Category Archives: Legal Skills

Once you have a planning system in place (see first blog post on this topic), use it to create a master list that incorporates your personal and professional goals as well as existing and future projects. One of the great time management ironies is that it takes time to make time—but a lot less time than most people think. Set aside a half hour this week to create your master list and capture everything in one place. Then plan to set aside 5-10 minutes once a week (for example, Sunday evening or Monday morning) to look at your master list, update it, and determine what needs to be done this upcoming week. Flag the items that need to be done this week. Then spend 2 minutes or less at the beginning and/or end of each day pulling from the weekly priorities into the plan for that day. When working on your daily task lists, realistically assess the time it will take to get tasks done and the steps involved. A good rule of thumb is to estimate the time it will take and then double it. Most of us underestimate the time it will take to get things done and then fail to deliver on time, don’t produce our highest quality work, or, most commonly, end up doing it last minute! To create a smart daily task list, keep these tips in mind:

Keep tasks realistic, small, and achievable
If you cannot accomplish a certain task in one to two hours or, at the maximum, in one day, break the items down smaller
Give every task a deadline, starting from the end and working backwards to the present – and build in time for inevitable interruptions!

Struggle with Time Management? Step Two: Actually Use Your Task Management System

By Kathleen Post on May 2, 2013

Once you have a planning system in place (see first blog post on this topic), use it to create a master list that incorporates your personal and professional[…]

Now is always a good time to put a planning system into place if you don’t have one. Tracking goals, projects, action steps, tasks, and activities by keeping them “all in your head” or on post it notes scattered around the office is not a sustainable strategy for the long haul. As you ascend the career and life ladder, things only get more complicated so it is smart to start early by putting strong task management strategies into place. The idea is to capture all tasks, big and small, in a system that exists outside of your mind. Not only will this cut down on excessive mind clutter, which reduces anxiety and stress, but it will enable you to chart a proactive course towards your goals and feel fulfilled by what you’ve accomplished. To find the right system for you, consider your preference for paper or technology. Do you prefer to write your tasks on paper and check them off? On your computer or smart phone? Combination? Here are a few products to consider. For paper planning options, check out www.franklincovey.com or www.levenger.com or search the Web for others. In terms of electronic options, a simple word document or excel spreadsheet that tracks your tasks can be more than adequate. There are also endless “apps” out there these days. One free app I like is called Wunderlist – www.wunderlist.com. It works across platforms so you can access it from your smartphone or online while you work and always have your list at the ready. It’s simple and flexible for keeping track of both work and personal tasks. The key here, no matter which route you choose to go in, is to find a system that you will actually use. A simple spiral bound notebook used together with an electronic calendaring tool such as Microsoft Outlook is a perfectly good system. Fancy isn’t the goal here. Simple is the goal… because a simple system is a system that is actually used!

Struggle with Time Management? Step One: Get a Good Task Management System

By Kathleen Post on April 30, 2013

Now is always a good time to put a planning system into place if you don’t have one. Tracking goals, projects, action steps, tasks, and activities by keeping[…]

Our last blog post highlighted that of the four components that make up a lawyer’s brand (technical skills, client service, dynamic approach and personal qualities) technical skills are far and away (and we mean far) the most important. That said, the way you package those skills and the delivery method of your work product have the second most powerful impact on your brand. Basically, if the quality of your technical skills is high but your client service skills are mediocre or poor, you are seriously compromising all of the hard work and talent that went into your work product.

And consider this, regardless of what environment you work in, you are in competition with your peers. You are competing for the best assignments, the best mentors, the best resources and opportunities and possibly clients whether external or internal. If you are working diligently to have stellar legal skills, think how unfortunate it would be to lose out to someone who knocks it out of the park on both work product and client service. Because rest assured if both high quality and service are available—that will be the buyer’s choice every time. So, don’t drop your energy or the ball after finishing the product—make sure it gets delivered with the same standard of quality.

Whether your client is the partner you work for, an external client or your supervisor, your job is essentially three-fold: to make his/her life easier; to help them solve their problems; and to make them look good to whomever their clients are. The primary question to ask yourself is: “How can I most effectively do each of these things?” Here are 6 basic ideas to consider implementing:

1.) Know your clients: Make it your business to know their business as well as their preferences. What are their major objectives, goals and responsibilities? What is important to them? What keeps them up at night? How do they want you to interact with them? Face-to-face? Via email? How often do they like you to check in? Daily? Hourly? When during the day are they most likely to be available for you to get their time and attention to do your job effectively?

2.) Lessen their load: Take the ball as far as you can without overstepping boundaries. This is a delicate balance that may take some time to master. It hinges on knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know. Start with thinking one step beyond what they’ve asked you to do and then checking in with them to see if they would like you to take it. Taking that initiative will establish you as someone committed to doing his/her job of making his/her client’s job easier.

