By Jessica Shpall Rosen | Greenwald Doherty

To build and maintain your law practice, you need to be effective at sales.

by Ivy Slater | Slater Success Coaching

Efficiency equals dollars. This is especially true in the legal field when certain hours of your day are spent on billable tasks and others are spent on all the other stuff. And you know that other stuff can pile up and completely take over on any given day.

by Lydia S. Terrill, Esquire | Terrill Family Law LLC

On April 1, 2021, I launched my solo family law practice. I had left my position as an associate attorney at a law firm several months earlier; a comfortable position that allowed me a lot of flexibility to both work and raise a family. However, even with this flexibility, the demands of parenting two small children during a pandemic, while also trying to be an effective and productive associate attorney, became too much.

by Janet Falk, Ph.D. | Falk Communications and Research

You have to be in it to win it. That slogan about the lottery applies to volunteerism as well. The more active you are as a member of Women Owned Law, the more you will benefit.

by Roberta D. Liebenberg | Fine Kaplan & Black

On April 26, 2021, the American Bar Association released a groundbreaking report concerning the profound effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal profession and setting forth suggested best practices for legal employers and individual lawyers as we emerge from the pandemic and confront the many significant changes that have occurred in the practice of law over the past year.  The report, “Practicing Law in the Pandemic and Moving Forward,” was written by Roberta “Bobbi” Liebenberg and Stephanie Scharf, who are principals of The Red Bee Group and former Chairs of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. The report is based on a survey of more than 4,200 ABA members, one of the largest ever by the Association, that was conducted in the Fall of 2020. Among the key findings:

By Jessica M. Stauring & Denisse Garcia | ND Galli Law LLC

On March 18, 2021 Women Owned Law hosted its second annual Symposium Pivoting Forward Together: Women Entrepreneurs at the Cutting Edge of Law. The Symposium was held over a virtual platform which provided the opportunity to attend panel discussions, “fireside” chats, and an interactive speed-networking session. Denisse, an attorney with ND Galli Law, and Jessica, a co-op student with ND Galli Law, attended the Symposium and highlighted their experiences below!

The Symposium kicked off with a discussion on burnout and resilience with Dr. Paula Davis, Roberta Liebenberg, and Stephanie Scharf. The panelists discussed burnout within the legal profession and provided solutions for addressing the systemic problem that often has a greater effect on women, and particularly women of color. Importantly, Dr. Davis highlighted how burnout is more complex than mere exhaustion and provided attendees with three signs to look for to recognize the difference between stress and burnout: chronic physical and emotional exhaustion, chronic cynicism, and inefficacy or lost impact. As a third-year law student, Jessica found this advice especially helpful to keep in mind as she enters the legal profession. The feelings associated with burnout are often very isolating, so the ability to attend an event like the Symposium where successful women discuss those feelings so openly to provide concrete solutions for moving forward was inspiring. Roberta and Stephanie noted that the failure to address burnout by employers will have long-term negative effects on the type of individuals the profession attracts. Course correcting burnout is necessary for employers to ensure that they are creating diverse teams and making the legal profession accessible to all.

By Gail Cummings, JD, MSS, LCSW, Executive Coach | Psychotherapist, Founder, Gail J. Cummings Consulting, LLC 

After having our world suddenly turned upside down in 2020, it seems that 2021 could not have arrived quickly enough.

by Barbara Kaplan, BSK Strategies

Promoting our own worth can be uncomfortable for many.  Because there is still a social paradigm shift that needs to occur in how women are viewed in the workplace and how they view themselves, it is critical that we fire that recurring voice in our heads that stands in the way of showing up as the best possible version of ourselves.  

By Gina F. Rubel, Esq., Founder and CEO Furia Rubel

Overt racism is easy to detect and has been brought to the surface for decades. It includes racial slurs like the “n” word, hate crimes, burning crosses, painting swastikas, violence against immigrants, dressing up in blackface or brownface, blatant use of stereotypes, and more. However, there are things I never knew about racist language which have come to the surface while I am learning to be an antiracist.

By M. Echevarria, ADR LLC.

