Human Resources for Lawyers & Staff

Recent Articles

All articles from Canadian Bar Association unless noted otherwise.

People

• Finders and Keepers Recruiting & retaining top talent
• A checklist for avoiding conflicts on lateral lawyer transfers
• Address Bullying Behavior Before Your Firm Gets a Black Eye
• Achieving workplace flexibility is not such a stretch
• Protect yourself from the risk of hiring an unsuitable candidate by conducting a 'one-day trial.'
• Responding in the fight to keep the best lawyers
• Creating A Leadership Development Program for Your Law Firm
• Supervising Your Team Electronically: E-mail Dos and Don'ts
• Blocking the bullies in your workplace
• Motivate Employees: Set Goals, Communicate and Say "Thanks"
• Cultivating A Positive Work Environment
• How to deal with problem employees and avoid tribunals
• Motivating Your Lawyers: Do Firm Leaders Have a Plan?
• Making Staff Integral to Your Mission: A Successful Firm Is an All-Inclusive Firm
• Are Your Superstars Spoiling the Apple Cart?
• Why happy employees are good for business
• Tips on Successful Lateral Moves
• You're Going to Wear That? Appearance in the Workplace 
• If You Build It, They Will Come - and Hopefully Stay Benefits and "How To" of a Mentoring Program (ALA)
• The Value of a Strong Alumni Program
• Overworked? Maybe It's Time to Create a 'Don't do' List
• The Nuts and Bolts of Delegation in Law Firms
• Small Firms and the Merger Dilemma
• Outsourcing is "In" - But Be Sure to Demonstrate Value
• A Lawyer's Guide to Hosting Better Meetings
• Take Your Practice to the Next Level: Hire a Coach

Mentoring

• Navigating the Mentor-Mentee Relationship
• How To Integrate Legal Mentoring With Law Practice Management

Striking the Balance

• The 'Second Season' of Retirement for Lawyers: Are You Ready?
• How to manage your time more effectively
• Keeping Them by Sending Them Away: Sabbaticals and Lawyer Retention
• Let it go: Why lawyers need to take vacations
• Cases and Chaos: Work-Life Balance Strategies for Busy Lawyers

Health & Wellness

• "Life is overrated": One lawyer's struggles with depression
• "Healthy boundaries": the essential formula for tackling stress and burnout
• Lawyers and Anxiety: Three Case Studies
• Coping With Stress and Avoiding Burnout: Techniques For Lawyers

Young Lawyers

• New Lawyers: Tips for Honing Interpersonal Skills
• I think I may have been appointed to achieve diversity. I want to prove my worth
• Do Something! Tips for Organising Your Law Office
• 25 Tips for the New Lawyer
• Reader Tips for the New Lawyer
• Transitioning from a senior associate level to the firm's partnership
• Avoid These 10 Rookie Associate Mistakes
• Should I be expected to attend work social and team bonding events in addition to putting in long hours?
• Should I relate to friendly non-legal staff when a senior partner wants to maintain a class barrier?
• Mind the Gap: What the younger generations want and expect from their workplaces is sometimes quite different from what the boomers are used to.
• Strategies for Finding a Job with a Small Law Firm
• Mind the gap (What the younger generations want from their workplace)
• Why Should I Hire You?
• A solicitor wonders how she can retain her personal style when asked to dress more professionally
• Young Lawyers: Getting Hours and Pleasing a Senior Lawyer Not Enough in the New Economy
• Professional satisfaction in private practice: strategies for reform
• True flexibility: Work/life balance is customizable for each lawyer
• Successfully Juggling Work and Family: Tips for Lawyers

Older Lawyers

• Generation Hexed: Older Lawyers Are Finding It Harder to Stay Employed
• The Seasons of Your Career: Autumn, When Careers Mature
• The New Kid in Class  - an old lawyer returns to the law from Real Estate
• How old is too old? Retirement ages for partners  

Career

• How frank should I be at my exit interview?
• Getting ahead Starting to think about your future? Don’t wait. Now’s the time to get your career moving.
• Personal Best Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you?
• Cast Your Gaze Beyond Meeting Annual CLE/CPD Requirements
• Is this the job you want? How to find the right fit - and then sell yourself in the interview
• Make the Right Move: Career Assessment Tools
• Finding and Landing the Job You Want: How To Figure Out Your Career Sweet Spot
• Changing legal specialism many lawyers are reshaping their careers, either by switching specialism, leaving private practice for in-house roles or abandoning the profession altogether.
• Staying on Track: Getting Attuned to the Firm's Political Climate
• How a lawyer can change their specialist practice area
• Increasing Your Value in 2011 - Development is Key to Success
• Associates, Keep Your Shirt On – and Keep Your Job in Today's World
• Listen to What You Write: Your Ears Will Tell You if You’re Communicating Ideas Effectively
• Self-Assessment: Exploring an Alternative Career
• The Best Way to Do a Job Search: It's High-Touch, Not High-Tech
• 5th Key to Career Success and Life Fulfillment: How to Motivate Yourself
• 4th Key to Success and Fulfillment: You Have to Motivate Yourself
• 3rd Key to Success and Fulfillment: Plan Your Personal Life Around Your Roles
• 2nd Key to Success and Fulfillment: Answer What is Your "Major Definite Purpose"?
• 1st Key to Success and Fulfillment: Take Responsibility
• Career Alternatives for Lawyers
• How do I take more control over my career?
• Learning From Our Mistakes
• Leaving your Employment - Graciously
• When Contests Become Personal: How You Should Respond

Women

• Why women leave law firms, and when they’ll return
• What Do Women Want? Challenging the Diversity Myth
• Women solicitors believe flexible working damages career
• "From here to maternity" Managing maternity properly provides opportunities for long term business development
• Maternity leaves and parental issues: taking the long-term view
• The "Mommy Penalty" in the Legal Profession (The Glasshammer)
• What Law Firms Can Do to Stop the Exodus of Women
• What Women Should Look For in a Law Firm

Diversity

• Inclusion Strategies to Eliminate Bias in the Legal Profession
• Towards diversity in the law
• Guide to Accessibility Planning for Law Firms
• See also for Australia Job Access

Skills and Leadership

• How to write a convincing email
• Do Law Students Become Worse Writers?
• Setting Clear Expectations
• Guiding hands How to strike the right balance in providing leadership in a law firm where professionals often work best when allowed to self-manage
• The learning curve - good communication and being reliable
• Just being social A look into the ABA Ethics Opinion regarding websites and social media - and knowing the risks of creating a premature lawyer/client relationship
• Take (back) your time! How legal professionals can control noise and be more productive in the workplace
• Become a Heroic Leader - Women , leadership and the stories we tell ourselves
• 7 Tips for Giving Advice That People Will Follow

Salary and Incentives

• Salary Negotiations 101
• Senior Partner Compensation as a Management Tool
• Finance: Is your compensation strategy on the money?
• Want to Motivate Your Associates? Don't Use Bonuses Based on Billed Hours