Networking/Informational Interviewing

Building Career Connections: Networking Tools for Law Students and Lawyers, Donna Gerson

NALP, 2007. From a working definition of networking to step-by-step instructions on how to cultivate and maintain relationships and how to engage in informational interviewing, this book can help law students and new lawyers build the connections they need to succeed. Gerson explains how to identify networking sources, initiate contacts, socialize with confidence, develop and nurture networking relationships, continuously broaden one's circles of contacts, and arrange and conduct informational interviews. A separate chapter is included on networking and the nontraditional career. Sample approach letters and thank you notes are also featured. Quotes and "In Their Own Words" sidebars with advice from lawyers and career professionals are sprinkled throughout the text.
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Available in NALP's Bookstore

The How-tos of Informational Interviewing: A Step-by-Step Guide

NALP, 2004. This pamphlet available for bulk purchase demystifies and encourages the basic process of informational interviewing and even offers a few possible "scripts" to make the process less intimidating.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

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Professional Development (Lawyers' Professional Development)

See also Evaluations, Mentoring, and Training.

Lawyers' Professional Development, Ida O. Abbott

NALP, 2002. This comprehensive handbook for professional development administrators focuses on four basic components of lawyer professional development: training, mentoring, work assignments, and evaluations, while providing additional chapters on special professional development issues.
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Available in NALP's Bookstore

You Get What You Measure: Lawyer Development Frameworks and Effective Performance Evaluations, Scott Westfahl

NALP, 2008. If a law firm wants to develop its next generation of leaders, the firm must first identify what skills and traits those lawyers should possess and then implement performance evaluations to measure individual and organizational lawyer development accordingly. This book is thus as much about how to establish lawyer development frameworks (or "core competencies") as about how to measure the achievement of key benchmarks within those frameworks.
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Available in NALP's Bookstore

The Lawyer's Guide to Mentoring, Ida O. Abbott

NALP, 2000. To be successful, lawyers today need multiple mentors at every stage of their careers; Abbott's book offers advice on finding mentors, initiating (and ending) a mentoring relationship, and making the mentoring experience more meaningful. The book is equally useful to individual lawyers and to professional development administrators.
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The Art and Science of Strategic Talent Management in Law Firms, Terri Mottershead, Editor

West, 2010. A number of NALP members contributed to this book edited by former member Terri Mottershead. The book addresses the evolution and "revolution" in talent management, competency models, the art and design of legal recruiting, competency-based development programs, alternative models for legal careers inside the law firm, integrating pro bono as a talent management tool, and more. Sections on talent management as a change agent; building the case for talent management; and talent management and technology are also included. The book is designed to be a compendium of best practices relevant to law firms of all sizes.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

Maximizing Law Firm Profitability: Hiring, Training, and Developing Productive Lawyers, Susan G. Manch and Marcia Pennington Shannon

Law Journal Press/ALM, 2007. The authors of this comprehensive desk reference are familiar to many NALP members because of their frequent NALP conference presentations, which consistently win rave reviews. In this thick volume's 23 chapters, they address virtually every aspect of developing a firm's most valuable resource — its lawyers — covering such subjects as development of practical in-house lawyer training programs; when and how to give trainees both positive and negative feedback; effective recruitment techniques; teaching lawyers how to manage practice groups; considerations in deciding on partnership offers; teaching the essentials of negotiating, client relations, and people skills; successful integration of lateral hires; supporting diversity in recruitment and development efforts; the facts of associate attrition; reorganizing practice specialties; developing a performance evaluation system; peer and upward reviews; instilling loyalty; keeping morale high in all economic climates; developing state-of-the-art training curricula; helping lawyers cope with stress; outsourcing legal services; effective mentoring that appeals to the changing demographics of professional services firms; addressing the human factors in a law firm merger; and retaining top-notch lawyers.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

The Law Firm Associate's Guide to Connecting with Your Colleagues, Barbara Miller and Martin Camp

ABA Law Practice Management Section, 2009. This book explains the features of effective communication that are the foundation of a successful practice at all stages of a career, from how to build healthy, long-term relationships that will advance one's career, to how to understand others (including clients) and meet their expectations. This is a helpful guide not only for junior associates but also for mid-level and senior associates. There's even a chapter on mistakes lateral associates often make. A companion Trainer's Manual is also available and can be used for in-house training or to provide associates with additional tools and exercises.
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Available in NALP's Bookstore

Women on Top: The Woman's Guide to Leadership and Power in Law Firms, Ida O. Abbott

West, 2010. Ida Abbott, a popular speaker at NALP conferences, directs this book to women who want to be leaders in their firms, offering in-depth advice on how women can make the most of their personal strengths, build critical alliances, and overcome the obstacles in the way of achieving leadership goals. In explaining how women can become more effective leaders, Abbott has also created a tremendous reference for law firm administrators, providing insights into the nature of law firm leadership, factors affecting women, and the types of strategies most likely to open the door to law firm leadership for women. This book is also likely to win a readership among men who aspire to law firm leadership roles but experience generational or other challenges. A recognized leader and author in the field of lawyer professional development, Abbott is co-founder and Director of the Hastings Leadership Academy for Women at the University of California Forum.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

Developing Legal Talent: Best Practices in Professional Development for Law Firms, Ida O. Abbott