As a member of the ABA's Women in Dispute Resolution Committee (aka "WIDR"), a subcommittee within the Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") I found my path to becoming a neutral was not that different from other committee members. While I had been a FINRA Arbitrator for years handling securities disputes in aid of my practice in the financial services industry as an Insurance Attorney and, or Chief Compliance Officer, once I embarked on developing a full time career in the area I had to ensure that I was properly trained in the process. Quality training is widely available at schools (Pepperdine University), bar association programs (NYCBA) and by service providers such as the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"). Since my interest and prior career was commercially oriented after the basic 40 hour training required for process orientation in mediation, I took specific additional training in Commercial Arbitration and Mediation. At minimum, the court annexed programs require the 40 hour training program and prior experience as a mediator (See, Part 146 Requirements). Frankly I still continue annual training not only because of licensing requirements but also because the law in dispute resolution matters is very dynamic and continues to be a growing area of practice for many lawyers. Witness the fact that mediation and arbitration courses are now offered in many law schools. That was not the case when I went to Law School.

By Janet Falk, Chief Strategist, Falk Communications and Research

As you know, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional database, with nearly 700 million members. Surely some of them are looking for an attorney with your experience in intellectual property law, personal injury or bankruptcy law. How can you make sure you are found there?

By Rosanna Berardi, Esq. | Founder | Berardi Immigration Law

June is always a special month for me. Our son, Salvatore, was born on June 2, 2006 and my second child, Berardi Immigration Law, was born on June 24, 2005. It’s hard to believe that I have a 14-year-old son and 15-year-old law firm. I started my firm out of my dusty apartment in Buffalo, New York with one client and a dream. I did the unthinkable—I left the largest law firm in Buffalo to start my own firm. I went from having a team of people take care of my every need (paralegals, secretaries, marketing support) to becoming the Lawyer, HR person, tax expert and cleaning lady. The first years were tough, especially since our dear son didn’t sleep through the night for two years. So how did I scale my firm over the last 15 years? Here are some key lessons I’ve learned along the way:

By Nancy J. Mertzel | Founder | Mertzel Law PLLC

As a business owner, I think a lot about profitability. How can I make my intellectual property law practice more profitable and fulfilling while still reserving time for myself, my family, and my communities? I believe the answer is to know my priorities and become effective at delegation. 

By Kimberly Rice | President and Chief Strategist | KLA Marketing Associates

To take control of your legal career, you must become the CEO of your own one-(wo)man firm

By Nella Bloom | Managing Member | Bloom & Bloom, LLC

By Francine Friedman Griesing | Founder & Managing Member | Griesing Law, LLC

Business owners are responsible for protecting themselves against the risks that can negatively jeopardize their business and ownership interests. One of the most common issues that arises with entrepreneurs is having a relationship with a business partner or partners go sour. In my career, I have represented several business owners who have been pushed out of businesses they founded or have seen a significant decline in what their business is worth due to poor relationships with their business partners. I have also served as a neutral arbitrator or mediator in far too many cases where a successful business imploded when the partnership relationship when awry. By the time they seek help, the damage may be so great that it can’t be undone. So how do business owners get to this point and what can you do to avoid it?

By Lee Holcomb | Founder | Lawyer Yoga & Lifestyle Lawyer

 Throughout the course of our lives, we spend the majority of the time immersed in self-centered thoughts. Why did that person do this to me? Where am I going to go on vacation? Why don’t I have a better job? What would make me feel better? And most of these thoughts don’t make us feel better or bring us happiness. But honestly, it’s not the thoughts themselves that are the problem; it’s our desperate clinging to them and our resistance to what’s happening in the present moment that causes pain. Luckily, you don’t have to stop or get rid of your thoughts. Merely learning how you can become aware of the thoughts that are running your life can diminish their power. 

By Kei S. Tolliver|  Founder | Kei S. Tolliver Law, LLC

After nearly two decades in the start-up space, I finally pulled the trigger and started my own solo law practice 4 years ago. Having been closely involved in start-ups, I knew the fundamental process of starting a business. However, what I didn’t know and had never experienced firsthand were the well documented challenges female founders face. Moreover, as I started to assist my own start-up clients, I’ve come to realize how real these challenges are and how educating myself on these challenges can help me (and other female founders) tackle them. 

By Andrea Ewart |  CEO and Founder | DevelopTradeLaw, LLC

In today’s digital economy, it is possible to participate in international trade without ever leaving our desks. This reality is particularly true for attorneys and clients who frequently do business internationally, and  presents several opportunities and challenges. Attorneys need to be prepared to support clients as well as to address their own needs in this era of doing business without borders.

By Cheryl A. Brunetti |  Executive Chairwoman | RVM Enterprises, Inc.

Competency is a longstanding ethical obligation for attorneys, but what it means to be “competent” continues to evolve.  Its evolution is due to the growing prevalence of technology that impacts the legal industry – from discovery to day-to-day case management.  The result is that lawyers now know where to look to find the answers, either by improving their own understanding of the technology or by enlisting the proper resources.