These tips can help you involve more of your firm's associates in pro bono work that not only serves the community but also furthers associate professional development
A review of Excellence in the Workplace: Legal and Life Skills by Kay Kavanagh and Paula Nailon.
Thompson & Knight's Trial Department modified its program and implemented an assignment system that gives students a realistic view of what it's like to practice law, while affording the firm an opportunity to evaluate summer associates.
A continuation of a dialogue on student professionalism that began at the Annual Education Conference.
This article outlines suggested steps you can take to develop more expertise in the professional development field.
How one firm developed an internal curriculum
Orientation need not be drudgery for anyone involved. Some investment of time and thought now and you can create an experience that will bring positive closure to a new attorney's recruiting experience and open the doors to a positive future.
My firm developed the following program to provide our "newbies" with the essential information that is often overlooked by those of us who have been at the firm for a while.
Here are some tips for making sure that pro bono achievements are captured in associate reviews.
These key points we often address with law students and associates are equally important for PD professionals.
Trying to create a law firm Business Development program from scratch can feel overwhelming, but the good news is that new program creation is a process and it can be decoded and taught.
How can law firm leaders ensure that their behaviors match their intentions, and what can women and diverse lawyers do to find sponsors?
A survey of law school and law firm members revealed important differences in expectations about law student and lawyer PD.
What recruiting and lawyer professional development lessons might law firms draw from the NFL?
Here's how a Canadian firm introduces summer associates to timekeeping and docketing and recovers more costs from clients in the process.
Advice for working with International Master of Laws (LLM) students, including professional development, LinkedIn and networking lunches and other events at law firms and bar associations.
A positive attitude is a great start to building a more productive workplace, and you should encourage your team to develop ways to bolster individual and group happiness.
Law firms have increasingly utilized coaching as an important component of their talent management offerings. While the number of law firms with a dedicated internal coach is on the rise, most coaching at firms is done by external coaches. Hiring external coaches is a significant investment of time and budget resources, so it is important to employ best practices in managing your relationship with the external coach.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR) implemented the Launch program, a centralized work allocation system for first- and second-year corporate and securities associates in the Bay Area, after historically using a small group placement system. The Launch program has delivered several key benefits to associates, the firm, and its clients.
The Law Practice Program (LPP) in Ontario provides licensing candidates and the legal profession with a new alternative to articling.
Law students/associates with grit and a growth mindset have resiliency and the ability to recover from setbacks.
Mark your calendars: We can't wait to see you in Washington, DC, on December 1-2 for an exciting Professional Development Institute.
This year's Professional Development Institute is bookended by two exciting plenaries focusing on innovation both within and outside of the legal industry.
Newcomer's Corner column addressing social learning
A look at Aaron Baer's personal story and how his neurodivergent unique perspectives and approaches to problem-solving have helped to transform the legal industry. By embracing neurodiversity, law firms can not only support their neurodivergent employees but also unlock the full potential of their teams, creating a profession that is truly open to all.
Innovating Talent Management in Law Firms: Can Competencies Drive Change in the Legal Profession?
Given the often unpredictable timing of expenditures, a move to a rolling budget appears to be the most effective route to take.
A review of Maximize Your Lawyer Potential: Professionalism and Business Etiquette for Law Students and Lawyers by Amee McKim.
Summary of recruiting discussion during Roundtable on the Future of Lawyer Hiring, Development, and Advancement.
A brief excerpt from Loyalty by Design: A Practical Guide for Developing an Effective Associate Integration Program
The Schola2Juris program at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis reimagines the recruiting process and the transition from law school to law firm.
Now is the time to reflect on the advice you've been giving to new law students and associates and take some time to invest in your own self-development.
In his new book, author David Freeman has captured the wisdom of 27 other business development experts to provide lawyers with a head start on learning rainmaking.
Meditation has been shown to enhance performance and the ability to focus attention, with performance-based measures of cognitive function improving in a matter of weeks. Here are some of the leaders who are advancing concepts of mindfulness in the legal profession.
A look back at the June 2009 Lawyer Development Institute.
Coverage of the third Roundtable on the Future of Lawyer Hiring, Development and Advancement examines whether legal education has gone the way of the auto industry.
What professional development skills do law firms expect law graduates to have at entry level?
A year's worth of work by a NALP Pro Bono and Professional Development Task Force culminated with a live Roundtable event in Washington, DC. Here are some highlights.
Secondments provide training for associates in law firms that can be a winning strategy for firms, associates, and corporations.
It is time to descend on Washington, DC, to attend the 2017 Professional Development Institute (PDI), taking place November 30 and December 1 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. An exciting opportunity to learn about industry-wide hot topics and discussions that could help professional development (PD) professionals drive results, enable transformation, and increase engagement, you do not want to miss this conference. With presentations from some of our industry’s most respected PD leaders, the PDI Conference once again will provide a central stage to meet and network with peers, consultants, and vendors on a wide-range of PD topics and issues.
Each year, professional development managers take the time to create or refine their respective summer associate training programs. These managers typically have one goal in mind: to provide content that develops the skills for summer associates to succeed at their firm. However, as managers put pen to paper to develop their training schedules, issues and constraints inevitably interfere. Too often, the result is an unfocused training schedule, or worse, a schedule that requires new associates to absorb a wealth of information over a short period. While managers may have to accept these results, they should not strive for them. As discussed b...
What better way to kick off each day of the Professional Development Institute (December 3-4) than with an exciting plenary featuring well-known national and international experts? Here is a sneak peek at two plenaries you won't want to miss.
Learn how one firm is introducing brief, targeted learning opportunities to its PD programming.
Each generation will approach a mentoring relationship with different goals and measures of success; it is important to think about these differences when pairing or advising individuals in a mentoring program.
As part of a personal branding strategy, your lawyers should focus on a few key tactics that they engage in consistently.
Alston & Bird LLP’s Erin Springer makes the case for internal strategic partnerships during the COVID-19 pandemic and in times of uncertainty.
Venable’s Andy Hales examines the history and evolution of professional development as part of NALP’s 50th Anniversary Commemorative edition of the Bulletin.
Client secondments offer an exciting opportunity for associates to experience in-house work while also reinforcing strong connections with a client.