3.) Ask for the big picture: In order to fully execute on points 1 & 2, it helps to take the time to understand the bigger picture context your client operates in. To the extent you can, piece this together on your own—perhaps through online research, a quick perusal of relevant documents or maybe asking more junior members of the team. You will only be able to take this so far on your own. The next step is to take what you know to your client and ask him/her to fill in the pieces. Your initiative will impress your client and inspire them to take the time to explain the bigger picture.

4.) Ask questions: When you don’t know something that is critical to you being able to progress with your work, don’t be afraid to ask. Spinning your wheels will only cause delays. Again, you can try to guess or speculate what the answer is and use that as your means of checking in.

5.) Keep them up to date: Clients do not like surprises and they do not like being kept in the dark or wondering whether or not they are going to get what they asked for in the form they asked for it. Check in regularly (but not in a stalking way) to make sure they feel comfortable enough with the way the project is going.

6.) Be available and responsive: Perhaps obvious but worth reiterating, when they call or reach out, make sure you get back to them as soon as possible and make them feel as though they are your number one priority.

How You Package Your Technical Legal Skills Matters

By Diane Costigan on March 26, 2013

Our last blog post highlighted that of the four components that make up a lawyer’s brand (technical skills, client service, dynamic approach and personal qualities) technical skills are[…]

Early in my career, a partner pointed out to me that one of the most challenging aspects of being a lawyer is that you are staffed on multiple projects for multiple bosses simultaneously. Multiple projects mean deadlines and expectations will often conflict – or at the least require some careful planning and late nights. Multiple bosses mean adapting your approach and presentation to style of each senior associate and partner (and later client) for whom you work. Multiple projects for multiple bosses means that the difficult task of satisfying the high standards reflected by your astounding billing rate and impressive salary may be exponentially more difficult than you hoped (or feared). What makes this harder still is fact that usually no one but you is aware of the projects you are working on, that no one but you knows the deadlines and expectations you must meet.

The partner – who later became my mentor and champion — made this observation to me the day after I had failed to “safely land all the planes circling O’Hare”: I had missed a deadline. Not catastrophically, but the miss had required him to change his plans and, worse, required him to call the client to inform her that he was not going to meet her expectation that she would get the document that afternoon to review for the conference call the next day.

I had, in my mind, a pretty good reason for missing the deadline – I had been working non-stop on another project for another partner, a project that was much more time-sensitive and was more critical to the transaction than the one for my mentor-to-be. My mentor agreed fully with this assessment. I had in his mind allocated my time and energy appropriately. But he was nevertheless disappointed. I had crashed his plane. Needlessly.

Here is what how I could have landed his plane safely: Soon after I got swept into the time-sensitive matter, I could have (and should have) seen that it would require all my time and as a result I would likely not have time to complete my mentor-to-be’s assignment. I needed to have had the presence of mind – or perhaps it was the courage – to say to him early: I know I promised you a draft in 2 days, but an important assignment just came in on the matter I am working on for Partner XX and I am worried I will not have time to complete your assignment in time. Had I said this to him, he could have adjusted course in any number of ways: gotten another associate to do the draft; talked to Partner XX to give me time to work on his assignment (perhaps by getting someone to help on the time-sensitive assignment; had 2 days rather than 1 night to do the draft himself; or altered the client’s expectations early enough that the impact would not be as great. I had in short failed to manage up.

And in the land of multiple projects for multiple bosses, managing up is key to surviving and thriving.

Managing Up

By Lane Vanderslice on March 12, 2013

Early in my career, a partner pointed out to me that one of the most challenging aspects of being a lawyer is that you are staffed on multiple[…]

When people negotiate, they must make many decisions about how to proceed and whether to accept particular terms. It is often assumed that the more options persons possess the easier it is for them to determine the optimal one. In The Paradox of Choice (2004), Barry Schwartz thoughtfully demonstrated that this assumption is incorrect.

People who must choose among a few options often make better decisions than people who must choose among many options, because with a few choices they can compare all of their options together. When individuals compare more expansive alternatives, however, they often can’t explore them together. They compare Option 1 with Options 2, 3, and 4, then Option 5 with Options 6, 7, and 8, and Option 9 with Options 10, 11, and 12. Even though Option 2 may best suit their overall needs, they may select Option 10 because when they evaluate it they only compare it to Options 9, 11, and 12. Since Option 10 is clearly preferable to Options 9, 11, and 12, they accept Option 10. Had they compared it more closely with Options 1 through 8, they would have appreciated the fact that Option 2 was the best of the twelve.

To minimize the likelihood decision-makers will be adversely affected by this phenomenon, they should initially try to eliminate the inferior options from their final assessment group. They should also list the objective pros and cons of each alternative that will be finally considered. If they can reduce their ultimate options to a finite number and develop relatively objective assessments of each, they should find it easier to select the one that is actually best for them.

THE PARADOX OF CHOICE

By Charles B. Craver on September 4, 2012

When people negotiate, they must make many decisions about how to proceed and whether to accept particular terms. It is often assumed that the more options persons possess[…]