Inhouse, Presentation

Do Companies Make “Personality Hires” within Legal?

  • On July 28, 2024
In-house legal teams care about personality — after all, their lawyers cannot scare internal clients away — but no company I know of has the luxury of making “personality hires,” which the Wall Street Journal defines as “charismatic employees [who] lay the foundations of positive corporate culture” but “leave teammates to pick up the slack.” […]
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Interview, Presentation

10 Minute Body Language Video from WIRED Distilled into 4 Tips

  • On May 26, 2024
I enjoyed this 10 minute video from WIRED, featuring three body language experts breaking down interviewing. I watched for you and heard hundreds of nuggets. The human body is always transmitting information, and the recipient (i.e., the interviewer) makes judgments in milliseconds. Here are the top tips that definitely apply to lawyers when interviewing with […]
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Career Tips, Inhouse, Presentation

Advice NOT to Follow

  • On June 17, 2023
I see so much bad career advice. Here’s a tip by a Stanford Graduate School of Business professor that in-house lawyers should NOT follow: “If a meeting is wasting your time, leave.” He says he does this at least once a week when he’s not needed and the time could be better spent doing something […]
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Interview, Networking, Presentation

How to Self-Promote (Lawyer’s Edition)

  • On October 2, 2022
The Wall Street Journal recently discussed the  “best way to brag about your accomplishments.”  Lawyers need this key ability for interviewing, landing clients, and establishing expertise when giving advice, but it’s rarely done well. So how do you talk about yourself effectively without annoying people? WSJ reports the best way to self-promote is to share credit for […]
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Interview, Presentation

#1 Thing I Coach Lawyers Not to Do

  • On January 20, 2022
Lawyers spend their lives explaining complex things. The best lawyers communicate simply, a rare and hard-earned skill. The top communication problem for lawyers? They take too long to get to the point. Do NOT give the entire back story. Just give enough details to get to the punchline, which in an interview should be disaster […]
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Presentation

5 Easy (Truly!) Tips for Better Communication

  • On November 28, 2021
Below are five ways to communicate better starting now. These apply to many scenarios from counseling a client to interviewing for a job. One tip that goes without saying is to actively listen. And five easier things to do: Use the word “and” instead of “but.” The word “but” causes people to stop listening because […]
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Presentation

4 Ways You are Making a First Impression Without Knowing It

  • On October 3, 2021
Yes, you know your online profile needs to look professional, but did you know you are making impressions in other ways? Your email account. Most people know not to assign a ridiculous name to their email account they use for professional connections. But if you have a Gmail account and I enter you into my […]
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