Counsel to Counsel - Career Advice for Lawyers
139 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago - ★★★★★ - 15 ratingsCounsel to Counsel is a periodic podcast produced by Stephen Seckler of Seckler Attorney Coaching (www.counseltocounsel.com). It addresses important career, marketing, and leadership issues facing attorneys. The target audience is associates, counsel and partners at law firms of all sizes; but the podcast also addresses issues that are relevant to in-house counsel, law students or any lawyer who is looking for career insights inside or outside of the law.
Counsel to Counsel is aimed at individual lawyers who are looking to increase their own career satisfaction and build their marketing and leadership skills. The podcast features interviews with leading consultants, career professionals and marketing experts who advise attorneys on careers, marketing, law firm management and related issues. The guests are also a roster of successful attorneys who have found career satisfaction inside and outside the law.
Counsel to Counsel is a direct outgrowth of the blog Counsel to Counsel which Stephen Seckler has been publishing since 2005.
Since graduating from law school in the late 1980s, Stephen Seckler has been advising lawyers on career and marketing issues and working with a broad mix of law firms and corporate law departments. He began blogging when legal blogging was in its infancy and his blog Counsel to Counsel was named to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 in 2007 and 2008 (the first two years that list was in existence).
Steve has written extensively on career and marketing issues and he has spoken at many law school, law firm and bar association events. He served on the Boston Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Work Life Balance and was Vice Chair of the Law Practice Management Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He is active in the Senior Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, the ProVisors business network, and has been quoted frequently in the legal and business press.
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Episodes
Episode 38-Breaking the Glass Ceiling on a Part-time Schedule
April 27, 2020 15:53 - 1 hour - 69 MBIn this episode, I continue my Glass Ceiling Series with my guest Lauren Resnick, who is the Chief Practice Partner for the national law firm BakerHostetler. Lauren is someone who not only broke through the glass ceiling at an AmLaw 100 firm, but she did it as a part-time attorney. I speak with Lauren about her path from the public sector back into private practice, and what it has been like being part-time. We also discuss some of the challenges of being in a management role at a major l...
Episode 37-Managing Anxiety in a Time of Crisis
April 02, 2020 12:58 - 31 minutes - 30 MBIn this episode, I return to a conversation I started with Dr. Inna Khazan, a clinical psychologist on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. I spoke to Dr. Khazan back in February about the ways she uses mindfulness-based biofeedback to help lawyers and other professionals to achieve optimal performance in stressful situations. In our latest interview, Dr. Khazan discusses how to use these techniques to manage the stress brought on by the global Coronavirus pandemic. She offers practical ...
Episode 36-7 Career Management Tips for COVID-19
March 19, 2020 23:02 - 5 minutes - 6.47 MBIn this special episode, I provide you with 7 Career Management Tips for dealing with the current COVID crisis. I’d also like to make you the following offer: If you are feeling isolated or just want someone to help you reflect on your career or on your efforts to build a practice, I would like to offer you the chance to connect with me by Zoom. I’m happy to be a sounding board and help you think about how to be more productive over the next few weeks or months. We are now living through...
Episode 35-A Career in Electoral Politics-A Conversation with Senator Becca Rausch
March 19, 2020 15:10 - 33 minutes - 33.7 MBElectoral politics has always been a career option for attorneys. The halls of Congress and state houses across the country are filled with elected officials who have earned their law degrees. Legal training helps legislators understand how the bills they want to pass fit into a broader legal context. Having a JD gives you credibility to run for office. But what are the options for attorneys who are considering a run for public office. How does being in public office differ from the pract...
Episode 34-Podcasting as a Legal Marketing Tool
February 29, 2020 20:58 - 47 minutes - 49.8 MBIn this episode, I speak with Jared Correia, one of the pioneers in legal podcasting. Jared was a huge mentor to me when I was launching the Counsel to Counsel podcast back in 2018 and I’m very pleased to welcome such a seasoned veteran. As of 2019, over half the US population had listened to at least one podcast. In 2019 over 100 million people listened to at least one podcast every week. There are over 700,000 active podcasts and 29 million podcast episodes available. Clearly, the age ...