This article addresses those in professional development roles who bear the responsibility for creating the processes and projects that align with the strategic plans of their organizations. Because these professionals are creators, they can transform their organizations through creative problem-solving and organizational artistry.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s Laura Bicks and Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law’s Becky Fitzsimmons explain what the plenaries have in store at the April 2022 NALP Annual Education Conference in New Orleans.
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP’s Jennifer Lau explains why the 2023 NALP Annual Education Conference in Vancouver will include a territorial acknowledgement.
Innovating Talent Management in Law Firms: Innovation in Legal Education Through Collaboration Between Law Schools and Law Firms
lawyer career development
The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law by Mark Herrmann
Orientation can provide the guidance and knowledge attorneys need within the office, their individual practice group, and the firm as a whole to achieve success in a new environment.
Review of From Law School to Law Practice
An ASTD White Paper on the human capital challenge facing businesses today outlines key competencies and roles for chief learning officers or professional development directors.
If you are a legal administrator, you can play a critical role in facilitating both the voluntary and involuntary transitions that occur at your firm.
How can professional development align its planning and actions toward meeting expectations for client service?
The expertise and leadership of law firm PD professionals can make a real difference in helping legal aid attorneys access training opportunities and thus in building bridges with the pro bono community.
Key findings from a research study of law firm use of core competencies and benchmarks by the NALP Foundation and the Professional Development Consortium (PDC).
A review of The Law Firm Associate's Guide to Connecting with Your Colleagues and its companion Trainer's Manual . Together these books help all levels of associates avoid common pitfalls in communicating with clients and colleagues and provide professional development administrators with easily implemented in-house training.
Recently NALP and the NALP Foundation worked with two NALP sections to create and implement the 2010 Survey of Law School Experiential Learning Opportunities and Benefits.
With summer programs shrinking and lateral hiring still below pre-2008 recession levels, firms are relying more on professional development to help retain their top legal talent.
These studies revealed differences in the value placed on law school experiential learning opportunities by law firm associates and public service lawyers.
In the current legal market, it is relatively rare for attorneys to remain with the same law firm for their entire career. Now, more than ever, attorneys are demanding more flexibility in their career paths, redefining traditional notions of advancement and success. With this change comes a need for specialized talent professionals — and outplacement professionals serve as an invaluable resource within this talent framework. Proactively managing career transitions for attorneys at all levels removes the stigma once associated with outplacement services when they were perceived as being engaged only to help those leaving a firm involuntarily.
Clients come to lawyers with questions — and they’re looking for answers they can understand.This can be a hard concept for law students and young lawyers. In college and then in law school, they were often rewarded for writing complicated papers, packed full of legal jargon and case citations. Now you want them to streamline their writing and make it easy to understand. Here are a few ways you can help law students and young lawyers make the transition from academic to business writing.
A career services office can maximize its support of MLS students through personalized outreach and individualized counseling, programming, a specialized student/alumni job board, and conscientious inclusion into the greater law school community.
Moving to Canada is a more frequent punchline since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. This article offers a first-hand look at a NALP Board member’s transition from the U.S. to its northern neighbor.
Such alternative models of mentoring as episodic mentoring and group mentoring can help ensure that all lawyers receive needed mentoring.
This article will address some of the pros and cons of using LinkedIn Groups for your alumni program and offer step-by-step instructions on how to start one of your own.
This year's PDI, on December 3-4 in Washington, DC, offers amazing programming for law schools as well as for law firms.
A story reveals the significant impact PD professionals can have on a lawyer's career.
In addition to offering an intensive simulated learning experience, the PPD seeks to train future lawyers who will be rooted in their Franco-Ontarian community.
Panelists Jordan Furlong, Cat Moon of Vanderbilt University and Air Canada’s Fred Headon discussed lawyer formation during a virtual plenary May 1 as part of NALP’s 2020 Annual Education Conference.
In this Q&A, Lauren Ecock shares her career journey with Nicole Llorenz along with insights on how to ensure success from day one in the fast-paced world of lawyer professional development.
Nikki Harris of the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada – Las Vegas explores best practices for advising law students about nontraditional appearance in a conservative legal field.
Ellen Dalicandro and Katrina Henn explain how WeirFoulds LLP in Toronto, Ontario created a successful mentoring program for mid-level associates.
Innovating Talent Management in Law Firms: Innovation in Law Firm Learning
Professional development administrators can contribute directly to the development of the talented associates who will lead and manage the next generation of their firm.
Associates are the best source of feedback when it comes to your firm's professional development efforts. Here are some tips on getting their input.
If your firm is considering adding or enhancing a career counseling program for your firm's lawyers, consider these factors in deciding whether to turn to outside consultants or internal staff to implement the program.
A law firm shares its experiences with using 360-degree feedback as a leadership development tool.
With lateral hiring up, effective lateral integration has become more important than ever.
Sometimes when launching a new initiative it makes sense to build it from scratch, but sometimes it is wiser to leverage the buy-in that already exists for an ongoing program.
The best way to find a mentor is to develop a network of friends and colleagues that you can turn to for a variety of things.
Creating Pathways to Diversity - Mentoring Across Differences: A Guide to Cross-Gender and Cross-Race Mentoring
Associates and counsel ... said they needed more information on expectations and progress. Partners said they needed practical guidance on ways to assist more junior attorneys ..."
The questions for us in early 2004 are whether or not firms are truly committed to professional development and, if they are committed, what level of professional development position they will support.
Review of Making Work Work for You
The NALP Directory of Legal Employers provides some insights on law firms' professional development staff, evaluation practices, rotation of junior associates, and billable hours credit for training time.
A review of You Get What You Measure: Lawyer Development Frameworks & Effective Performance Evaluations by Scott Sestsfahl.
A case simulation approach to diversity training.
Currently only six of the MCLE states require diversity or "elimination of bias" credits.
During a plenary session at the recent Professional Development Institute, five managing partners shared some of their lessons learned over the past year. Competitive advantage in the new economy, they said, will depend entirely on having better trained lawyers who have been trained more efficiently and more quickly.
NDLE data provide insights on the way PD is administered in law firms as well as on the frequency of evaluations, the prevalence of upward reviews, and more.
The second wave of AJD findings offer information on respondents' satisfaction levels with a number of aspects of their legal careers.
PD professionals are instrumental in determining the success of associate mentor programs. These strategies can help.
Here are some suggestions for selecting the webinar provider most suited to your programming or training needs.
