Senior Counsel, Assistant General Counsel (rare), Associate General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, General […]
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Hard Conversations: Speaking Truth to Power

Earlier this week Judge Silberman on the US Court of Appeals sent an internal email criticizing Sen. Warren’s amendment to rename army bases/monuments (“madness!”). He added, “It’s important to remember that Lincoln did not fight the war to free the Slaves [sic] Indeed he was willing to put up with slavery if the Confederate States […]
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3 Things Employees Vulnerable to Layoff Should Do

COVID has stalled the domestic and global economy, resulting in mass layoffs everywhere, but women and people of color have been hit the hardest. The Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s GetHired column report: March unemployment figures show overall unemployment increased by 26%, but that number is an eye-popping 64% for Asian Americans and 36% for LatinX. Also, […]
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