Attorney Work-Life Balance

Turnover in law firms, especially with young lawyers, is at its highest level ever. Nothing law firms have done to date has reversed this trend and the damage to firms is almost unfathomable. Thanks to turnover, the top 400 law firms lose ...

In "Why Lawyers Really Struggle with Work-Life Balance," I listed six steps to building a practice that runs smoothly and allows you to have a life: 1) acquire better management skills; 2) implement better technology; 3) create and install ...

I have a group of mental gremlins that live in my head. Other people I know call their gremlins “the girls” or “the committee.” These are the voices in my head that tell me I suck at everything. Do you have a name for yours? When my gremlins ...

New Year's resolutions, like eating healthy or spending more time engaging with friends and family, are quickly abandoned when you're under constant scrutiny at work. (There's nothing like a civilized “Hunger Games,” right?) But you do have some ...

Now is the time that we reflect on our successes and failures of the past year — both professionally and personally — and plan for the upcoming year, setting goals for ourselves, our firms and our practices. As I think about 2017, I see many ...

They say, “work hard, play hard.” Unfortunately, this adage may normalize workplace behavior that can be very dangerous. In fact, a 2015 study found that workaholics are more likely to drink in excess than their peers. At many major firms, ...

In the competitive world of law, it is not uncommon to feel (consciously or unconsciously) that failure is not an option. However, the quest for perfection is a double-edged sword. While striving toward it can motivate us to improve, perfection ...

In a 1955 essay in The Economist, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a British historian, described a phenomenon that would come to be called “Parkinson’s Law.” His key insight: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” In ...

Change is exciting … and overwhelming. When faced with change, you must manage all the transitions that flow from it. You can feel adrift, and sometimes alone, as you re-evaluate your circumstances, or decisions, or even your entire ...

You’re an unstoppable legal machine. You churn through a hundred pages of briefs and legal research every day. You’re running two phones, a tablet, a laptop and a portable fax machine off a light pole at the airport. Your inbox is an email ...