NALP, 2001. Unlike Lawyers' Professional Development, this volume is not an original textbook but rather a compilation of 17 articles by Ida Abbott — most originally published in Law Governance Review — with updates and new articles added.
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The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career, Ari Kaplan

Thomson West, 2008. New associates will find a wealth of advice in this book, including advice from rainmakers, public relations experts, marketing masters, in-house counsel, business executives, career advisers, and associates. Each chapter addresses genuine strategies for achieving success, with how-to information on defining your personal brand, leveraging creativity, mentoring, networking, getting published, and other techniques for maximizing your success.
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The Creative Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Authentic Professional Satisfaction, Michael Melcher

ABA, 2007. Written by a leading career coach, this book is for lawyers at all levels. It provides young lawyers with a template for mapping out a career development plan, while more experienced lawyers who are unhappy or "stuck" in their careers will find a wealth of self-assessment tools to help them reconnect with their passion.
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Available in NALP's Bookstore

The Law Firm Associate's Guide to Personal Marketing and Selling Skills, Catherine Alman MacDonagh and Beth Marie Cuzzone

ABA, 2007. For lawyers seeking to improve their marketing skills as well as for those responsible for training lawyers in business development skills, this book offers an array of tips, from networking tips to advice on researching and presenting to clients. A companion Trainer's Manual is also available. The Guide and the Trainer's Manual can be purchased individually or as a set from the online bookstore at www.alanet.org.

100 Plus Pointers for the New Partner, Sharon Abrahams

ABA, 2010. While many resources have been written for the new associate, there is much less literature available addressing the transition to partnership. Written by Sharon Abrahams, national director of professional development at Foley & Lardner, this online publication provides pointers to new partners. Topics include firm governance, client management, business development, billing, and management of associates and staff. Abrahams says the guide is designed to point out questions new partners may not have thought to ask. 100 Plus Pointers for the New Partner can be downloaded for a fee from ABA's website.

For additional information helpful to lawyer professional development administrators, see Professional Resources > Professional Development.

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Public Service/Pro Bono

PSLawNet

NALP's Public Service Network, found on the web at www.pslawnet.org, connects law students and graduates with a large database of opportunities in public interest and nonprofit organizations, courts, and government agencies, and in private law firms with public interest or pro bono practices. Organizations can post opportunities free of charge, and students and alums of PSLawNet's subscriber law schools can search the database without charge. Additional resources featured in free areas of the PSLawNet website include information about government employment and information about events. Learn more at www.pslawnet.org.

Public Sector & Public Interest Attorney Salary Report, biennial

NALP. This public sector salary report provides information on salaries at five types of organizations: civil legal services organizations; public defenders' offices' local prosecuting attorneys' offices; offices of attorneys general; and other public interest organizations. Salaries are reported both nationwide and by geographic markets. Basic information on benefits and on availability and nature of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs is also included.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

The CAPSILS Law School Public Service Resource Handbook

CAPSILS, 2010. The Consortium for the Advancement of Public Service in Law Schools (of which NALP is a member, along with the ABA Center for Pro Bono, AALS, and Equal Justice Works) has released an updated version of its Law School Public Service Resource Handbook. The handbook's major sections focus on an introduction to law school pro bono program administration; counseling students about pro bono and public service opportunities; a review of different types of public service and pro bono professionals within law schools; relationship building within one's institution; external relationship building; student debt resources; and additional resources for students and alumni. The Law School Public Service Resource Handbook is available as a free, downloadable PDF at www.pslawnet.org/capsils.

The Comprehensive Fellowship Guide — The Ultimate Resource for Law Students and Lawyers

PSLawNet, published annually in August. The Guide includes detailed information on hundreds of fellowship opportunities, including fellowship type, title, and location; organization type and contact information; compensation; fellowship description; qualifications required; and application deadlines and procedures.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

State Attorneys General Web Site

The National Attorney General Program of Columbia Law School has created a web site to serve as a portal for students and others seeking information about state attorneys general. Visit www.stateag.org.

The Great Firm Escape: Harvard Law School's Guide to Breaking Out of Private Practice and Into Public Service

Office of Public Interest Advising, Harvard Law School, 2000. Lawyers who are considering a transition from the private sector to public service will find this book a helpful guide throughout the process from self-assessment to setting career goals to the job search.
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Available from Harvard Law School's Office of Public Interest Advising

A Guide to Careers in Community Development, Paul C. Brophy and Alice Shabecoff

Island Press, 2001. While this book is targeted to a broad audience and is not specifically law-related, the authors include a wealth of information on the pros and cons of working in this public interest field; self-assessment exercises are included.
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Public Service Careers . . .
Explore Your Options

NALP, 2009. Based on an earlier NALP brochure, this pamphlet from the NALP Public Service Section discusses where public service lawyers work and what some of the entry points are into public service careers. It then addresses challenges facing law students who pursue public service careers, job search strategies, and concrete ways students can get started with further exploration of public service careers.
Available in NALP's Bookstore

Public Service Internships . . .
Experiential Learning Opportunities for ALL Law Students

NALP, 2009. Also from the NALP Public Service Section, this pamphlet explains how public service internships can be skills and career builders even for students not ultimately pursuing public service careers. The pamphlet also discusses the breadth of opportunities (including government options), seeking and finding opportunities, funding internships, and making the experience a success.
Available in NALP's Bookstore