Episode 33-Mindfulness, Biofeedback and the Practice of Law
February 20, 2020 05:00 - 53 minutes - 53.4 MBIn this episode, I welcome Dr. Inna Khazan, a clinical psychologist who is a nationally recognized expert in mindfulness and biofeedback. Dr. Khazan talks about how she helps lawyers and other professionals in stressful jobs to achieve higher levels of performance through biofeedback and mindfulness meditation. Episode 33-Intro Law is a stressful business and there are a lot of efforts underway all over the country to help lawyers address the challenges in the profession. In Massachus...
Episode 32-A Career in Law Practice Management
February 01, 2020 20:23 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBIn this episode, I speak with Heidi Alexander, Deputy Director of the non-profit organization Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. Heidi helps manage LCLs operations and leads the organization’s law practice management program known as Mass LOMAP (the Law Office Management Assistance Program). Episode 32 Introduction In 2020, it has never been easier to run your own law practice. On-line tools for marketing, accounting, document assembly and contact management have never been more affordable...
Episode 31-Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling
January 21, 2020 02:08 - 25 minutes - 26.6 MBIn this episode, I speak with Hether Cahill. Hether is a partner at the Boston law firm Burns & Levinson where she handles probate litigation. Hether and I discuss the path to partnership for women and why she likes family conflict. Introduction The majority of law school graduates are now women. Despite this demographic change, the growth of women in partnership ranks in major law firms continues to stagnate. While there are many explanations for this (women still bear a greater burden ...
Episode 30-The Key to Happiness in the Practice of Law
January 09, 2020 05:02 - 33 minutes - 33.2 MBFor over two decades, I have been reading articles in the popular and legal press about unhappy lawyers. The unpleasant issues and people that lawyers have to deal with, the lack of control over outcomes, the isolation and the long hours all add up to a population of professionals who are questioning their career choice or looking for an exit. While there certainly are a large number of lawyers who experience dissatisfaction in the law, I regularly speak to attorneys who are very happy wit...
Episode 29-How Newsletters Can Set You Apart From the Competition
December 04, 2019 03:07 - 52 minutes - 54.3 MBThirty years ago, legal marketing was in its infancy and the focus in the practice of law was on doing great work for your clients. Provide high quality legal services and more would come (and so would referrals). In the 1980s, as marketing became more acceptable in the legal profession (both culturally and ethically), lawyers began to spend more time looking for ways to promote their services. Initially, the emphasis was on the same types of marketing that had long been used by other i...
Special Edition-How William Gamson Created the Forerunner of Fantasy Baseball
December 02, 2019 00:01 - 26 minutes - 27.5 MBIn this episode of Counsel to Counsel, I take a break from the ordinary discussion of legal careers to speak with my father-in-law William Gamson. In our interview, Bill talks about his career, his love of baseball and how he combined the two. Bill Gamson is a sociologist who is well known for his work involving social movements and media framing. He is also well known for developing several highly successful simulation games that he created in order to shift his own teaching away from ...
Episode 28-Power Networking with Jennifer Taddeo and Provisors
November 11, 2019 02:23 - 48 minutes - 46.9 MBI’ve been working with lawyers for over two decades to help them hone their networking skills. At the same time, I’m always looking for ways to improve my own effectiveness in business relationship building. And so I was intrigued when a number of lawyers mentioned to me that they had joined a great business networking group called Provisors. Groups like this have always appealed to me but it had been a long time since I had participated in a more structured networking group. In the earl...
Episode 27-Downsizing from Biglaw
November 06, 2019 04:50 - 45 minutes - 50.7 MBIn this episode, I welcome Josh Rissmiller, a corporate partner at the Boston law firm Feinberg Hanson. Josh began his career at two large and very prominent firms in New York and in Boston. In this show, he talks about his transition, what it was like to leave a large firm and lessons he has learned along the way. Episode 27-Intro There are many advantages of starting your career at a large firm. It is hard to compete with the training you get as an associate at an AmLaw 100 firm. T...