In many ways knowledge management and lawyer professional development share a common purpose. Here is one example of how they can work together.
Pro bono work is often the best way to provide developmental opportunities to our associates.
Pro bono work offers kinds of hands-on experiences associates often can't get elsewhere.
The value pro bono legal work can provide to society is obvious, but what is less apparent is what pro bono work can offer to the lawyers who are doing the work.
Learn how one Canadian firm uses a simple, low-tech tool to help ensure summer students/associates get feedback throughout the summer.
Here are a few ways pro bono can provide opportunities for lawyers to put new skills to work.
The State Bar of Texas and the nine Texas law schools have partnered to create and cosponsor an innovative Succession Planning Pilot Program for lawyers.
Rescuing the growing numbers of associates and partners trapped in the Zone of Indifference may be the biggest and most important professional development challenge of our times.
Far too many lawyers learn far too late in their careers that making partner often involves very different skills from succeeding as a partner.
Attending the 2017 NALP Professional Development Institute (PDI) in Washington, DC, on November 30 and December 1 is a must! Programming at the PDI will feature many relevant educational sessions including two standout plenaries.
Tips for talent management professionals new to the law firm world (coming from other professions).
Inspired by Michele Bendekovic’s helpful article in the January 2018 NALP Bulletin, here are some helpful talking points for public interest attorneys and pro bono directors to use when appealing to employers to attend conferences, including NALP events.
William and Mary Law School’s Sara Marshall offers ideas from supporting law students that can used to support new lawyers in career services and professional development.
NALP's Mary Beal reviews the impact of NALP events on the legal careers community over the years in celebration of NALP's 50th Anniversary in 2021.
UC Hastings Law’s Fairuz Abdullah and DueCourse founder Drew Amoroso explain why you may need to change how you view time in order to get the most out of online tools that help with scheduling and completing tasks.
There is incredible value in all of the concurrent educational sessions at PDI, but I want to highlight a few that are of particular interest to law school members.
I found that until I needed it, I didn’t think much about parental leave. I want to share my story as well as tips sourced from the NALP community. If you are preparing for parental leave, you have a lot of change coming up and I hope this helps make your preparation easier.
school-side sessions at the Professional Development Institute (PDI)
What to expect from NALP’s 2020 Annual Education Conference, the largest yearly gathering of legal employment professionals.
Unlocking similarities and differences among various generations in the legal profession, including Baby Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial partners and associates.
These eight critical skills will mark the superior lawyer of the 21st century.
Jessica R. Natkin and Jessica L. Hernandez offer an advance look at Let’s Coach All the Lawyers: An Essential Primer for Professionals Developing Legal Talent, which is a new book that can be used to foster growth and move beyond common issues in the legal workplace.
Nominating Committee Chair Clara Solomon and Vice Chair Michael Nguyen explain why you should nominate your colleagues for a NALP leadership position before this year’s application period closes on November 18.
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP’s Christina Henry offers six reasons to make the case for attending the NALP Annual Education Conference April 25-28 in Vancouver BC, Canada.
Stewart McKelvey’s Lynn Iding, a member of the NALP Board of Directors, offers tips for U.S. members attending the 2023 Annual Education Conference April 25-28 in Vancouver, BC.
Microaggressions, those subtle expressions of bias can be death by a thousand cuts. One option for responding to microaggressions that can be effective – particularly for those who do not enjoy confrontation – is to simply ask questions.
Competition for top talent will always exist but shifting the focus to your firm’s Employee Value Proposition (EPV) can be a game changer. An EVP consists of the combined benefits and rewards offered to employees in return for their commitment and capabilities.
The Career Web offers employees the appropriate guidance and direction to allow them to achieve their potential within the office.
Learn how a new team mentoring approached yielded results for one firm.
Tips for involving summer associates in a firm's professional development program.
This second article in a three-part series takes you from designing a plan for effective Business Development programming to executing the plan.
The approach that associates take in their written and verbal communication is critical and serves as the foundation upon which associates will build their key relationships.
This article makes the case that associate competency frameworks have the potential of being the single biggest breakthrough in the history of law firm diversity.
A key take-away from one PDI plenary was that it's going to be more and more crucial for law firms to change their current recruiting models, and that firms need to collaborate on all aspects of legal education with the law schools from which they recruit.
Raindance: The Business Development Guidebook for Lawyers is a practical workbook that focuses on the basics of business development, whether it be to build a practice, grow an existing practice, or find a niche.
In a more competitive legal market, law firm expectations of entry-level lawyers are changing.
When coaching results in courageous conversations beginning to flow, this expanded space can help a lawyer take his or her business, relationships, creativity, and vision to a new level.
While continuing to offer high-level professional development programming for legal employers, the 2013 Professional Development Institute will also offer sessions for law school members.
The new normal that panelists at the most recent Roundtable on the Future of Lawyer Hiring, Development, and Advancement see emerging involves more careful management, more purposeful action, more people in more dialogue about more decisions, more contingency planning, more thoughtful recruiting, and more work directly with law school CSO offices.
A NALP Foundation and West LegalEdcenter study provides new benchmarking data on law firm professional development resources.
This article takes a look at key lawyer professional development information reported in the NALP Directory of Legal Employers.
The 2017 Report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being as well as cultural shifts in the legal profession have prompted law firms and legal employers to commit to well-being initiatives. The issue is how to create an impactful and effective program. At the NALP/ALI CLE Professional Development Institute (PDI) in December, we heard confusion among participants about how to create buy-in, how to handle the realities of practice that are leading to increased stress and anxiety among associates, how to address mental health, how to handle alcohol at events, and much more. While this article can’t provide all of the answers, we hope to ...
Law firm mergers trigger a range of emotions — uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and even grief. Given the increase in the number of law firm mergers in recent years, it is likely that you or someone you know has gone through, or will go through, this experience. While we all recognize that when faced with the prospect of a merger, we will need to do something, we don’t always know exactly what that “something” should be. This unknown is what triggers a variety of emotions. Concentrating on the three W’s — what you need to know, when you need to know it, and why this knowledge is important — provides structure, clarity, and a path forward. Combinin...
Speakers at the 2019 Professional Development Institute (PDI) will focus on culture, diversity and inclusion.
PD professionals can play a key role in cultivating civility in the legal profession.
