The latter is what most of us do in the course of our day-to-day lives. We find others within our comfort zones and communicate with them by unconsciously understanding the way they speak and respond in order to gauge how to act accordingly.

In the business of law, we are constantly being presented with opportunities by new prospects and existing clients; however, sometimes we fail to connect interpersonally, so they move on to others with whom they feel more at ease.

Understanding some basic fundamentals on how people interact will help you position yourself to be the one they choose to work with, both now and in the future.

Here’s how:

Everyone has a unique way of interacting. Some people talk fast, some slow. Some populate their conversations with anecdotes while others like to hit the ground running in a no-nonsense effort to get the most done in as little time as possible. Some make decisions quickly while others need time to reflect.

It’s your job to learn how to recognize and complement various interaction styles so that the person you are speaking with on the other side of the desk feels most at east with you and what you have to say.

Interaction styles

There are four basic interaction styles that have been widely studied based on observable behavior patterns. These interaction styles were first based on theories by psychologist, Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychology in the early 1900s.  In the 1960s, psychologist, David Merrill, elaborated on Jung’s types calling them “Social Styles.”

I will describe the four styles as prototypes.  Of course, human nature is a continuum, so few will actually conform to a precise type, but they can be used as a practical guideline for dealing with people.  Understanding and differentiating them is one step closer to communicating successfully and building trust and credibility with your prospects and clients.

The first interaction style is based on those who like to control the conversation and their environments. These are the hard hitting, fast talking, task and result-oriented folks. They are quick to make decisions and to get the job done. They are not interested in small talk. They want results and they want them now. They are formal and business-like. They look you square in the eye.  It’s your job to be able to quickly ascertain that these quick talking, no-nonsense individuals want to get down to business right away. Be frank, straight-to-the-point, and efficient with their time. Give them what they need and they will feel comfortable continuing a dialogue with you.

Then there are those who are expressive. They want to be heard and they want you to listen to them. They are also not concerned with the nitty-gritty details of what you can do for them and the steps that you are going to take to get it done. They are talkative, fast moving and concept-oriented. Somewhere in their heads is a huge picture of what they want and they expect you to see it and grasp it quickly, or at least to pretend you do. Give these types an outlet for their ideas. Listen and support what they say. You may need to help hone their grandiose schemes to one or two ideas at a time. As far as they’re concerned, Rome might not have been built in a day, but it was built nonetheless, and they designed an amazing villa made out of the finest marble as part of the finished product – because they envisioned it that way.

How about the cooperative types? They are friendly, amiable and warm. They tend to be on the quiet side and may seem vague at times. They give you lots of time and are conflict-averse. They easily agree with you but may later change their minds. These people need time to get to know you, and they don’t like pressure. They are consensus builders and will never rock-the-boat for you within their organizations. Make sure you are prepared to act in the way that a cooperative type wants you to act. If not, you may both end up very frustrated.

Finally, there are the analytic types who are all ones and zeros. They are detail-oriented, thorough, fact-driven, bottom-liners. Everything about them from their thinking to their speech is methodical. They want to hear the hard core numbers about how your firm has helped others in the past, as well as the bottom-line regarding what you can offer them in the future. These analytical types are risk-averse and want no mistakes, because rest assured they will find them if you make them. You never want to rush these types. Give them time to reflect and give them the facts and proof they need to feel comfortable with you.

In summary, pay attention to your prospects’ and clients’ communications and behavioral clues. They will help you to better connect with them.  Observe if they are speaking fast or slow, leaning forward or sitting casually back in their chairs, looking more like they are on vacation than at a business meeting, hopping from one topic to another or staying linear.  Understanding that there are different interaction styles and teaching yourself how to respond accordingly to them will not only give you a better shot at their business but allow you to continue to develop relationships with them for long-term success.

Written by Sheryl A. Odentz, President of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys.  She can be reached at sodentz@progressinwork.com or www.progressinwork.com.  The article was published in the May 2012 issue of LJN (Law Journal Newsletters) an ALM Publication. 

Don’t be nervous. If you find it hard to break through your limitations, the most important thing to do first is to consider some assistance from a cognitive behavioral therapist or counselor who specializes in social anxiety. Once you have worked to conquer some of your basic fears, you can then focus on the following guidelines to make new connections at your next industry conference, association meeting, or business event.