Episode 26-How Coaching Can Advance Your Career Success and Happiness
October 29, 2019 11:03 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBIn this episode, I speak with Beth Masterman of Masterman Executive Coaching. Beth is a talented professional with degrees in law, psychology and certifications in coaching. I met Beth many years ago but reconnected with her more recently through Provisors, a terrific business networking group that she has been active in since 2012 (I just joined in June). I talk with Beth about what coaching is, how it can help lawyers, how she approaches coaching and how she transitioned from a success...
Episode 25-Thirty Years of Biglaw Wisdom
October 14, 2019 11:32 - 44 minutes - 47 MBBack in the early 1990s when I was at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, I worked with some great volunteers who were very generous with their time. These were leaders of the bar who were committed to training the next generation of lawyers. While there were many lawyers who were ready willing and able to share their advice, there were a few volunteers who really stood out for their deep commitment to professional development. John Hession was one of those lawyers. At the time, J...
Episode 24-Outside GC-A Different Model for Your In-House Career
October 10, 2019 01:33 - 40 minutes - 41.2 MBLaw is a conservative business. Prior to the emergence of the internet, lawyers primarily worked for traditional law firms or in-house. There really weren’t any other models for the delivery of legal services. You either showed up every day at your firm job or at your corporate job. Starting in the late 1990s, new models of practice began to emerge. A group of lawyers who described themselves as outside general counsel began to offer legal services on a consulting basis. Because these i...
Episode 23-Growing Opportunities in Health Law
September 25, 2019 04:00 - 37 minutes - 36.8 MBHealth law is a dynamic field that continues to offer law students and attorneys a growing number of traditional and nontraditional practice opportunities. In this episode, I am pleased to welcome Jennifer Huer, Managing Director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University School of Law. Jennifer talks about the Center and the work it is doing to study changes in the healthcare policy landscape. I also speak with her about the many career opportunities that health ...
Episode 22-From Litigation to Public Service to Government Affairs with Former U.S. Senator Mo Cowan
September 11, 2019 16:44 - 45 minutes - 44.6 MBIn this episode, I welcome former U.S. Senator William “Mo” Cowan. Mo currently serves as President, Global Government Affairs and Policy for General Electric. Mo talks about his journey from the practice of law to public service and into government affairs. Law School as a Path to Public Service and Government Relations Law school has always been a good path to public service. Legal training provides an important framework for understanding legislation, regulation and how the judicia...
Episode 21-Creating a Mission Driven Law Practice
September 08, 2019 22:41 - 41 minutes - 41.8 MBFor law students who want to do good in the world, there are three conventional paths. Some law students pursue jobs in the public interest and work for non-profit organizations. Others find jobs in government agencies where there are many opportunities to serve the public good (in local, state or federal government). Still other aspiring attorneys elect to choose a traditional career in private practice and pursue pro bono work on the side. But there is a fourth way to use your law degre...
Episode 20-New Markets for Law Practice
July 12, 2019 02:28 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBIn this edition of Counsel to Counsel, I speak with Rhonda Rittenberg of Northeastern University School of Law about innovative ways to use a law degree. Rhonda shares some great advice for any lawyer who is looking to apply their legal training in a non-traditional way. My Own Path to an Alternative Legal Career Started Right After Law School Back in the 1980s when I was thinking about law school, there was a widespread belief that a law degree opens a lot of doors. The message I ...
Episode 19-Canoeing vs. Whitewater Rafting-A Career Conversation With Jose Sierra
July 08, 2019 12:29 - 33 minutes - 35.9 MBWhen I counsel lawyers on their careers, I always encourage them to get out of their office and network with other professionals. Sitting at your desk, you can make lists of the things you like about your current position and the things you would like to change. You can do an inventory of the skills you have and think about your values. If I’m working with an attorney on career satisfaction, I might also have them make lists of their professional and personal interests and think about th...
Episode 18-Starting Business Conversations at Networking Functions and Beyond
June 04, 2019 03:15 - 59 minutes - 52.2 MBGenerating legal business requires a healthy mix of sales and marketing. For many attorneys, marketing is the easy part. If you publish articles, give presentations, send out client alerts, post on social media, and participate in bar association committees, your reputation will grow. Building your reputation and developing your niche are important. But as any marketing professional will tell you, marketing is not a substitute for sales. If you want to build your law practice, you need...
