Blog Posts: Law Blog

I had coffee with a managing partner last week who made an observation that stuck with me. He said he could predict which attorneys in his firm would become rainmakers by watching how they treated the receptionist, the mailroom staff, and the cleaning crew. It wasn’t about their legal skills or their pedigree from prestigious law schools. It was about something f...

Constant and deliberate education remains the ultimate appreciating asset. Education is not a one-time transaction but rather a flower that requires ongoing nurturing, attention, and care to fully bloom. The more you learn, the more opportunities you will create for yourself and continue to grow. The most successful business leaders understand that knowledge acqui...

Countless professionals have sabotaged their own careers without even realizing it. They make decisions that seem logical in the moment, then spend years wondering why they’re stuck in positions that don’t fulfill them or advance their goals or career. The uncomfortable truth is that most career stagnation isn’t the result of bad luck, office politics, or a c...

As an attorney, I often focus on the immediate task at hand – reviewing the revised document from opposing counsel, the brief due next week, the client meeting tomorrow, or the upcoming deposition. Over time I’ve learned that there’s profound wisdom in recognizing that each professional encounter serves as an audition for opportunities I can’t foresee. When...

I was speaking with someone recently who told me “You find time to do what is important to you” and it struck me. It speaks to all facets of life from family to business to hobbies. The list is specific to you. This statement should cause self-reflection for you. It does for me. When someone I know tells me they “don’t have time” to do certain personal o...

All of us have been conditioned to worship at the altar of efficiency. I’ve watched countless people try to optimize their schedules down to the minute, transforming their professional lives into a series of predictable patterns. This relentless pursuit of routine deadens our capacity for wonder, to think outside of the box. It’s a fact that routine is the enem...

Get out and do things with other people. We live in a large world and the pleasure of experiencing new people, places, and things provides energy, ideas, and motivation. This also includes going away and hopefully disconnecting. When you do this, you remember how important experience is and it can change or empower your thinking. If you’re a workaholic, it’s e...

In the competitive landscape of business, we often become consumed by working harder and longer than others as some type of badge of success. In the legal profession this comes in the form of billable hours, client demands, and the relentless pursuit of career advancement. Yet, a recent event has caused me to think about an uncomfortable truth about my profession a...

Many times, when a new client walks into my office, they’re avoiding something. Maybe it’s a tough conversation with a business partner, a challenging negotiation with a vendor, or that dreaded discussion about succession planning. Through those interactions I’ve observed a universal truth, which is that the conversations we resist the most are typically the ...

Sometimes inspiration comes from interesting places. I heard this quote, “Figure out who you are and do it on purpose” last night spoken by a character in a movie. The quote is from Dolly Parton, and it struck me. It clearly encourages self-discovery and intentional living generally, but I looked at it in the context of the professional realm and finding your a...