As a leader, how can you interrupt minimization in the workplace, and the exclusionary world it creates? By leveraging authenticity in how you live, lead, and work. Ritu Bhasin is the president of bhasin consulting, inc., a leading diversity and inclusion-focused consulting firm.
The millennial generation’s desire for feedback has become a frequent topic of discussion within the legal industry. Millennials want more feedback, and they want it more often. They want the feedback to be specific, attributed, and balanced — that is, millennials do not just want to hear the constructive; they also want to be told what they are doing well. Are millennials wrong to ask for this? Certainly not. Nevertheless, law firms are left in a tough position, trying to strike a balance between millennials’ need for feedback and the realities of the billable hours model. Real-time feedback processes, while attractive in many respects, can ...
NALP’s annual nominating process is undergoing some changes. In response to public health, social, and economic exigencies, the timeline for the process has been accelerated and nominations open September 1.
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart’s Kelly Druten Green offers a series of steps to help measure the return on investment for legal training programs.
Nutter Chief Talent and Equity Officer Kristin Leary shares three program highlights for PDI 2021, which takes place Dec. 2-3 in Washington, DC, returning to an in-person format after a virtual conference last year.
Training equips lawyers with the skills to navigate complex legal issues, ensuring both client satisfaction and successful outcomes. For legal employers, investing in training translates to a more competent and stable workforce, yielding long-term benefits like increased client retention and a robust reputation in the legal community.
There are multiple types of organized mentoring programs. The two most used programs in law firms are 1:1 mentoring and mentoring circles.
Confidence at work not only feels good, it also enhances actual performance and career growth. Emily Hirsekorn and Sarra Ziari offer coaching tips and action items to enhance each one so you can address self-doubt when it arises in yourself or others.
As an in-house career counselor, you can have an impact on the working lives of attorneys. We encourage firms to consider individual associate counseling as a means to boost retention, morale, and goodwill.
Four important elements to a successful work assignment program include: a motivated work coordinator; quality assignments; a well-organized assignment tracking system; and a thorough process that provides substantive feedback and evaluations.
Deborah Epstein Henry's book is reviewed an invaluable, practical handbook, packed with checklists and concrete tips that employer representatives and law school administrators can and should implement.
These tips can help new lawyers hit the ground running and build successful careers.
A successful PIP enables a firm and an underperforming associate to work together to improve performance.
Step #1 is laying the foundations of professional development concepts for law students.
PD professionals can play a critical role in helping lawyers transition toward retirement, perhaps assuming important new roles within a firm in the process.
In lawyer professional development, skills are taught first. What if the priority were the client, with legal skills coming second?
Taking a leadership role in your city group or law school consortium can provide you with an opportunity to develop and strengthen your leadership skills.
In this last article of a three-part series, the authors provide a checklist for evaluating business development programming and suggest ways that information can be used to strengthen programming and support further initiatives.
Developing leadership skills in law students and lawyers is critically important.
A sample of the NALP Law Firm PD Section’s findings from a recent member survey focused on the area of newer generations entering the workforce, including Gen Z and Millennials.
Katherine Schmidt and Shannon Burke explain the differences and new strengths of a virtual setting for the 2020 Professional Development Institute (PDI 2020).
The most successful lawyers aren’t only “book smart,” but they also show high emotional intelligence. Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP’s Kendra Brodin explains why it matters.
University of Oregon School of Law’s Rebecca Ivanoff describes her perspective on NALP’s next 20 years as a relative newcomer to the legal profession, as part of NALP’s 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2021.
Analyzing decades of NALP Employment Report & Salary Survey data as part of NALP’s 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Bulletin.
Science can explain my remarkable ability to remember the negative as well as my shy response to these experiences. It’s called the negativity bias. This applies to you and the law students you support. Humans are evolutionarily wired to pick up on cues of danger. Identifying them supports our survival. Our danger cues have evolved from the startled response to a lion’s approach, to being startled in the face of negative feedback or rejection. When we’ve done something wrong, or failed, even on a small scale, we worry whether we will survive. If our career doesn’t survive, how will we support ourselves, pay our housing and food costs, raise o...
Old ideas have a sneaky way of hanging on. You may hear people around you give voice to one or more of the seven talent development fallacies below. Be on the lookout for these misconceptions at your law firm or university. Be ready to take a stand. Teach the people you work with that even in this digitally-dominated world, attorneys need face-to-face networking skills to help them connect, converse, and collaborate. That’s the way things get done, innovation happens, and firms stay competitive.
Self-awareness is a meta-competency that deserves the focus of both recruitment and PD professionals, since associates with high levels of self-awareness are much better able to build relationships, set and manage goals, and positively manage critical feedback.
You have just finalized your firm’s strategic hiring priorities for the year and are ready to move forward with your recruitment efforts. Before you pick up the phone to call your favorite recruiter and begin your search for candidates, your first call should be to your business development team because they have an in-depth understanding of selling the firm. Our role as recruitment professionals involves selling the firm to candidates, and it is important that both teams be aligned on strategy and priorities.
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Sherry-Ann N. Smith-Gomez and University of Georgia School of Law’s Tony Waller share experiences from attendees of past NALP Annual Education Conferences in preparation for the first in-person AEC in New Orleans in April 2022.
Angela Sordi interviews Simon Margolis, a Disputes Associate at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto, Canada, about the challenges that lawyers and law students with neurodiverse conditions face in the legal profession.
Thompson Hine LLP’s Carole Deeter explains how mutual trust and showing your appreciation can help build strong professional development teams at law firms.
Nominating Committee Chair Clara Solomon and Vice Chair Michael Nguyen explain why you should nominate your colleagues for a NALP leadership position before this year’s application period closes on November 18.
Chapman and Cutler’s Shannon Burke shares some of the program highlights and what to expect at the 2022 NALP-ALI Professional Development Institute, Dec. 1-2 in Washington, DC.
Author Amy Curren explains how creating a family podcast helped her realize how essential it is to build a culture where people feel free to explore, ask questions, and keep growing.
student professional development; professional development
The next five years will likely bring sweeping changes to the legal profession and to the ways law students and lawyers are prepared for that profession. What role will NALP members play in helping to shape that world?
The Carnegie report's critique, the law schools' response, and suggestions for employers.
Five Managing Partners will be featured in a plenary at the 2009 Professional Development Institute.