Episode 17-Taking Your Law Practice Abroad
May 20, 2019 06:05 - 33 minutes - 30.1 MBFor most of us, once we are in the working world, travel is something to do on vacation. Academics have the opportunity to take a sabbatical and live and work in another country with their families. As the world economy continues to become more integrated, many lawyers and other business professionals end up finding themselves on international business trips. Some in-house lawyers have the chance to spend time in other countries when they are temporarily transferred to international offi...
Episode 16-Changing Industries
May 07, 2019 03:40 - 56 minutes - 55.4 MBIn this episode, I speak with Bob Licht, a partner in both the Life Sciences and Business and Technology Companies Groups at the law firm Choate Hall & Stewart in Boston. Bob is an experienced business attorney who focuses on corporate and transactional work for life sciences companies. Prior to joining Choate, he spent 8 years as Chief Corporation Counsel for Biogen. I’ve known Bob for over 20 years and more than any lawyer I know, Bob has been great at reinventing himself every few yea...
Episode 15-A Legal Career in Privacy
April 04, 2019 11:27 - 34 minutes - 34.3 MBIn this episode, I interview Corey Dennis, Director of Privacy and Counsel at Pharmaceutical Product Development in North Carolina. Corey talks about his transition from an associate focused on litigation to in-house corporate counsel and how he leveraged his expertise in privacy to make this transition. I speak to a lot of lawyers about their careers and over the years, I have seen a number of themes. One recurring theme is that many lawyers express interest in transitioning into in-hous...
Episode 14-From Biglaw to Government to In-house
September 24, 2018 21:00 - 42 minutes - 34.8 MBLaunching your legal career at a large law firm has many advantages. Aside from the obvious compensation benefits, large firms provide young associates with access to sophisticated work, more formalized training and a chance to serve large and complex clients. But the path to partnership at a large firm remains long and challenging. In fact partnership is not the goal for many associates who start their careers at an AmLaw100/200 law firm. While there are many career paths after leaving...
Episode 13-Intergenerational Communication in the Law Firm
July 28, 2018 16:14 - 39 minutes - 38.4 MBIntergenerational conflict has been and will always be an issue in the workplace. But as legal careers grow longer (many attorneys are working well into their 60’s and even into their 70’s), these issues become more pronounced. Simply put, law firms are now home to multiple generations of attorneys. Similarly, with the explosion of digital communication in the last 2 decades, there are larger differences in how younger and older lawyers prefer to communicate. In this episode, Kathleen Br...
Episode 12-The Lateral Partner
June 24, 2018 22:26 - 47 minutes - 48.4 MBThirty years ago, lateral partner movement was far less common in the legal profession. But today, it is not unusual to read about partners moving several times during their careers. There are many factors which are fueling this trend. First and foremost, law is a much more competitive business than it once was. Firms looking to establish offices in new markets will often look to existing local talent to staff a new branch office. In addition, pressure on bill rates have made it difficu...
Episode 11-The Social Media Maven
June 19, 2018 15:12 - 43 minutes - 46.1 MBIn the last thirty years, the importance of marketing has grown significantly in the practice of law. For most lawyers in private practice, an ability to generate work is now a prerequisite for becoming a partner. At the same time, the tools for building your reputation and cultivating business relationships have grown. Selling legal services still requires you to develop a practice niche and building a network of clients who know, like and trust you. But social media has changed the way ...
Episode 10-Business Planning for Lawyers
May 29, 2018 12:35 - 45 minutes - 43.4 MBAt different stages in your legal career, the goals change. As a new lawyer in private practice, you are learning about the practices and procedures in your law firm and the clients you are servicing. Most importantly, you are learning how to represent clients in your practice area. Your focus is on billable work and on providing excellent client service. If you are on a positive career trajectory, as you get more senior you are getting more client contact and starting to supervise para...