• Send a note to others you know who may be attending the event. Highlight your specialties and emphasize your desire to connect during the upcoming meeting.
• Know your own brand and your firm’s brand and be able to articulate it in an elevator pitch, which succinctly articulates who you are and how you can add value to someone in need of your services. Make sure you know your pitch well enough so that you can weave it into the verbiage of your conversation at the appropriate time and without sounding forced.
• Don’t wait for introductions; introduce yourself. This sends the message that you are friendly and are open to communication. In addition, use yourself as a catalyst to introduce those you know to one another. Be sure to explain how you know each person and what business affiliations they both share.
• Lead conversations though the use of close-ended questions such as “Did you come to last year’s conference and open-ended questions such as “What do think of this year’s conference versus last year’s conference?” This encourages dialog and let’s your listening partner know you are interested in what they have to say.
• Have something positive to contribute about the event, speaker, or relevant topic. Steer clear of negative or controversial topics and refrain from long-winded stories.
• Use your conversational partner’s name often as it makes them feel important and heard. Methods of remembering names can include: thinking of someone you know who might have the same name, rhyming their name with words, or coupling their name with a physical feature on their body.
• Maintain eye contact and use non-verbal gestures that include smiling, standing or sitting in an open manner, learning slightly forward without getting into a person’s personal space, and nodding occasionally so that your conversational partner feels heard.
• Listen more than you talk. Capitalize on hot topics that are important to your listening partner and pay attention to “free information” that helps to fuel the conversation.
• Get your conversational partner’s business card at the conclusion of your conversation. If it is not immediately useful, it may bear fruit in the future.
• After the event, find ways to stay in touch with your new contacts: send relevant articles pertaining to their business goals or introduce them to people they want to meet. 

By implementing the suggestions above, these types of business events will get easier and easier the more you do them. 

Written by Sheryl A. Odentz president of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys. She can be reached at sodentz@progressinwork.com or www.progressinwork.com .  This article was published in the June 2011 issue of Law Practice Today (The Monthly Webzine of the ABA Law Practice Management Section).

For many of you, the answer might very well be yes. If that’s the case, stop reading now. The information below might not be for you.

But if you are among those who wake up in the morning dreading the day and wondering what happened along the way to make you unhappy in law, don’t despair. All is not lost.

True, after careful examination you may very well find that you should have been a doctor, marketing professional, or banker after all. However, for those of you who are still scratching their heads and wondering what that feeling of unease is inside, take a moment to use your considerable problem solving skills to uncover what exactly is fueling that unease.

Is it the dynamics of your firm that’s getting you down? Could it be the people you are associating with at work? Are you fulfilled in the area of expertise that you’ve fallen into either by design or by assignment? Would you be happier in a different setting?

Let’s take a look.

Self-assessment

By way of a thorough self-assessment, you can discover the missing puzzle pieces of your happiness in the legal profession. It is a way to discover your strengths and your skills and how best to put them to work in a way that will bring you the workplace fulfillment that you crave.

By doing a self-assessment, you can uncover whether you are on the right career path, what’s working for you and what isn’t, and what will ultimately make you happy at work.

One of the first things to examine is your innate abilities and aptitudes. Although highly motivated people like lawyers can work against their natural abilities, those who do so are rarely satisfied. Understanding if you have a knack for numbers, design, organizing concepts, inductive reasoning, or the ability to be able visualize in three dimensions can go a long way in determining if you are following the right course in your career.

The Highlands Ability Battery is a reliable assessment tool that measures nineteen natural aptitudes.  In addition, the Highlands Company is shortly introducing the “Highlands Lawyers Report” specifically designed to help lawyers discover their natural strengths in law and point them towards what areas they would most enjoy. For more information about this instrument you can visit www.highlandsco.com.

Enjoying what you do is most important for long-term happiness at work. If you are working at something you are interested in, work becomes fun and something to look forward to each day. Furthermore, finding that niche can very quickly develop into a passion. Do you gravitate to sports or entertainment? Then maybe entertainment law is for you? Do you like to tinker in your home workshop in your spare time and have a mechanical engineering background? Maybe patent law, where you can help others fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams is a perfect fit. Perhaps math games float-your-boat? If so, tax law is where you should be.

If you have a hard time discerning what those interests are, you only have to look at the magazines you pick up, the hobbies you are drawn to, or the books you read. The Self Directed Search (SDS), which is available on line at www.self-directed-search.com can help you understand more about yourself and how your individual skills and interests are related to career choice. There are many other “interests” inventories too.

Skills, experience and values

Skills and experiences accumulated through your lifetime are bankable assets that can be easily overlooked. Transferable skills, unlike content skills that are specific to the job function, are generic even if you have learned them in a different context. Are you a crackerjack writer and spent years honing those skills on the college newspaper or “law review?” Then maybe you should be guiding your practice in such a way that writing becomes more a part of your business like being a litigator. Moreover, your years doing community theatre in your spare time have honed your presentation abilities but they are being overlooked in the work place. If you are at a huge law firm, you may want to switch to a smaller firm where you can go to court more frequently. 