One firm's experience may suggest ways that other firms can strengthen their mentoring programs.
The Etiquette Edge: The Unspoken Rules for Business Success by Beverly Langford and Building Career Connections: Networking Tools for Law Students and New Lawyers by Donna Gerson.
This article examines what competencies are and how they can be used.
Isn't it ironic that many lawyers spend more time and energy planning their vacations than they do planning their careers?
In Columbus, a seminar about mentoring became an opportunity to build stronger relationships within the local legal community as well.
Here are some quick tips for linking PD and pro bono.
This year's conference featured an Innovation Tournament that spanned the length of the conference and yielded numerous take-home ideas.
Pro bono can be just as important to the professional development of a firm's most senior lawyers as to its junior associates.
As developers and recruiters of lawyers, NALP members are often a firm's "first responder" to a lawyer's depression, stress, anxiety, substance abuse, or other mental health issues. This article provides suggestions on how to best be of assistance.
The world of Hogwarts suggests that we may need to teach our summer associates and summer law students not only how to find mentors but also how to avoid "dementors."
What can professional development and recruiting professionals do to give the entry-level Class of 2013 the best possible chance to survive?
Pace's unique Legal Writing Skills program offers one possible model for collaboration between schools and employers to provide needed training to new lawyers.
Successful mentoring is only part of the equation; finding and cultivating sponsors is also critical to a lawyer's career development — and especially critical for women and diverse lawyers.
These 4 steps will help you coach partners to be better trainers.
Many firms have embraced coaching as a valuable resource in helping lawyers perform their best. While firms support coaching in different ways, it often falls on PD professionals to manage coaching engagements, whether they are delivering the coaching services internally or working with trusted external providers. Successful coaching outcomes depend on alignment not only between the coach and the lawyer, but also with the coaching sponsor, typically a partner who calls with a “Can we get some [topic] coaching for this lawyer?” request. Below are questions for PD professionals to consider including in the initial conversations with the sponsor...
In our changing economy and workforce, organizations are directly impacted by their workers and their personal commitment to the work at hand. New research indicates that people who find purpose in their work and their lives (Purpose-Oriented individuals) outperform those who are driven by money or status. Working with purpose can be nurtured and developed within each of our employees with the right coaching, support, and resources. Neal Gerber Eisenberg is engaging individuals and teams in the power of purpose.
Starting a new legal career is exciting, but despite the excitement, many newer professionals are experiencing unexpected challenges that turn the glow of a new career into darkness and gloom. Transitioning from school to work is hard — thankfully, these newer professionals have you, the professional development manager, to assist in navigating career challenges. Here are three tips you can provide to new professionals to help ease the transition to practice.
What do new lawyers really need to know to be successful in practice? How can law schools create practice-ready graduates? How can law firm librarians help bridge any gaps during the onboarding process? What about new lawyers who land in small firms or other settings and don’t have the benefit of research assistance? Law librarians are the answer.
University of California Berkeley School of Law’s Terrence J. Galligan explores the history of NALP from the years 1990-2008 as part of the association’s 50th Anniversary celebration.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin defines compassion fatigue and gives legal professionals in law schools and firms strategies to improve their emotional, physical, and occupational well-being in their recruiting and professional development roles.
The conventional wisdom is that lawyers are unhappy with their work. It is certainly true that the legal profession is not particularly known for its attention to well-being and personal growth. The profession is notorious for long hours and hard and often tedious work. Lawyers are also expected to be available to clients at all times. This article explores the sources of dissatisfaction, research from the fields of positive psychology and positive organizational behavior that addresses how to shift the workplace experience, and some real-time suggestions to implement strengths-based strategies in law firms.
School-side attendance of the Professional Development Institute has risen year after year. Here are some reasons for law school members to go to this year's PDI.
Senior lawyers know that taking risks is part of law practice. For junior lawyers to learn to take risks—even careful and considered risks—they must be willing to make mistakes (to fail), especially in a first attempt.
This article serves as a primer for competencies and benchmarks, both helpful tools in your PD toolbox and an industry best practice.
Our cover story focuses on how best to foster leadership. While the legal profession can be competitive, leadership roles are collaborative – to address this gap, new leadership training programs are being created.
Husch Blackwell’s Carrie English shares tips for newcomers to the NALP Annual Education Conference in advance of the first in-person AEC in two years, set for April 2022 in New Orleans.
NALP's Professional Development Institute provides a golden opportunity to advance your career, make new connections, and improve your organization.
The Lawyer Professional Development Section is for NALP members who are interested in or have a responsibility for law firm professional development programming.
Performance feedback in law firms frequently feels like a torturous exercise in futility. As a former HR director for an AmLaw 100 firm, I too often saw partners and senior lawyers skirt their responsibility for providing guidance by avoiding it all together, softening it to the point that there was no message for the receiver to act upon, or being so blunt that the young lawyer simply shut down or burst into tears. There are myriad variations of this dynamic. Learn how to effectively give feedback.
Tips for those who must juggle the requirements of multiple MCLE jurisdictions.
Monitoring myriad rules and regulations is not an easy task, especially when juggling these newfound responsibilities with many other responsibilities.
A good professional development program bolster recruitment and retention efforts and helps differentiate your firm from the competition.
Two members of different teams within a firm explain how they found new ways to work together that can work for other firms as well.
From Finals to the Firm: The Top Ten Things New Law Firm Associates Should Know
Two of the fundamental leadership development areas critical to public interest lawyers are communication skills and client/community outreach.
Three plenary sessions and six sets of concurrent sessions will be packed into the two-day 2010 Professional Development Institute (PDI) convening December 9-10 in Washington, DC. Offering high-level programming for experienced professional development administrators, the PDI is sponsored by NALP and ALI-ABA in collaboration with the Professional Development Consortium (PDC).
We all know that feedback is useful, but Bill Henderson explains how he learned that well-structured feedback, if given to a highly motivated and receptive audience, can supercharge lawyer development.
Introducing a new column from NALP's Pro Bono and Professional Development Task Force.
The second edition of Abbott's Lawyers' Professional Development is a significant update and expansion of the first. Its increased page count doesn't begin to reflect the extent of revision and reorganization within those pages: reorganization that improves the flow of the content and revisions that acknowledge major changes in the legal and PD professions.
A well planned and executed on-boarding process can lay the foundation for long-term success for both your firm and the new lateral.
