Journalhttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/en-US2009-11-07T18:47:02ZSquarespace Site Server v5.8.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Coaching in the Law Firm Settinghttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/4/17/coaching-in-the-law-firm-setting.htmlsgallagher2009-04-17T19:45:48ZIn the context of our rapidly changing global marketplace it is essential that young lawyers are trained to be flexible, adaptable, and prepared to take responsibility for their own learning and their own continuous personal and professional development. This places new responsibilities on organizations to build professional development environments which encourage individuals to take a more active role in articulating and striving toward selfdetermined learning goals. As a supplement to regularly scheduled training programs, coaching uses a variety of strategies and techniques to support individuals in reaching their own learning objectives as well as the objectives of the organization.

There are some core characteristics that generally distinguish the role of a coach from the role of a mentor in a law firm:

Coaching is a fairly short-term activity, but mentoring is an ongoing relationship that can last for a long period of time. Coaching generally has a set duration, while mentoring is more long-term and takes a broader view of the person;
Coaching consists of one-to-one developmental discussions at work, while mentoring can be more informal advice-giving, guidance, or support. Coaching helps individuals move from where they are to where they want to be or need to be—to develop the individual;
Coaching is generally not performed on the basis that the coach needs to have direct experience in any particular occupational role. On the other hand, a mentor is usually more experienced and qualified than the “mentee.” A coach does not have to be trained as a lawyer to coach a lawyer. Having practiced law does not necessarily qualify any individual to coach other lawyers;
Coaching revolves around specific developmental areas/issues at work, while mentoring revolves more around developing the mentee professionally. Coaching focuses on improving performance and developing/enhancing individuals skills. Mentoring focuses on career and personal development.

]]>Perspective on Sustainabilityhttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/4/8/perspective-on-sustainability.htmlsgallagher2009-04-08T18:25:43ZI’ve been thinking about sustainability lately, and what it means for my fellow humans and me. When we talk about sustainability, we are talking about nothing less than longevity of human existence on this planet. The exact scientific details can be argued to the smallest detail, but we can’t allow these miniscule details to obscure the larger picture. The consumer culture that we have allowed to thrive is not conducive to the natural systems that keep us alive and healthy on this unique planet. For too long we have denied the actual cost of products and goods. Companies have externalized the costs; ignoring the damage to ecosystems, and the exploitation of both resources and peoples. We, as consumers, must begin to realize that the natural systems have limits that we are quickly approaching. There is a severe disconnect between the stuff that we have and the process in which it’s brought into our homes. I recommend The Story of Stuff to investigate these issues further.

David Orr, a professor at Oberlin College and social visionary, speaks to the need to internalize the actual costs of production. A product created by factories that pollute should inherently cost more to us as consumers because companies have to pay for their pollution. Products made in sweatshops shouldn’t be cheaper, they should be more expensive so the workers can be paid fairly and treated justly. Perhaps there is a silver lining to this economic crisis, in that it is making us rethink the economic system. The idea that if we aren’t growing, we are failing is outdated and needs to be tossed aside. We need to find it within ourselves to limit the amount of stuff that we are creating and purchasing. We need to realign our values. The measure of our person is not defined by the amount of stuff we have; we should be defined by our actions, the amount of love we share, and the community we build.

Orr wrote an essay on sustainability in which he admits that the issue of sustainability may not be solved for generations to come, but that action needs to begin today. The need for a framework of possibility is paramount. For me, the future begins with education. When we teach our children to view the Earth as precious and finite, new solutions will arise. When we teach them to see the true cost of things, we will begin to alter how we live on this planet. These values have been lost but not forgotten; we just need to be reminded of our connection to the Earth rather than our connection to our stuff.

Orr's Sustainability Essay

-Liam Gallagher, M.S.Ed.

(Stephen's son)

]]>Legal Profession in Transitionhttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/4/3/legal-profession-in-transition.htmlsgallagher2009-04-03T12:45:06ZAt the NALP Conference: It's the End of the World As We Know It

Abovethelaw.com reported on a speech at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Law Placement (NALP) by law firm management guru James Jones -- Managing Director of Hildebrandt International, and former managing partner of Arnold & Porter.

-- spoke to a packed ballroom about how the legal industry is, in short, completely screwed (at least for 2009, and probably beyond).

Jones did not need a crystal ball to predict that:

Pushing through rate increases will be tough.
Expect pain in moving from a period of never-ending growth to a focus on increased efficiency.
The way that law firms operate as businesses will change - more pain.
Firms will move to competency-based compensation models - at long last!
Staffing models will change. Expect to see a growth in other types of attorneys -- e.g., staff attorneys, counsel / senior counsel, and contract lawyers.
Expect to see an "unbundling" of legal services. We will begin to see top firms working alongside cheaper firms as co-counsel on the same case, or top firms offering less expensive services under the same roof.
Finally, expect to see a shift away from the billable hour model.

With the Downturn, It's Time to Rethink the Legal Profession [New York Times]

]]>An anthropological introduction to YouTubehttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/26/an-anthropological-introduction-to-youtube.htmlsgallagher2009-02-26T13:34:20ZProfessor Michael Wesch from Kansas State University discusses how communities are being formed on YouTube. This presentation was made before The Library of Congress on the June 23, 2008.