Then there are your core values that make up a large part of your identity. It’s no secret that people prefer to work with others who share their values, and are happiest when working in an environment that fosters them. Lack of congruence between one’s values and their work is one of the most frequent causes of career stress. It helps determine factors that motivate you such as service, prestige, power, autonomy or balance between your personal life and career. There are many assessment tools that career counselors use to assess values, such as the Hogan’s Motives Values and Preference Inventory.  If you would like further information about this instrument, you can go to www.hoganassessments.com. 

Personal style

Personal style has to do with how you interact with others and this can greatly influence your happiness and productivity. Are you the type who likes a lot of personal interaction throughout the day or are you satisfied working alone? Do you crave structure or do you work best when things are changeable and fluid? Do you like to work on projects that last a few months or are you fine with longer term projects that can last years? What type of person do you work best with?  What type of environment or situation do you thrive in? There are many tools that can help you answer these questions such as the Birkman Method (www.birkman.com), the Highland Ability Battery (www.highlandsco.com) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (www.cpp.com). 

Setting

Perhaps you just need to change your setting to a corporation, university, foundation, or non-governmental organization? 

So what does it all mean?

Your happiness in your chosen profession is paramount. You worked hard to get where you are so now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. However, realize you can’t do it alone. Working with a qualified career counselor who specializes in working with people in the legal profession can be the first step toward getting control of your career and your happiness.

A list of qualified career counselors can be found by going to the International Association of Career Professionals at www.acpinternational.org  or, in some cases, your bar association. A career counselor can help you determine the best areas of law for you, or possible alternative career paths that capitalize on your aptitudes, skills, interests, personal style, values and more. Make sure you use a qualified professional who employs some of the career assessment tools featured in the article.

With your willingness to explore new ways of thinking, along with a better understanding of your needs, your happiness in the legal profession can be within your grasp.

Written by Sheryl A. Odentz, President of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys. She can be reached at sodentz@progressinwork.com or www.progressinwork.com.  This article was published in the December 2011/January 2012 edition of the New York City Bar’s The Lawyers Connect E-Newsletter. 

This state of denial can be so profound that they may go as far as to convince themselves that their termination notice was only a warning.  They can continue to mire themselves in work for the firm that has just terminated them to reaffirm their professional competence and ignore their top priority of searching for and securing a new position.

Overwhelmed by feelings of fear and shame and confused about what to do next, terminated attorneys can become paralyzed or “stuck.”  

If ever you find yourself in this unfortunate position, here are some tips for moving ahead:

• Put yourself first.
• Gather references now from trusted allies. Don’t worry about partners who are still expecting stellar work from you. They have their own agendas, which possibly do not include your future employment. Your number one job is to find a new one. Billable hours for a firm that has terminated you should no longer be your priority.
• Do not be afraid to turn away work, because you want a good reference. Most law firms tell their partners to try not to give demanding assignments to their departing attorneys. Your firm’s human resources officer will tell you your first priority will be to find a new job. Nevertheless, some partners continue to give you work because they need the help. Furthermore, they may not realize the drain on your time. If you cannot look for a job because you are continuing to do work for your firm, speak up. If you think that your firm is going to ask you back, think twice. That rarely happens. It may give you additional time before you have to leave, but that will depend on your firm and the particular circumstances.
• If you are given a “soft date” instead of a “hard date” by which you must leave, don’t wait – start looking immediately. Your “drop dead” departure date will come eventually. Give yourself ample time while you have it.
• Analyze your own thoughts and feeling about your termination. Are you upset? Depressed? Embarrassed? Stuck in slow motion? While these feeling are very real, find someone to speak with who can help validate them, like a friend, partner, or psychological professional. However, never let yourself get swallowed into this process. There is a prize at the end of your journey and that prize is to secure a new position. Don’t ever lose sight of it.
• Secure a legal recruiter who will help you find a new position. They can be a font of knowledge, but they may not be looking for someone with your qualifications. You may not have enough experience for the jobs listed with them. Or you may have too much. In-house opportunities are limited and recruiters do not place in the government or public service. 
• Don’t rely exclusively on that legal recruiter to do all the work.  Every day that is wasted waiting for the phone to ring for another interview is just that, a day wasted
• Seek help with networking if you need it!  This skill is essential when looking for a job. Most jobs are found through networking, so you need this skill. King George VI of Britain, who was depicted in the recent movie, The King’s Speech, sought help from a speech therapist to get rid of his stutter since he had to give public speeches — a job requirement to be the king. The legal acumen that enabled you to excel in law school or as a practitioner may not be the same skill set needed to secure an interview or land a job. If you are anxious about speaking to people about your situation or have tremendous social anxiety that is hindering you from moving forward, get help. If seeking help was good enough for a king, then it is good enough for you. Plus, it can make or break your success in finding a new position.
• Seek out the aid of an outplacement professional or coach who specializes in the legal profession. These people can be an invaluable tool in your tool belt for success. Remember, it’s been a while since you had to update your resume, hone your interviewing skills, and be at the top of your self-promotion game.
• Sharpen your self-promotion skills. Modesty may be a virtue in most of life, but it tends not to be in job hunting. Match your skills and qualifications with prospective employers’ needs. Channel the inner law school graduate who was hungry and excited about the prospect of joining a new firm and become that person again. It’s your own excitement and exuberance coupled with the knowledge that you’ve acquired in your present position that will catch the eye of your future employer
• Create a plan of action. Be as specific as possible about target organizations and specific people whom you want to contact. Set up deadlines for yourself.
• Use every method of job search including: networking, legal recruiters, answering advertisements, and direct outreach to target people and places.
•  If you don’t want to practice law anymore and are confused about this, seek the help of a career counselor. (See The International Association of Career Professionals, www. acpinternational.org).  A career counselor can help you determine alternative career paths by helping you to identify your aptitudes, skills, interests, personal style, values and more. Career assessment tools are often used to aid in the self exploration process, such as The Highland Ability Battery for aptitudes and talents and The Birkman Method, a personality instrument to help people understand their own interests, behaviors, and underlying motivators which are all crucial when trying to select the right career.
•  Don’t forget that you are a highly respected attorney.  Although it may not feel that way at the moment, you are a winner. You would never have overcome all of the obstacles you have otherwise. There are plenty of law schools churning out new law school graduates every year and each of them is as dedicated to finding a position as you were when you first started. Remember that you carry with you years of experience. It’s up to you to show your new employer that you are its best choice. In order to sell yourself effectively (after all you are a product), you must believe in your product as you once did.