Everyone benefits from "relay teams" formed by legal career professionals.
Here are some of the reasons law school professionals will find the programming at the 2011 Professional Development Institute valuable.
Listening for unspoken messages is an important skill for every young lawyer, but it can be an even bigger issue for diverse associates. PD professionals and career services advisors can help new lawyers learn to listen for the silent messages.
Here are some tips for developing critical leadership skills in practice group chairs.
Check-ins, reflection exercises, mentorship, coaching, and assessments are among the tools available to help with professional identity formation.
For more than 50 years, NALP has supported an exceptional network of legal career professionals from law schools and law firms in a culture of unyielding congeniality.
Here's how the four C's of collaboration (client service, connection, communication, and cooperation) can combine to make lawyer professional development efforts more effective.
Last spring, about 100 of our firm’s senior associates from around the world arrived in New York City for a senior associate conference. Very quickly, they "crash-landed" in a frigid, desolate landscape in subarctic Canada for a teamwork exercise. Working in groups, the associates had to handle some general decision-making issues, including whether to stay in place or venture away from the crash site. The obvious question of this exercise is whether one is better off making survival decisions on one’s own or by harnessing the power of a group. Not surprisingly, even among office-bound lawyers with strong personalities, groups nearly always ou...
Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law’s Kiva Zytnick shares ideas about how to promote pro bono work in law schools.
Members of NALP’s Professional Identity Formation Work Group share findings from the 2020 Report on Survey of Law Firm Competency Expectations for Associate Development.
The most successful secondments are the result of substantial planning, agreed upon objectives, and a commitment to an honest and constructive debrief.
Training geared toward summer associates is unique in its capacity to indirectly achieve a number of ancillary but important goals.
Paula Edgar explains how law firms can cultivate an environment where feedback is not merely acknowledged but embraced as a catalyst for improvement.
William & Mary Law School’s Moriah Berger Allen reviews the book by 2021 NALP Annual Education Conference speaker Haben Girma, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.
Fox Rothschild LLP’s Jennifer Mencarini prepares NALP members interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion programming for the 2023 Annual Education Conference in Vancouver.
By empowering lawyers, especially those from diverse backgrounds, with business development skills early in their careers, we can enable them to carve out a trajectory that is both personally and professionally rewarding. The future of law is undoubtedly diverse, and it is imperative that firms take action so they can continue to thrive in an ever-changing landscape.
While annual, formal performance evaluations are valuable, employee development and growth will be better supported if evaluations are paired with real-time feedback.
To any newer professionals—or longtime NALPers—looking to become more involved, I highly encourage you to make the jump and join a Section or Work Group! The community you find will be well worth it!
Findings from the After the JD study suggest that law firms should not fail to pay attention to the importance of informal training and support mechanisms for their entry-level and junior lawyers.
Acceleration is not considered to be given or an expectation by associates. The focus is on individual performance and associates recognize that they are only competing with themselves.
book review; law student professional development; lawyer professional development
The economic crisis has created an opportunity for law firms to rethink their talent management practices, including the compensation of associates. This webinar provides significant insights to aid that process.
Adults are motivated to learn by internal factors such as self-esteem, desire for recognition, and natural curiosity.
Junior associates expected supervising partners to be mentors. Many supervisors did not share that expectation...
There is a good case to be made for placing the responsibility of conducting substantive exit interviews with those of us who are the recruiting, legal personnel, and/or professional development directors of our firms.
What does it take to become a partner in today's law firms? A new NALP Foundation research report provides new insights on the factors affecting associate advancement.
How can you help associates and summer associates get the informal feedback they crave?
Learn how Cardozo tapped alumni connections and others to establish a new legal residency program that is employing 18 graduates in its first year.
Integrating new attorneys into a firm's pro bono practice can also aid in integrating them into the firm.
Technology, the economy, and additional factors are giving rise to new career models within law firms and other organizations. A new resource guide addresses the implications for NALP members and their constituencies.
It "took a village" to support an emerging associate's entry into a law firm community, and that same "village" is needed upon the associate's exit.
The simple question “Why do you want to make partner?” can leave even the most accomplished young attorney at a loss for words. Her inability to answer this straightforward question, only to ask “isn’t that just the next step? Isn’t that what I am supposed to want?” is a sign that the attorney is operating in what I call the Achievement Mindset—the mental framework that asks only whether the next career step leads to more money, prestige, and peer recognition. Success is viewed linearly and advancement happens by getting to the next rung on a pre-defined ladder of success.
Innovating is hard work, and it’s especially hard in a profession known more for adherin¬g to precedent than finding a new way forward. But we all know that ten years from now, the industry is likely to look very different than it does now. There’s no question that the delivery of legal services — delivered by some mix of humans and machines — will look different than it does now. And my best guess is that everything associated with the industry, including most of the roles that NALP members now fill, will also be different. How do we have an impact on what that future looks like? How do we help shape that future proactively rather than simpl...
There are ways to leverage both new-school and old-school educational techniques to improve the quality and effectiveness of our learning and development offerings. Training approaches we saw in the past are being updated and re-applied in today’s workplaces. Classic teaching and learning techniques like apprenticeships, shadowing, homework, and games are showing up in new and interesting ways and having a positive impact. In this article, we will discuss how you can incorporate these techniques into your training curricula.
The case for competency-based reviews is stronger than ever. Associates are demanding greater transparency in the review process and clients are demanding new legal services. Having a list of core competencies that are evaluated on a regular basis provides clarity and transparency on what skills and abilities are expected of associates and allows firms to amend the competencies expected of their associates based on client demands.
From law students and summer associates exploring career paths, to firm lawyers who need training and access to future opportunities, to firm alumni who have left but want to enhance their professional network, integrating a firm’s law student and lawyer populations creates a community that benefits its members and the firm.
Tips for new attendees to NALP's largest conference of the year, the Annual Education Conference.
Value, networking and professional growth are among the reasons to attend NALP’s AEC 2020, which takes place April 28 to May 1 in Montreal, Canada.
Whether you are new to the field or a seasoned professional, the Professional Development Institute occurring December 3-4 in Washington, DC, has something for you!
Sheryl Roberts provides tips for planning and executive both in-person and virtual onboarding.
Three C-Suite leaders share their insights and perspectives on the legal industry — what’s changing, what’s challenging, and where things are headed.