This is an excellent introduction to where social media is going.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU

]]>Building Trust in a Relationshiphttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/26/building-trust-in-a-relationship.htmlsgallagher2009-02-26T13:29:49ZTrust is defined as one party’s confidence in the other relationship member’s reliability, durability & integrity. It is each party's

belief that its actions are in the best interest of & will produce positive outcomes for the trusting party.

The basic units for measurement of trust can be divided into two components; rational (credibility & reliability) & non-rational (intimacy & orientation). The trust equation can be expressed as: Trust = (C+R+I)/S. Where “C” is for credibility or truthfulness, “R” is for reliability or predictability, “I” is for intimacy or integrity, and “S” is for self-orientation or self-consciousness.

]]>Martin Seligman: What positive psychology can help you becomehttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/20/martin-seligman-what-positive-psychology-can-help-you-become.htmlsgallagher2009-02-20T16:17:14ZMartin Seligman founded the field of positive psychology in 2000, and has devoted his career since then to furthering the study of positive emotion, positive character traits, and positive institutions. It's a fascinating field of study that had few empirical, scientific measures -- traditional clinical psychology focusing more on the repair of unhappy states than the propagation and nurturing of happy ones. In his pioneering work, Seligman directs the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, developing clinical tools and training the next generation of positive psychologists.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology.html

]]>Using Outside Transition Coacheshttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/19/using-outside-transition-coaches.htmlsgallagher2009-02-19T23:37:42ZOne of the ways law firms can adjust to today’s high-risk culture is by actually expanding one-on-one mentoring through the use of professionally trained coaches. With the number of “baby boomers” entering retirement age, these senior lawyers may become the talent pool you will need to enhance personnel development within the firm. For our purposes, coaching can be described as, “a process of helping someone enhance or improve their performance through reflection on how they apply a specific skill and/or knowledge.”[1] Coaching in the business setting is a one-on-one relationship to help people better use existing knowledge and skills to maximize performance. As a general rule, coaching is both person-centered, and system-centered. Successful coaching achieves positive change for both the individual and the system; i.e., the law firm.

According to the 2007 MIT Sloan Management Review , instilling a coaching culture led to improved productivity and performance in a multinational manufacturer. It stands to reason that law firms, like multinational manufacturers, also will improve productivity by instilling a coaching culture.

According to a recent article, Coaching Lawyers to Attain Leadership Roles that appeared in The Legal Intelligencer, (January 13, 2009) autor Susan Letterman White writes that, according to a research report by Diane Coutu and Carol Kauffman in the January Harvard Business Review, coaching is a business tool that is most often used to develop the capabilities of high-potential performers or facilitate leadership transitions. The median hourly cost is $500, with some coaches commanding much more depending on experience.

[1] Sara Thorpe & Jackie Clifford, The Coaching Handbook: An Action Kit for Trainers & Managers (London: Kogan Page Limited, 2003), p. 1.

]]>Learning Communitieshttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/19/learning-communities.htmlsgallagher2009-02-19T23:36:33ZYoung professionals are looking for better ways to increase their worth to their organization, while at the same time, developing the transferable skills needed to enhance their own market value. Law firms are finding that ‘one size fits all’ training programs are no longer sufficient to enable individuals to keep-up with a new fast-paced, turbulent business environment. Today, law firms have to become learning organizations, where “longer-term human development is seen as a continual and integrated part of daily life.”[1]

According to Peter M. Senge, “learning organizations are organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see “the whole” together.[2]

[1] Mike Leibling & Robin Prior, Coaching Made Easy: Step-by-Step Techniques that Get Results (London: Kogan Page Limited, 2003), p. 1

[2] Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline. The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (London: Random House, 1990), p. 3.

]]>Planning Ahead: A Guide For Solo Practitionershttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/19/planning-ahead-a-guide-for-solo-practitioners.htmlsgallagher2009-02-19T23:35:31ZThe New York State Bar Association's Law Practice Continuity Committee has been doing a great deal of work to address law practice succession issues. They published their "Planning Ahead Guide" on NYSBA's website http://tinyurl.com/PlanningAhead

They are also exploring the feasibility of establishing a Law Practice Succession Registry where attorneys might voluntarily submit the identity and relevant information as to a lawyer whom clients may contact in the event the designating lawyers dies, becomes incapacitated or is otherwise unavailable to serve the needs of clients.

]]>Winners of the Tenth Annual Edge Awardhttp://attorneycoach.squarespace.com/journal/2009/2/19/winners-of-the-tenth-annual-edge-award.htmlsgallagher2009-02-19T23:32:56ZThe ABA's Law Practice magazine and Edge International announced three winners of the tenth annual Edge Award. The awards commend outstanding articles in the magazine most likely to have a practical influence in shaping the actions lawyers take to manage their practices.

Best Feature Article
Rethinking Retirement: Understanding the War for Legal Talent in the Changing Marketplace
Stephen P. Gallagher
December 2007

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