A note for more senior terminated attorneys: Age can be approached as an asset or liability.  You must treat it as an asset.  Perhaps the most memorable and effective example of this occurred in the second Presidential debate between Reagan and Mondale, October 21, 1984. 

Second Presidential Reagan-Mondale, October 21, 1984

Question 9 – The President’s Age

TREWHITT [the debate moderator]: Mr. President, I want to raise an issue that I think has been lurking out there for 2 or 3 weeks and cast it specifically in national security terms. You already are the oldest President in history [Reagan was 73]. And some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr. Mondale [Mondale was 56].  I recall yet that President Kennedy had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cubin missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances? 

REAGAN: Not at all, Mr. Trewhitt, and I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign.  I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience. [Laughter and applause] If I still have time, I might add, Mr. Trewhitt, I might add that it was Seneca or it was Cicero, I don’t know which, that said, “If it was not for the elders correcting the mistakes of the young, there would be no state.” 

Furthermore,

• Be realistic. You may not earn as much money. Come to terms with that and move on
• Capitalize on your considerable assets, including your experience, your huge network, your perspective and maturity.
• Understand that you have an historical knowledge base that is a valuable commodity.
• Make use of a retained legal search specialist.  They have higher-level job openings than most contingency legal recruiters.

In conclusion, being terminated in the legal profession, or any profession, can be devastating, but it is up to the astute attorney to look at the termination as a beginning and not THE END.  It is the end of that particular work situation.  Understand the psychological factors, seek out help if needed, and be your own advocate in any way that you can.  Stop acting irrationally by delaying: take the necessary action steps to get a new job!  It is your choice how you will land. Hopefully the tools above will make that landing as smooth as possible.

Written by Sheryl A. Odentz president of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys.  She can be reached at sodentz@progressinwork.com or www.progressinwork.com. This article was published in the March 2011 issue of The New York City Bar’s — The Lawyers Connect E-Newsletter.  

Law firm economics are a zero sum game: the revenue necessary to compensate an attorney who services clients must be generated by an attorney who originates clients. Life becomes ever so much easier when an attorney is regarded as a source of income rather than an expense by his or her peers and supervisors.

Any attorney planning to make a career in a private law firms setting who wants to manage – rather than be managed by – his or her own environment should think about developing their own book of business.

This article focuses on what attorneys should be thinking about during the initial stages of becoming a business generator.

Myth vs. Reality

The first question attorneys generally ask themselves when they start to think about generating business is whether they have the aptitude for it. Many of them think they do not. In my experience, some attorneys have a greater aptitude for it than others, but everyone can learn to develop business to some degree. So you can do it!