This article provides several suggestions on what firms can do to ensure a successful implementation of their core competency framework and then offers a case study.
Here are 5 ways your lawyers can help your firm retain associates through everyday relationships that cross the generations. And, these tips aren't costly and can easily be incorporated into the culture of your firm.
Research suggests that law firms can distinguish themselves with a top-notch associate assessment process. Reduced associate attrition could be one of the outcomes.
Review of The Lawyer's Guide to Mentoring, Being an Effective Mentor, Working with a Mentor, and Be Your Own Mentor: Strategies from Top Women on the Secrets of Success
Review of The First Five Minutes: How to Make a Great Impression in Any Business Situation
One way to get more buy-in, support, and resources for business development training and coaching programs is to create a tracking and measuring process up front.
Upward reviews of lawyers can yield significant benefits for a firm. Here are some suggestions for gaining buy-in and implementing upward reviews.
Business development skills can be taught, and PD directors are increasingly being called upon to provide this training and coaching.
If you are responsible for any aspect of lawyer training or professional development in any capacity, the upcoming 2011 Professional Development Institute is one program you can't afford to miss.
In 2011, Wisnik Career Enterprises, Inc., surveyed law firm recruiting and PD professionals to learn more about changes in the way they are managing their functions at their firms — and to determine what core competencies are central to these roles.
What a difference nine months make! When NALP and the NALP Foundation began a series of Roundtables on the Future of Lawyer Hiring, Development, and Advancement in June 2009, law firms, law schools, and client corporations were staggering under the weight of the worst of the recession, with no clear end in sight.
On November 29, 2018, more than 400 professionals from across the country gathered for the 2018 Professional Development Institute (PDI) sponsored by NALP and ALI CLE in cooperation with the Professional Development Consortium. The two-day conference, held at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, DC, featured seminars, panel discussions, and interactive dialog, including two plenary programs and an array of 33 concurrent sessions. Sessions addressed topics such as best practices in mid-level training, innovative approaches to associate feedback, law firm coaching, and diversity and leadership training.
A letter to a partner from a client on what clients want.
The Uniform Bar Exam can make it easier to take the test in a more relaxed environment, stay licensed, or even make career transitions.
Taking a multi-pronged approach to training women legal associates can help encourage them to stay and give them the tools and resources to advance in their careers.
Tips for NALP’s 2020 Annual Education Conference (AEC) April 28-May 1 in Montreal, including conference hotels, plenary speakers, and can’t miss things to do, eat and see around the city.
Peer coaching programs can foster adaptability to change, support for professional goals, increased confidence and social competence, a sense of empowerment, and improved ability to give and receive honest feedback.
McGuireWoods’ Stephanie Felder offers ideas on how to maximize training and professional development on a shoestring budget and during uncertain times.
Varnum LLP’s Katie Hoekstra and Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore’s Adam Kancher highlight the local attractions in New Orleans, home to NALP’s 2022 Annual Education Conference, which returns to an in-person event after virtual conferences in 2020 and 2021.
Right now, if you are anything like me, you are at the height of professional development programming at your school and are desperately starting to look for the “light at the end of the tunnel” in May. But, how can you maximize that time just after graduation to prepare an exceptional student PD program for the following year? Here are a few tips that can be helpful.
Attending the 2018 NALP/ALI CLE Professional Development Institute (PDI) on Thursday, November 29 and Friday, November 30, 2018, in Washington, DC, is a perfect opportunity to expand your skill set, learn about new, innovative PD initiatives, and develop a strategic and holistic approach for implementing those new initiatives. Whether you are a law school or law firm PD professional, you don’t want to miss this conference.
What PD skills and training do employers most want to see in the associates they hire, and how can law schools best communicate the types of training they provide?
A first-time presenter shares her secrets to success as a public speaker.
In the legal profession, the journey to success is built on a foundation of essential skills including enthusiasm, ownership of work, adding value, growth focus in select areas, relationship building, and visibility – that play a critical role in shaping a lawyer's professional trajectory.
This article examines how firms can maximize their AI investments while ensuring associates also gain experience with essential legal tasks. By reinforcing the human skills of critical thinking, sound judgment, creativity, and contextual understanding of the law, strategically hiring AI-savvy associates, and applying best practices, law firms can use AI to drive client value and associate development.
Fordham Law School’s Linda Sugin explains the benefits of establishing and constantly improving peer mentorship programs to support law school students.
Norton Rose Fulbright’s Pamela Cyr prepares NALP members for activities and attractions in Vancouver, British Columbia, site of the 2022 Annual Education Conference from April 25-28.
Equinox Strategy Partners’ Lana J. Manganiello interviews professional development leaders at law firms to get their best practices for attorney development in hybrid work environments.
Spoken with Authority founder Christine Clapp shares communication skills for new lawyers.
NALP's Future of the Legal Workplace Advisory Group provides strategies to keep the focus on the future and how we can best serve our organizations.
For professional development professionals, this isn’t a soft sentiment; it’s a strategic imperative. Creating a culture of mattering can transform a firm’s talent pipeline, improve retention, and unlock discretionary effort that money alone can’t buy.
D-I-Y (Do-It-Youself) projects involve creating something new out of the materials at our disposal. There are several steps in every D-I-Y project: inspiration, planning, preparation, execution, and reflection and these often save money and limit waste by taking advantage of existing resources. PD professionals can use these D-I-Y principles to create customized training and development within their firm.
Smart legal employers will seize the opportunity to develop meaningful training paradigms to give their organizations the competitive edge.
The Path to Partnership: A Guide for New Associates
This article offers possible incentives other than compensation that can be used to recruit your firm's major leaguers -- its partners -- to become more involved in professional development activities.
Taking advantage of these resources ... can increase your knowledge and ... as they say, knowledge is power!
Review of Lawyers' Professional Development: The Legal Employer's Comprehensive Guide
Review of Keeping Good Lawyers: Best Practices to Create Career Satisfaction
best practices for office relocations
A look at why law firms have hired from elite law schools and why that pedigree bubble has burst.
Book Review of The Creative Lawyer
Use these tips this summer to help summer associates start the pro bono habit early.
As part of its new Inns of Court program, The George Washington University Law School is partnering in a novel and innovative way with legal employers.
