Dealing With the Boss From Hell

Law firms are filled with analytical professionals who would benefit from working on their management skills. So what do you do if a partner you work with is particularly difficult? Here are some suggestions and warnings about what not to do. The article mentions a website which seems to be filled with hundreds of articles on dealing with difficult bosses (www.badbossology.com .) See also my article on responding to criticism.

Want Career Satisfaction? Keep Experimenting.

David Maister, a management consultant who has written a lot about professional services firms, has written a nice piece on career satisfaction. He argues that finding career happiness requires a lot of experimenting until you find the right mix. Along the way, there may be a lot of failure. But it is not perfection that drives success. It is resiliance (the ability to bounce back from failure) that is most important.

Communication is Not About You

Here are 13 reminders which will help you communicate more effectively with clients and opposing counsel.

Tell Me About Yourself

What do you do when an interviewer says: "Tell me about yourself?" One career counselor provides some sound advice on how to structure your answer.

This author focuses mainly on the answer itself. IMHO, however, how you pace your answer is just as important. When you get a question like this at an interview, you really do not know what the interviewer is looking for. Turn the question around and ask the interviewer for some clarification. Give the interviewer some choices. For example, you can ask if the individual would like to hear about your responsibilities in your current job or your career aspirations going forward. Make sure not to talk too long before checking in (e.g. after giving a brief answer, ask the interviewer "Would you like me to tell you more about this?")

Listen, Understand and Be Responsive

Here is more evidence that listening is the key skill in marketing professional services. In a study of common marketing mistakes that professionals make, "didn't listen to me" and "did not understand my needs" were the two top reasons that might convince someone not to use a professional service provider.

What Marketing Can't Do For You

Before you invest significant time and money in a marketing program, it is important to understand what marketing can't do for you. For example, a great marketing program can't make up for being a bad lawyer or offering legal services to a target market that does not need those services.

Finding Your Inner Tortoise

Lawyers are not always good at slowing down. E-mail, blackberries, voicemail and cell phones only make this worse. But making time for yourself will ensure that you avoid burnout. Here are a variety of thoughts on the subject.

What About Starting Salaries at Smaller Firms?

The legal press likes to report salary wars at large firms. But since most of the bar doesn't work at a large firm, it is interesting to note what smaller firms are paying. Altman Weil has some numbers to report. While larger firms are clearly able to pay substantially more to newly minted lawyers, smaller firms are not as far behind as you might think.

Lawyers and Divorce

Lawyers have the highest rate of divorce of any profession. A lawyer turned therapist offers some relationship building ideas that will preserve a marriage. The Reader's Digest version is this: there is no such think as "quality time" when it comes to relationships. Relationships require "quantity time".

Sending Thank You Notes

There is a real split of opinion on whether it makes sense to send thank you notes after an interview. Is e-mail better than a handwritten note? Do you send a note to everyone who interviewed you? Is sending a thank you note counterproductive?

Personally, I don't think thank you notes have any meaningful impact on a hiring decision. But in my own view, you should send them because it sets the right tone for the future relationship (i.e. if you do end up working there.)

Going In-house

The General Counsel of Keane is interviewed by the Boston Business Journal. She shares her perspectives on what her relationship is like with outside counsel (e.g. when she calls up outside firms, what kinds of work she sends out, etc.)

Salary Negotiating Tips

Here are some good ones in today's CareerJournal.Com .

Salary Raises Not Evenly Distributed

As large firms raise starting salaries to $135K across the country, many firms are opting to keep salaries lower in secondary markets; though not all.

Phone Interview Success

Finish your meal before you call, don't read your e-mail while you are talking on the phone, follow up with an e-mail summarizing your discussion. These are some of the useful tips in today's CareerJournal.Com .

New Blog on Marketing and Management

The first post on this new blog features some very good marketing tips.

Free Podcasts on Marketing

Law firm management guru David Maister is offering a series of free podcasts on his website. Hear what David has to say about marketing, client service, etc. (caveat: I have not reviewed any of these yet but I know that Maister does very high quality work.)

Debt Rises Faster than Salaries

Law firms may be raising salaries all over the country; but law school debt is rising even faster according to the NLJ.