Episode 4-Advancing Your Law Firm Career

In this episode of Counsel to Counsel, I am pleased to welcome Carlynn Sweeney, a leading career consultant to the legal profession. Carlynn is Managing Director of Preferred Transition Resources where she and her team provide career management services, executive coaching, diversity & inclusion consulting and management training.   Carlynn has some great insights about the practice of law and career advancement in and out of a law firm.  She has practiced at 2 major law firms, worked in career services at Fordham Law School and recruited lateral talent for corporate law departments. In this episode, Carlynn discusses why doing excellent work is important at a law firm but not enough (i.e. if you want your legal career to progress, you can't just focus on doing a great job). At the end of these notes, I have linked to several career resources that may be helpful. For many associates, getting a job at a top law firm was the culmination of years of hard work. If you have a job at a major firm, you achieved academic success in college, did well on your LSATs and got into a top law school.  In law school, you worked hard and maybe landed a seat on a law review.  You were hired as a summer associate for a respected firm and eventually, you got an offer of permanent employment.  After graduation, you sat for the bar and started your life in a well-regarded firm.  Three years have now passed and while you have learned a lot, you are not sure where your career is heading.  Is partnership in your future?  Do you want to continue practicing law?  Are you at the right firm or do you even want to be in a law firm? How do you know if partnership is going to be an option where you are? Carlynn Sweeney shares with you her thoughts about how to evaluate your experience as a law firm associate and how to get yourself to the next step in your career (whether it is partnership where you are, a lateral move to another firm, an in-house move or a move out of the law altogether). Additional Resources A Career Audit For Law Firm Associates Should I Stay or Should I Go Career Happiness Comes through Trial and Error