Episode 9-The Environmental Entrepreneur
May 10, 2018 17:45 - 37 minutes - 37.7 MBIn this episode, I speak with Charlie Lord, an attorney who has spent his entire career trying to solve environmental problems. Since graduating law school, Charlie has worked in the non-profit sector and more recently, in the the for profit space. While he is trained as a lawyer, Charlie has spent most of his career tackling environmental problems by creating organizations and companies that are working to address issues like environmental justice, greenhouse gases and a host of other envir...
Episode 8-The Outsourced Counsel
April 27, 2018 17:00 - 26 minutes - 27.9 MBMany lawyers are interested in transitioning to an in-house legal role. Right or wrong, the perception is that working in-house means more control over your hours. It also means you are not responsible for generating your own work. At the same time, in-house lawyers get to be part of the “team” and sit at the table with clients before critical business decisions are made. In contrast, being in private practice gives you the chance to be more entrepreneurial and build your own business, e...
Episode 7-Success Strategies for Women in Law
April 15, 2018 13:00 - 45 minutes - 34.5 MBIn this episode, I speak with Lauren Stiller Rikleen. Lauren is a nationally recognized expert on developing a thriving, diverse and multi-generational workforce. For as long as I’ve been a member of the bar, lawyers have been talking about the role of women in the practice of law. Today, we are hearing a lot of discussion about sexual harassment through the #metoo movement. Prominent men in all walks of professional life, including the law, have been forced out of positions of power. At...
Episode 6-Going Solo With Matt Yospin
April 01, 2018 19:02 - 43 minutes - 43.7 MBLaunching your own law practice can be both exhilarating and terrifying. For lawyers who are accustomed to the structure of a law firm and a steady paycheck, hanging a shingle means saying goodbye to security. Leaving a large firm means that there is no one between you and the client. You need to figure out how to advise your clients without the help of partners who are just down the hall. You also need to develop your own infrastructure. At the same time, leaving a law firm also means hav...
Episode 5-Nailing the Job Interview
March 18, 2018 19:42 - 30 minutes - 31.4 MBIn this episode of Counsel to Counsel, I speak with my colleague Amy Levine about strategies for success in job interviews. In the 30 years since I graduated from law school, the rules about interviewing have remained largely the same; but with the explosion of social media and the web in general, there are some things that have changed. One big thing that has changed is that lawyers change jobs a lot more frequently. So keeping your interviewing skills sharp is important. One of the t...
Episode 4-Advancing Your Law Firm Career
March 05, 2018 02:09 - 39 minutes - 34.5 MBIn this episode of Counsel to Counsel, I am pleased to welcome Carlynn Sweeney, a leading career consultant to the legal profession. Carlynn is Managing Director of Preferred Transition Resources where she and her team provide career management services, executive coaching, diversity & inclusion consulting and management training. Carlynn has some great insights about the practice of law and career advancement in and out of a law firm. She has practiced at 2 major law firms, worked in c...
Episode 3-Using Affinity to Build Your Business Network
February 19, 2018 17:00 - 33 minutes - 36.3 MBIn this episode of Counsel to Counsel, Peter Resnick, Vice President of Charles River Associates, talks about ways that you can build your business network. He discusses using affinity to deepen your relationships with clients, referral sources and other professionals. At the end of these notes, I have linked to several additional resources that may be helpful to you (if you want to learn more about building your network.) Being a good lawyer and working hard are key ingredients to hav...
Episode 2-In-House With Walt Pollard
February 06, 2018 03:34 - 39 minutes - 30.4 MBMany lawyers in private practice think about the day when they will leave the billable hour behind and take a position in the law department of a corporation. Corporate law jobs offer attorneys the opportunity to get more deeply involved in a client's business. But what is it really like to go in-house? How does your role as a lawyer change when you have one client? And are the hours really better? Stephen Seckler speaks almost daily to associates who dream about leaving private practic...
Episode 1-Welcome to Counsel to Counsel
February 05, 2018 01:57 - 9 minutes - 13.7 MBStephen Seckler has been planning the launch of CounseltoCounsel for months. In this inaugural edition, he talks about the possibility of finding career satisfaction at any stage in your career. He previews some of the upcoming episodes.