Pro bono supervision provides an opportunity to break down practice group walls and involve seasoned professionals.
If you expect your firm to stand behind an alumni program and promote it to your alumni, you need to first tell them exactly what the program is and what's in it for the firm.
The National Legal Mentoring Consortium conference brings together legal professionals not only from law firms and law schools but also from bar associations, supreme court offices, and commissions.
How can you interview to find the lawyers who already speak confidently and professionally or can be trained to do so?
In creating the agenda for the 2018 Pro¬fessional Development Institute (PDI), the Planning Team’s mandate was to assemble a broad array of topics and speakers that address the most pressing issues facing those of us who specialize in legal pro-fessional development. Speaking as one member of the planning team, I believe that we have more than succeeded in doing so. For example, among the 30-plus concurrent sessions are the following topics: creating a culture of compassion to foster lawyer and law student well-being; sponsoring wom¬en and lawyers of color in the wake of the #MeToo movement; and utilizing coaching to help lawyers thrive in th...
As the Baby Boomer generation of lawyers transitions out, it is up to the younger Gen Xers and Millennials (senior associates and junior partners typically around 30 to 45 years old) to become the new breed of business developers in law firms. The way lawyers who are part of this new breed become effective rainmakers differs drastically from prior generations, so it’s critical for law firm leaders to better understand how to support these lawyers.
Change creates both challenges and opportunities in all facets of our work lives. Change is undeniably necessary, and new people, new ideas, and new structures can yield better results for the mission or goal of an organization. While best practices vary depending on the individual and the situation at hand, there are several ways to more gracefully weather most times of change.
Highlights of what to expect at this year's Professional Development Institute
Eight insights for how to improve your support and coaching of lawyers and law students.
Members of NALP's 2020 Annual Education Conference (AEC) share recommendations for hot spots in Montreal, Canada.
NALP is kicking off the celebration of its 50th Anniversary in April 2020, leading to a year-long celebration culminating in the 2021 Annual Education Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
What types of professional development do employers most want to see take place in law school?
How can law firms best identify candidates with growth mindsets?
Neil Dennis and Lynn Herron explain why NALP members should nominate their colleagues for leadership positions and consider volunteering themselves.
Neil Dennis and Lynn Herron explain how NALP members can embrace the pandemic uncertainty by starting something new in considering a leadership position at NALP, or by nominating their colleagues.
TLDR. For readers not current on their urban dictionary, TLDR stands for “too long; didn’t read.” Law students today are bombarded with words at all turns. In addition to spending most of their days reading lengthy legal casebooks, most also receive dozens of emails per day from their law schools in addition to countless other emails, texts, bulletin boards covered with posters for upcoming events, and social media feeds. It’s no surprise that if faced with a large block of text, most law students will choose to ignore it. So how can law firm recruitment professionals and law school career services offices break through the noise and reach st...
Lawyers understand that feedback is critical for the long-term success of their firms. They know they must help junior colleagues do better work so those colleagues can grow into senior roles. When it comes to actually giving feedback, many experienced lawyers are masters of evasion and escape. Why?
Ready, Set, Launch’s Jason Levin explains how to help law students and lawyers sharpen their networking skills as in-person meetings pick up as the world re-emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP’s Jennifer Lau outlines travel tips to Vancouver, where the NALP Annual Education Conference takes place from April 25-28, 2023.
For young lawyers, it is never too early to start thinking about how to succeed in business development.
A series of "tips" videos for students as they start their job searches and prepare to enter the work force. These interactive e-learning modules are a simple, engaging way to help students focus on some of the core elements of professionalism.
NALP Research: Survey of Law Firm Competency Expectations for Associate Development, November 2020
Re-entering the legal profession after a hiatus present some challenges; however, with some planning and creativity, lawyers may reprise their careers with gusto!
Here is an overview of information on evaluation and training included in the NALP Directory of Legal Employers for the first time in 2006.
A review of E-Learning for Law Firms by Steven H. Gluckman and Peter Glowacki
Coaching is one of the fastest growing professions today, experiencing explosive growth and becoming an increasingly popular method for improving performance and sustaining action and learning.
This article begins a professional development dialogue between law schools and legal employers.
Part 2 of coverage of the June 24 Roundtable.
When associates learn to ask top performers in their target areas for no more than 15 minutes of their time to informally share suggestions, the rewards can be immense.
If your firm is focused on honing lawyer professional skills while identifying and grooming future leaders, you may want to consider Action Learning as a method to deliver this training.
Implementing an effective training program to ensure the 2Ls you employ meet certain core competencies by summer's end is one surefire way to add more substance to your summer program and build skills in future associates.
Addressing professional development issues from law school through retirement. . . step 2: building momentum and sustaining success.
A former partner shares insights on the importance of transactional training for new lawyers.
NALP's President shares an "ah-ha" moment about teaching associates one of the traits that matters most -- to "Get It."
Combining the efforts of a law firm's PD and D&I department can strengthen the effectiveness of both.
Developing a personal brand lets you manage the impact you have on people and improve your confidence.
Here are some actionable steps PD professionals can take to ignite the levels of motivation needed to get students and associates more deeply engaged in their own learning and development.
Innovation is happening in the legal profession, albeit slowly.
Earlier this year, the NALP Board of Directors voted to make PD Quarterly a member benefit for all NALP members.
Working in an office for lawyers encourages a relationship building process that develops a camaraderie with co-workers that is fortified over time and shared experiences.
Starting a new role in the professional development, recruitment and/or associate/student programs space at a law firm can be daunting, especially if you are transitioning from a legal position or entering from a different field. This article includes some helpful pointers as you step into your new role.
Villanova Charles Widger School of Law’s Sharon Buckingham reflects on the importance of volunteering for professional development as part of a recap for the 2021 NALP PSJD Public Service Mini-Conference in December 2021.
Penn State Dickinson Law's Tom Lee offers advice in the areas of sponsorship and mentorship.
What legal volunteers learn as they teach. As the legal profession continues to evolve, so too have professional development opportunities. Law firms and corporate legal departments are moving beyond traditional training models, embracing new approaches that align with the shifting needs of both the legal industry and its workforce. For legal professionals accustomed to precision and complexity, the structure of teaching—lesson planning, co-facilitation, real-time instruction, and classroom management—can be a surprising challenge. Yet, it is precisely this challenge that can drive professional growth.
