Real Life Young Lawyer Rainmaker’s Keys to Success

business development

This month I profiled Dickinson Wright member Katie VanderVeen for the American Bar Association’s Women Rainmakers’ Making It Rain column to inspire and help young lawyers become rainmakers. Katie is a self-described “early-stage rainmaker” who...

Podcast: Mentors, Sponsors, Coaches for Lawyers

career management, podcast episode

What’s the difference between mentors, sponsors, and coaches, and what can they do for your legal career? I talked about these roles in a July 2023 podcast episode produced by the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. In a nutshell, mentors prepare you to move...

Lawyers Treading Water at Work: Can You Help Make Change Happen?

job searching

When lawyers ask me to help them with a job search, I ask a question many lawyers are uncomfortable answering in job interviews:  Why do you want to leave your current job?  When lawyers say they feel like they’re treading water, stagnating, or stalled professionally,...

Lawyers – Trim These Phrases From Resumes & LinkedIn Profiles

business development, job searching

Lawyer resumes and LinkedIn profiles remind me of my high school English teacher, Ms. Angott. Her red ink filled the margins of our papers with “awk” and “dead wood”. My margins contained many pithy comments, but awk for awkward and dead wood...

2 Common Ways Lawyers Hold Themselves Back in Job Searches

job searching

There are a few fundamental and seemingly obvious steps that lawyers often fail to take in their job search. They fail to do so out of fear, mostly misplaced fear. Not Tapping Your Network – Many lawyers don’t talk to their contacts about their job search,...