The rule of thumb is to be yourself. There are all kinds of business generators: male, female, senior, junior, festive, reserved, Ivy League-educated, regionally-educated, etc. The most important concept is that whatever clients are looking for, if you are genuine, then you will be attractive to a certain segment of those clients. You do not have to appeal to everyone. If you tried, you would fail.

For some of you, your stellar credentials are important, but alone are not enough in this hypercompetitive legal market to attract marquee clients. Most clients assume that you (or your firm) possess the knowledge, qualifications, and experience, except in a few niche areas of practice, to perform the job. Even being incredibly responsive to your client’s needs is not enough; they expect that. So what is important to clients?

Progress in Work, a career management firm for the legal profession, conducted a survey of corporate consumers who buy legal services and asked them that very question. The results in no particular order of priority: 1) trustworthiness and credibility, 2) friendship and easy interaction, 3) access, 4) emotional support, 5) ability to improve a situation, 6) knowing the issue and having the specific expertise, 7) bench strength, 8) past positive history, and 9) cost effectiveness. So, ask your client what is important to them.

Knowing Your Value Proposition

Why should a client buy legal services from you? You have to be able to answer that question to be an effective business developer. You may want to try answering these questions for yourself:

• What am I selling?
• What specific problem can I or my firm solve?
• Is there anything unique about my or my firm’s services?
• What type of client or situation is a good fit for what I or my firm wants to provide?
• What type of client or situation is not a good fit for what I or my firm wants to provide?

You can also conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, which is a very basic marketing model that helps you to assess what you and your firm can do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is an effective way to make sure your marketing activities align with your business strategy.

When you do a SWOT analysis, you want to consider the following:

• Strengths (What are the positive attributes of your and your firm’s services?)
• Weaknesses (What are the negative attributes of your and your firm’s services?)
• Opportunities (Where are the market opportunities for your and your firm’s services?)
• Threats (What are the main threats to you and your firm?)

The SWOT analysis can help you find a way to use strengths to take advantage of market opportunities and identify and work on weaknesses that might inhibit your ability to take advantage of those opportunities.

Creating a Positioning or Branding Statement

A positioning or branding statement is a succinct statement about the positioning you hope to achieve in the minds of the consumer or in your case your target market(s). And since every business plan has a defined vision/mission, you will want to develop one for yourself. You are a business within a larger business, which is your firm. Try answering the following question: “What do you want to be known for?” This statement focuses on tomorrow. It is inspirational and reflects what you want to achieve. Moreover, it is timeless and provides for clear, decision making criteria. Your branding statement should not be too long. Business development coaches and sales professionals often call this positioning or branding statement an elevator speech because the idea is that you want to be able to communicate your value and benefits to a client or potential client in the span of an elevator ride from the lobby of a building to let’s say the 30th floor.

Who Do You Know?

According to consultant Harry Mills, the author of The Rainmaker Toolkit, the chances of selling to (i) an existing client are better than one in two; (ii) the chances of selling to a former client are one in three; and (iii) the chances of successfully selling to a fresh prospect are one in eight. If you are very junior, you probably do not have existing clients that you have originated. If you are more senior, there is a better chance that you do. Start to take stock of people you know who are consumers of legal services or who know consumers of legal services of the type you provide. Create a networking list, which you can divide into three categories:

Prospect – A prospect is any person who can or will buy your legal services now or in the relatively near future because they have a problem that needs to be solved. Prospects provide most of the opportunities and should be visited and contacted most often.

Connector – A connector is any person who can or will buy legal services now or at some point in the near future. They are any person who knows other people in your target market and whom you are prospecting. Connectors are visited less often than prospects and provide average size opportunities.

Alliance Partner – An alliance partner is any person who sells complementary services or offerings and who shares your target focus. Smaller opportunities exist with alliance partners.

In conclusion, developing a book of business can take a long time to master. But the good news is no matter how junior or senior you are, it is never too late to learn.

Written by Sheryl Odentz president of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys.  She can be reached at sodentz@progressinwork.com or www.progressinwork.com. This articles was published in the November 2010 issue of The New York City Bar’s — The Lawyers Connect E-Newsletter.

Psychological Education/Training: A career transition professional should be trained to address the psychological ramifications of losing a job, particularly in a recessionary environment. Fear of not being able to pay the bills, failure, reputational damage, shame, confusion, and being unsettled can exacerbate existing psychological issues. Many attorneys I have seen were already in therapy and on medication before they were terminated. Therefore, having the training and skills to identify and discuss the signs of suicide, depression, and clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders is of the utmost importance. An experienced career transition provider can mitigate these negative feelings by knowing the proper steps to take to help the terminated attorney move ahead with their lives.

