Get Strategic: Think Hard about Taking on Non-Promotable Tasks!

As the world economy sputters (see recent NYT story Global Growth Will Be Choked Amid Inflation and War), get strategic about your career as companies aim to cut fat. Take stock of your responsibilities and make an impact recognized by management. I read with interest this Harvard Business Review article on non-promotable tasks, which lawyers […]
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Dealing with Rejection, Lawyers’ Edition

Lawyers are often Type A go-getters. Getting through law school, passing the bar, and climbing the corporate ladder take effort and will, so when we get rejected, it’s tough. I enjoyed the book The Rejection That Changed My Life, which profiles leaders who were let down but turned it around. Some key points from the […]
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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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