Tools and insights on the best practices in personal and professional development that impact every lawyer’s success and satisfaction.
FOCUS ON
Resolving Conflict
CONFLICT: HEXAGRAM # 6 FROM THE TAO ORACLE.
By Padma, Ma Deva Padma, (Susan Morgan Ostapkowicz)
Are you so versatile that the adversarial model that forms the warp and woof of your legal existence doesn’t bleed over into how you interact with colleagues, friends and loved ones? Maybe that passion-fueled, win-oriented, debate-driven style that serves you in your practice will work equally well with your teenage son who you plan to confront because you fear he’s starting to hang with the wrong crowd? Think again: it won’t.
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FOCUS ON
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When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions can easily spiral out of control. When most folks are turning to either silence or verbal violence, top performers create an atmosphere where healthy dialogue replaces percussive debate. They replace an adversarial style with one of collaboration.
By Kerry Patterson, VitalSmarts
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There isn't anything noble or heroic about lawyers fighting tooth and nail for their clients in the courtroom. I think it’s garbage and a complete waste of time. That’s not what good litigators do in my view.
By Senior Judge Philip Etheridge
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Working at the practice of law can be an unbalancing experience. So, is balance baloney, or is it a real possibility for lawyers?
By Laura Speed-Dalton, Chambers, Aholt & Rickard, LLP
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Attorneys are trained to master the facts and the law. Yet, it is critical to remember that there is a human side to every kind of case. Too often, lawyers become desensitized to this fact and everyone, especially the attorney, loses.
By Ellen Malow, Malow Mediation & Arbitration
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So prevalent is the notion that lawyers must “win at all costs” that inexperienced lawyers feel compelled to adopt in every circumstance an adversarial approach regardless of whether it ultimately serves their client’s best interest.
By W. Andrew Scott, Paul Hastings Janowsky & Walker, LLC
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D E P A R T M E N T S
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
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When it comes time to pick up the phone in order to cultivate a lead or solicit a new piece of business, otherwise fearless attorneys undergo a personality change. Masters of the Universe suddenly morph into milquetoasts.
By Alf Nucifora, Nucifora Consulting Group
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Rachel’s story: High school salutatorian, cum laude law school graduate, fast-track associate. And then boom! Her career stops dead in the water. What happened?
By David Lilenfeld, Lilenfeld PC, & Bob Littell, Littell Consulting Services
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COACHING & MENTORING
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Because of her professional mindset, a lawyer can be a natural beacon for conflict in her everyday life. But how can she best manage conflict in her personal life when she leaves the office?
By Laura Biering and Debby Stone, Corner Office Coaching
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Because of the way we perceive the solving of conflicts: one person “wins” and the other person “loses.” In fact, this is the way many conflicts end. But is this really our only alternative?
By Dorothy Leeds, Organizational Technologies
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LEADERSHIP
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As a leader in your firm, how you resolve differences and help others work together productively impact your firm’s work climate and culture, two powerful influences on the firm’s business results.
By Ellen Moran, Leadership Dialogues
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NAVIGATING YOUR CAREER
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Most lawyers do not take time out from their busy day to ask themselves that question until they are burned out, or they wake up in the middle of the night and realize that their lives feel utterly meaningless.
By Anne Whitaker, Career Development Coach & Counsel On Call
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After Don Ellis had an episode with cancer, he and his wife, Claudia, decided they wanted to make more of an effort to relax.
By Debbie Brown, Career Counseling for Professionals, Attorneys and Entrepreneurs
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
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More and more lawyers are dropping out. Those who remain in practice face a heightened risk of burnout. If we’re so unhappy, should we or our profession change? No, this isn’t a trick question.
By Stephanie Kane, Life in Law
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THE FAMILY — ELDER CARE
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She calls at 7:30 on a Monday morning utterly distraught; her voice three octaves higher than its normal range. I listen and attempt to understand the gush of words telling me the latest about her father and the sudden, unexpected change in their family.
By Lucy Whelchel, Eldercare Options, Inc.
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WOMEN IN THE LAW
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Just how is a woman lawyer supposed to get ahead if she's expected to be selfless? Women in every realm of business and professional life face this double bind.
By Ellen Ostrow, Lawyers Life Coach LLC
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WORK/LIFE BALANCE
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Too often, my clients fail to be contemporaries of their own lives. It’s not intentional; it’s simply habitual. It’s as though they are attempting to steer their lives by fixing their gaze rearward.
By Dennis Coyne, Coyne Coaching & Consulting
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S E C T I O N S
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CLE CALENDAR
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Take the next step toward being a complete lawyer by giving back – to your community and to your profession. The Atlanta Bar’s ongoing “Whole Lawyer” initiative offers you that next step, with the entire month of March devoted to providing opportunities for lawyers to volunteer for Atlanta-based law-related pro bono projects. Click here to learn more about Pro Bono March Madness. Use of the registered trademark “March Madness” is provided courtesy of the NCAA. |
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LETTERS
From The CLE Board Chair
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Conflict resolution in our private lives is a far less structured process and one at which litigators may be the least successful given our constant experience at being advocates for one side or the other and aguing strongly our positions to the court or other neutral.
By Lynn M. Roberson, Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, LLP
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From The Editor
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The Associated Press reported that the seven justices of the Florida Supreme Court had unanimously decided that a TV commercial featuring a pit bull in a spiked collar and the telephone number PIT-BULL demeans the legal profession and misleads the public. What’s a lawyer to do?
By Don Hutcheson, Editor & Publisher
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TREND WATCH
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A new NALP Foundation cross-professional study of attorney work-life balance reveals that conflicts are abundant and that many legal employers are working to resolve those conflicts with a plethora of initiatives.
The NALP Foundation
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Research, based on more than 200 interviews with corporate counsel at large and Fortune 1000 organizations, analyzes trends in client spending as well as client satisfaction and delineates how clients select, hire and manage outside counsel.
By Marcie Borgal, BTI Consulting Group
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BOOK REVIEWS
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Behind the problems that plague organizations are individuals who cannot, or will not, deal with broken promises, missed deadlines, or simply disregarding assignments. On average, by teaching people how to improve their ability to undertake crucial confrontations 20% to 40% improvements in performance have been realized.
By K. Patterson, J. Grenny, R. McMillan, A. Switzler, VitalSmarts
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COVER ARTIST
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Padma, Susan Morgan Ostapkowicz, was raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts and studied art at the New England School of Art and the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. More...
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Number 1