Career Counseling/Assessment: Often the career transitioning attorney presents to the outplacement professional that he or she wants one thing and then soon comes to realize that he or she really wants to change settings by moving in-house or to the government, to change legal specialties, to start his or her own business, to return to school, or to do something completely different. The outplacement professional must be able to assist the career transitioning attorney to regroup and then make an appropriate transition. Depending upon the attorney’s needs, the outplacement professional should also be able to offer career assessments that address aptitudes, skills, interests, values, and professional developmental needs and to select personality tools related to careers. Some of these assessments require the outplacement professional to be certified in the instruments her or she is administering.

Job Search Skills: The outplacement professional must be able to assist the transitioning attorney with different aspects of his or her job search, including: preparation of a “reason for looking/leaving statement,” references, resume development (both for remaining in the law or leaving it); networking skills, compiling lists of employment targets, finding information about recruiters, development of a personal marketing plan, interview preparation, preparation of cover letters, and finding information about career and job resources.

There has been a recent trend, due to the mass lay-offs in the legal community and the dearth of new legal jobs opportunities, for legal placement firms to open outplacement divisions. True enough, a core objective of “outplacement” and “placement” is to help the attorney transition to new employment opportunities; however, the roles, objectives and perspectives of these two functions can be quite different from one another. There is an inherent conflict of interest in the same firm playing the primary placement and outplacement functions. For instance, I often refer outplaced attorneys to multiple recruiters depending upon his or her needs and interests.

Placement firms have specialties too. One must take care to ensure that the well-being of the most vulnerable person in the career transition process – the transitioning attorney – is not compromised. The guiding principle must be: What is in the best interest of the outplaced attorney?

Experience: Experience is critically important. You should select an outplacement counselor who has many years of experience addressing the concerns of outplaced attorney as well as detailed knowledge of the business of law and alternative career paths that draw on legal training. Many outplaced attorneys grew up and have families in other countries. An understanding of cross-cultural issues is of paramount importance in helping those individuals address a whole range of issues, including, among others, immigration concerns, feelings of shame, and pressures to provide financial support to relatives living abroad.

In sum, the outplacement process, especially as it relates to big law firm lawyers, is a very delicate one. It requires the ability to balance loyalties to the outplaced attorney and the law firm that has terminated him or her, sensitivity to a range of psychological, emotional, financial, and career needs, and an understanding of the marketplace for present and former lawyers.

The absence of regulation has enabled some firms without the necessary skills, training and experience to hold themselves out as career transition specialists. Until that regulation comes, candidates and firms alike should be very careful to ensure that the outplacement firms they select are qualified.

Written by Sheryl Odentz president of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys.  She can be reached at sodentz@progressinwork.com or www.progressinwork.com.

Ironically, these learned lawyers often lack the self-assessment and transitional skills they need to solve the most important challenge of their professional lives – taking charge of their own careers in a new environment. 

This article draws upon experiences and interviews conducted with outplaced partners who had been practicing law from 15-40 years in major New York City law firms.  In the process, it appeared that their former workplaces had undergone a major metamorphosis, a striking shift from what can be referred to as the pre-1980’s “firm” model.  Understanding that change was an important key to helping these attorneys find new positions and discover new paths to success.

‘Firm’ Model

Traditionally, the larger law firm was considered a general practice firm.  The ultimate goal for the attorney was to become technically proficient.  He (only the male gender is used because of the virtual absence of the female partner during this period) was paid for his knowledge, practical advice and professionalism.  After a certain number of years of acceptable performance as an associate, the attorney who remained at the firm would generally be voted into the partnership.  The traditional law firms were often like private country clubs for attorneys with the right credentials – highly exclusive, homogeneous, secure and closed societies.

With few exceptions, all the partners at the same level of seniority were comparably compensated.  Increases moved almost in lockstep.  That arrangement held until the partner reached a certain age (generally 60-70), at which point his responsibilities would be scaled down along with his compensation. 

However, the “retiring” partner would still have a role at the firm. Typically, he became “of counsel,” retaining an office, benefits and a secretary.  This was a way of preserving the benefits of his wisdom and experience, while allowing his transition into retirement gradually and with dignity. 

The emphasis was on technical proficiency rather than business generation for most partners.  New business often came through referrals and reputation.  There was usually an abundance of repeat business based on long-term relationships with clients.  It was considered unseemly, even unethical, in many situations, for the attorney to solicit business actively.

The firm functioned as an accommodation between the rainmaker and the technician.  If the rainmaker secured a piece of business in an area where he had no particular expertise, the technician would then take over. Firms recognized that not all specialties were going to be equally productive in a given year, so partners in less active departments were not penalized.  Cyclicality was built into the model.

