Law Firm workshops

This is our most popular program, having been delivered to hundreds summer associates across the country at a range of AmLaw 10, 50, and 100 firms.

The program tackles head on the challenges junior attorneys face in transitioning from service consumers at school to service providers at the firm. We approach the transition in two phases:

1. Deliver transparency about the expectations of biglaw practice; 

2. Workshop tactics to use in facing common service-provider challenges (communication, owning work, being part of a team, seeking feedback, working with mentors)

We think the program will be particularly resonant for summer associates and firm leadership for three reasons:

• Our extensive experience with law students and their mindset has made it clear that junior professionals tend to approach firm work from an assumption that the firm (especially during the summer program) is designed to deliver resources and opportunities to them. The mindset shift can be a jarring one as they come to appreciate that the firm is designed to serve clients, both external and internal. We hope to give more guidance on what that design means for the summer associates.

• From an equity perspective, the program allows for a clear and frank conversation about expectations and norms of firm practice. In our experience, students and junior attorneys often have different access to information and guidance about such norms, which results in some having more insights and support than others in making the shift to being successful attorneys. The need for such a conversation is heightened when we consider firms' success in recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds -- students who may have less access to family members and friends to speak to professional norms, and/or who may not affirmatively seek out guidance and resources at the firm to acclimate themselves.

• We've added guidance for understanding how the business model of a firm impacts the distribution of work. Summer and junior associates often seem ill-equipped to navigate the internal market for projects. We will demystify this part of practice, setting your newest crop of attorneys up for success when it comes to being productive team members.

The workshop is interactive, adopting more of a coaching approach than a directive approach. For example, rather than just providing a list of the “Top 5” things to do to be a great summer associate, we offer summer associates factors to guide their judgment in different situations and tools for thinking through strategies. The idea is to inform and build judgment that the summer associates can apply throughout their time at the firm.

Additional details about the program:

• Length: 60-75min

• Format: In-person/virtual/hybrid

• Design: Call with firm stakeholders to customize content

• Follow-up: worksheet to promote learning goals

Cost: $4500 (+ travel stipend if in-person outside DC area)

In coaching thousands of law students over more than a decade, we can’t remember one who has claimed not to want feedback.

And we also understand how the realities of firm practice often overlap with these expectations in two challenging ways:

1. Do they understand how challenging it can be to deliver feedback?

2. And once they get the feedback, are they ready to hear it and learn from it?

Here’s why this program is likely to resonate with firms and summer associates:

• See Clear provides transparency and texture around the much-discussed topic of feedback so summer associates understand how it works in practice. We appreciate that feedback is a precious commodity at firms – one that takes time to shape and even more time (and perhaps finesse) to deliver. These realities mean that even senior attorneys with the best intentions may not be able to sculpt and present feedback in a form that summer associates expect. We’ll provide tips to the summer associates for getting feedback in a busy firm environment, workshopping how and when to ask. Just as importantly, we’ll discuss time-saving techniques for finding feedback in the environment, be it through tracked changes, final work-product, or informal conversations. Our goal is to make students more commercially minded when it comes to feedback, allowing them to appreciate that it’s a two-way street.

• Even when received, the feedback can seem to evaporate: overwhelmed junior lawyers often dwell on the negatives. See Clear will workshop strategies to overcome the negatives so they can implement the guidance. Building off social science about feedback “triggers” while incorporating real-world examples and reflections, we’ll help them sort through debilitating self-talk about the feedback to see the opportunities for growth. Participants will come to appreciate how triggers about their identity, their relationship to the feedback giver, and/or the perceived truth value of the feedback can limit its impact; they’ll learn to separate these triggers from the actionable information being shared with them.

Additional details about the program:

• Length: 60-75min

• Format: In-person/virtual/hybrid

• Design: Call with firm stakeholders to customize content

• Follow-up: worksheet to promote learning goals

Cost: $4500 (+ travel stipend if in-person outside DC area)

Individual coaching is a path to unlocking potential in all employees. But scaling that resource presents challenges. 

See Clear offers a balance: group coaching. This tool helps cement lessons from group trainings, provides more individualized support, and creates community within the firm. Group sessions will bring in a small group of summer associates – 6-8 ideally, and no more than 10 – to engage in facilitated discussion of common challenges while working on practical, customized solutions. Sessions would typically run 60min.

These sessions can be driven by the needs of the group as they emerge.

Or See Clear can provide guidance based on common challenge points we’ve seen junior attorneys encounter (as informed by input from the firm). In the guided sessions, See Clear would workshop new content with summer associates (teaching + interactive learning) followed by facilitated coaching. Elements of the See Clear framework might include:

• Finding practice area fits;

• Seeking and implementing feedback;

• Owning work

• Managing up

• Building relationships

Packages can vary widely based on firm needs and resources. We’re happy to talk and then provide a customized proposal that covers: number of groups, cadence, timing, format (in-person or virtual), and rates.