People Skills

Sometimes you need to translate English to American. Expressions lawyers may encounter.

You are communicating because you want your message to be effective. Condescending phrases like "You follow?" undermine that aim.

A few common mistakes can hurt your reputation and diminish your ability to influence others. Here are simple steps to correct course.

I participate in a lot of law firm retreats and meetings, but one will always stand out. I was talking with representatives of the firm before the retreat kicked off when one of the partners pulled me aside, pointed out another firm partner and ...

A growing body of research suggests that reading fiction increases your capacity for empathy. The basic idea is that imagining the emotional world of fictional characters is good practice for empathizing with actual humans. For example, have you ...

If you’ve ever had someone say to you, “Come in here and shut the door," because you "need some feedback" on that project you just finished, you may have an instant aversion to the word “feedback.” For many of us, it’s a synonym for “criticism” ...

Question: I'm an inexperienced lawyer, and naturally timid. How can I be expected to thrive in a networking environment? What's the best way to follow up after meeting someone? When should I ask for their business? In this ...

Some people always know exactly what to say. When words fail the rest of us, these people deliver the smooth segue, the clever comeback, the perfect parting shot. How do they do it so effortlessly? Maybe they've taken a page from Patrick Alain's ...

Some people are born schmoozers and like nothing more than to meet and mingle at professional events. But for others, this is about as painful as watching a "Kardashians" marathon at gunpoint. If you fall into the latter category — and most of ...