Clients were loyal to their firms.  They generally were clients of the firm and not of the individual attorney.  If the law firm performed competently for them, the relationship was longstanding.  One senior partner described working in a pre-1980’s law firm “like being in a cocoon for life.”  It was exceptional for a partner to move or even explore the market, let alone be terminated, and those who did were often stigmatized.

‘Business’ Model

During the 1980s, a convergence of factors caused profound changes in the legal profession as business became more frenetic and deals grew larger. Technological changes like faxes, word processors and mobile phones accelerated the pace of business.  Financial markets were globally linked, resulting in 24-hour trading.  Firms began to grow.

As the number of associates increased, the culture of the firms began to change.  The attorneys’ roles changed significantly; they became part of the business team and were expected to make the same sacrifices and move at the same tempo.  Attorneys from less highly regarded law schools were admitted, as were women and minorities.  The walls of the country club started to crumble. 

Malpractice liability suits proliferated and premiums soared as leveraged deals collapsed.  Disgruntled investors in big transactions sought to spread the loss, and lawyers found it easier to sue other lawyers.  Clients were abandoning their traditional loyalty to a particular firm.  If, for example, a takeover threatened, the client would, as a matter of survival, retain Skadden Arps or Wachtell Lipton in lieu of their traditional corporate counsel.  Long-term exclusive relationships began to dissolve.

Companies started to employ lawyers in-house to handle more routine matters in a cost-effective manner.  Tensions developed between in-house counsel and outside lawyers.  The latter’s close relationship with management started to erode.

Clients also began to follow individuals when they changed firms.  Competent performance no longer was enough to ensure client loyalty in a world that had become transactional rather than relationship driven.

Although it was still important for attorneys to develop their writing, oral and analytical skills, there was a dramatic shift in emphasis toward business production.  The salesmanship skills that had often met with disdain in years past were now revered.  Partners’ compensations were no longer based upon repayment of years to the firm; rather, it shifted to a shorter-term focus – current business generation. 

The older guard resented the fact that they had paid their dues, yet were having to forgo the benefits.  Younger partners pointed to other firms that would reward them handsomely for the client billings they originated.  Information about other firms’ compensation packages was more openly discussed and widely disseminated through legal placement firms and annual surveys in the legal trade publications.  In short, the balance had tipped in favor of a “What have you done for us lately?” mentality.

Meanwhile, Wall Street generated a spiraling series of hostile, leveraged business transactions in which up-front fees for attorneys were dwarfed by investment banking fees.  Partners who brought in such deals took control of many larger firms and further emphasized short-term productivity.  Many partners moved over to the client side.  Those who remained and held the key to the client relationship insisted on remuneration that would sufficiently offset the potential rewards of joining the client.

It became much more difficult to run a law firm profitably.  Long-term fixed costs grew exponentially.  Rapid growth required firms to sign leases for expansion space in an escalating rental market.  Associate salaries skyrocketed as demand for their services grew.  When the rising tide of the 1980s began to subside, many attorneys started chasing after a shrinking supply of premium-paying clients. Those clients, sensing their leverage, negotiated more favorable fee arrangements.  A firm no longer had a virtual monopoly on provision of services to a particular client.  Frequently, larger transactions were bid out.  Firms were asked to quote discounted rates and other special fee arrangements.

Legal placement specialists, or “headhunters,” exacerbated this process.  They lured attorneys away for more money or other rewards.  Taboos about exploring other opportunities faded.  Firms also started openly discussing their finances with publications such as The American Lawyer,which published information about profits per partner.  The partner now had a running status and performance check against many competitors. 

Requirements for Success

The requirements for success in large New York City law firms have changed drastically.  Acquiring technical proficiency is no longer an attorney’s only goal.  Marketing and business production skills are now essential.

Outplaced attorneys interviewed believed that if they had generated more business, they would still be at their former firms.  One partner, who faced mandatory retirement, said that if he had brought in $500,000 or more in annual billings, he would have remained in an “of counsel” position at an acceptable level of compensation.  Another said, “the greatest security is to develop your own practice.”  Yet another put it even more succinctly: “Happiness in law is portable billings.”  All believed that they should have paid more attention in their earlier years to client development instead of putting in 16-hour days and 70-80 hour weeks on client matters for the firm.

While hindsight is 20/20, why would these partners have been expected to continue their professional lives differently?  Until about 15-20 years ago, the economics of the profession created a comfortable, collegial and stable environment.  For the most part, the business was just there.  Once attorneys cleared the barriers, stated and unstated (right college, law school, class rank and performance during tenure as an associate), then 30 or more years of secure, increasing income awaited.

