Blog Post Title

As I sat down to write my first blog post, this powerful coaching question came to mind.

I started Effective Lawyering recently because I want to do something I know well with people I believe in. This is the best and highest use of my time.

I help lawyers figure things out. Occasionally the question involves technicalities in the law but frequently the challenge is the mental game. Lawyers spend all of their time helping clients figure things out and I want to be that person for lawyers. Lawyers are frequently the expert in the room, the person to whom everyone looks for answers. I create a space where lawyers can be vulnerable – and brave.

I build trust with my clients. Together, we unpack issues – personal or professional issues that seem insurmountable, intractable even. Then, we articulate challenges and identify opportunities. We co-create a plan – a series of steps – to achieve the client’s goal. And then we execute on the plan.

How did I get here?

It took me 45 years of practical life experience. I come from a long line of lawyers – I am the fifth lawyer in my immediate family. Lawyering is my family’s identity.  After I graduated Rutgers Law School and joined the club, I continued to expand my repertoire as Law Clerk to Judge Peter Pizzuto in the Tax Court of New Jersey before I joined Dorsey & Semrau in Boonton, NJ as an associate practicing State and Local Tax. I moved to New York City and joined Cleary Gottlieb’s litigation department before crafting an exit strategy as a clandestine library school student at night.  When I gave notice to leave for a law librarianship, the firm asked me to stay. “Our library is dead but we need a temporary employee to fill in for our CLE coordinator who is on leave for a hip replacement.” That sounded unappealing. It was adjacent to HR which I had no interest in and knew very little about. But, it paid more than the library job and I had a mountain of student debt. I liked the firm and I had good relationships there.  So I stayed. I worked my way up through the Talent organization, found brilliant mentors and devoted myself to helping lawyers day-in-and-day-out. Since my apprenticeship days at Cleary, law firms have evolved. Professional development is a required firm function, no longer in nascent stages. Lawyering has become increasingly commodified, AI is the present - and the future - and the legal talent wars are intense. The legal market is starkly different and ever changing.  

But some things remain the same: law firm partners sacrifice family vacations, birthday parties, little league games and family dinners to show up for clients and colleagues. Associates pull all-nighters to close deals. In-house counsel are expected to do more with less while navigating complex internal dynamics with insufficient recognition. Solo practitioners barely get by trying to make ends meet with grossly inadequate resources and overwhelming demands. Lawyering remains one of the most stressful professions out there.

And who is there to support these folks?

I am.

Through Effective Lawyering, I intend to be that person and reach more lawyers in a supportive and meaningful way.

For the past 15 years, I have worked in big law firms across the nation. I have been embedded in various practice groups from debt finance to tax, capital markets, M&A, restructuring, real estate, banking, tech transactions, and more. Regardless of the specific firm or practice area, the nature of lawyering is the same: a universally rewarding and challenging discipline.  

It is a privilege to work with lawyers. I am excited about starting this new coaching firm because I believe in its mission - without a doubt.