Although law firms purported to be democracies with all partners comparable in status, they were, in fact, oligarchies with central “management,”  Executive committees made major decisions for the firm.  In reality, many partners did not possess sufficient information to understand how tenuous their positions were.

Self-Analysis

Today’s attorneys have to consider other professional options and apply self-analysis in relation to their present circumstances, not only from the point of view of protecting their earning capacities, but also to maintain and develop a satisfying career.  Attorneys willing to go through the self-analysis and learn from it can better manage their careers and plan their next move.  Those unwilling to do so may find themselves out of control in changing environments.

For attorneys who seek to gain better control over their careers, career management professionals can help identify any problem or problems and suggest strategies through a variety of career counseling techniques: tests and inventories, autobiographical exercises and counseling sessions in which probing questions are asked.

For example, tests and inventories are useful because they provide insights that are not readily available, and they allow individuals to compare themselves to a normative group.  Through autobiographical exercises, career management professionals can help attorneys, at least in part, uncover themes and skill patterns in their lives relevant to the career counseling process.

In the counseling sessions, the career management professional can help attorneys face the realities of the world of work and dispel common myths about it such as “A person is a job title rather than a person with specific abilities and skills that can be transferred from one position to another.”  In addition, the sessions can provide attorneys with a better sense of how well their personal attributes fit their current positions or contemplated positions.

Self-directed attorneys, who are not seeking advice from a career management professional, must analyze their own skills, interests and personal work style in relation to their present and possible future situations.  By doing so, they can better conceptualize which decisions, trade-offs and reasoned choices can maximize their own career satisfaction.  In many cases, self-directed attorneys can clarify what changes need to be made in their professional lives by merely speaking to colleagues and friends and doing informational research.

Whether attorneys seek support from career management professionals or choose to self-analyze, it is clear that they must learn as much as possible about their skills, interests and personal styles in relation to their present situation.  This information will provide the tools needed to take control over their careers rather than becoming victims controlled by external forces.

The second most important skill to master after self-analysis is that of developing and maintaining a practice.  For the first several years of an attorney’s practice, the focus should be on the development of technical skills.  Junior attorneys should try to go to firms that provide the broadest instruction and exposure to different types of work and are good fits for their personalities.  After three or four years of practice, if not sooner, they should start to think about the second phase of their careers: developing a practice and bringing in business.

Cultivating relationships takes time, which is why even the most junior attorneys should begin thinking about successful colleagues from college or law school or social associations.  If they cultivate those relationships, they may result in business in the future.

If a friend respects an attorney’s intelligence or judgment, then as the friend achieves prominence, he or she might choose the lawyer friend as counsel.  Attorneys should take the time to do little favors for friends, answering discrete questions in their area of expertise.  Friends will find ways to reciprocate by steering business to the law firm.  This is a good way to develop mutually beneficial relationships and lay the foundation for future business.

Attorneys at the mid-to-senior level need to market actively.  They should entertain prospective clients, write articles, make marketing presentations, look for speaking engagements, be involved in professional organizations and attend various social activities with or for potential clients.  When the law firm does not support these activities, then from a career management perspective, attorneys should look for creative ways that prepare them for the future.

It seems clear that certain individuals have a higher level of innate ability for developing business.  However, many law firms have formal training programs and seminars in which they attempt to teach business-generating skills to partners and other attorneys.  These efforts have been generally unsuccessful unless the attorneys are coached and nurtured over time.

In addition, attorneys ought to have a great deal of curiosity about the industries they serve.  They can build on knowledge of particular businesses, which usually comes from representing their clients, by matching their legal aptitudes and personality characteristics with the special needs of those industries.  This is a very promising way for attorneys to establish a network of contacts and increase personal satisfaction and credibility in a particular field.  It may also provide a good idea of what part or aspect of a specialty or field is being underserved.

In short, significant careers do not happen by chance.  They happen by knowing oneself and one’s field well and by continuously managing the interface between them.

Conclusion

The practice of the New York City law firm has shifted to a business model and is unlikely to revert to the pre-1980’s model.  Because the future is uncertain, all attorneys, including the big firm partners, must always think of themselves as a business within a business.  They must constantly stake out opportunities to steer work to their firms while also self-analyzing to be sure that the environment in which they are working is satisfying.

Although a static environment may seem secure, it often is not.  On the other hand, the greater volatility of the current law firm environment can be exciting.  New opportunities and niches are constantly opening up and waiting to be filled. 

Written by Sheryl A. Odentz who is president of Progress in Work LLC, a career management firm for attorneys.  This article was published in the New York Law Journal on, Monday, June 24, 1996.