“ You have an excellent, practical, common sense approach.”
Are you preparing for the top rung on the ladder?
Each lawyer in this diverse group is seeking leadership roles with significant business, managerial, and leadership components. They’d like to obtain equity partnership, C-suite roles like chief legal officer (CLO) or general counsel (GC), or other leadership positions.
In most cases, they’re eyeing the next rung on the law firm or corporate ladder. However, each faces a different set of challenges depending on practice areas, target employers and industries, and other individual factors.
Executive lawyers may include attorneys with:
Generally 15 to 45 years of experience, with compensation packages clustered between $200,000 and $500,000 (depending upon their sector)
Corporate leadership roles such as GC at start-ups, regional or statewide companies, or other non-Fortune 500 companies, including those looking for roles as larger companies
Corporate legal department leadership roles such as deputy general counsel (DGC) or head of a practice group
Law firm leadership roles such income partners in large firms or partners in regional, small, and solo practices
Government or non-profit leadership or supervisory roles such as commissioner, deputy attorney general, and executive director
On-track lawyers may include attorneys with:
Generally 7 to 15 years of experience, with compensation packages clustered between $150,000 and $350,000 (depending upon their sector)
Assistant general counsel (AGC) and other individual contributor roles in Global 100 and Fortune 500 / 1000 companies, subsidiaries, or other businesses, particularly those positioning for their first GC roles
Senior associate and Of Counsel roles in prominent law firms, whether positioning for partnership or GC-track.
Line prosecutors, JAG officers, and other government attorneys moving to supervisory roles within their agencies or considering shifting to the private sector—whether in-house or in law firms
Board roles on small nonprofits
Quite simply, our goal is to help you level up…
“This has been *the* most helpful thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.”
Among the greatest challenges for these lawyers are:
“I was promoted to Vice President of Global Ethics at [Fortune 10] yesterday! Thank you so much for all of your support and guidance!”
“Thank you as always for all the ‘tough love’ and insightful perspective on how to curate my résumé and development. You have been a breath of fresh air!”
Preparing for the next rung on the ladder, including figuring out just what that next rung might be
Identifying real or perceived weaknesses in their candidacy, and creating a plan to address them
Raising visibility, both inside their current organization and with their target employers or clients
Shifting from a technical lawyering or individual contributor mindset to a managerial one
Shifting from a managerial mindset to an executive one
Shifting from a law firm mindset to an in-house one, or from a public sector to private sector mindset
Becoming a revenue generator (particularly for law firms) or a revenue enabler (for either internal or external clients)
Presenting as a business savvy, both in interviews and on paper
Balancing life and stress with their ambitions
Building a strong foundation and a suite of career portfolio documents.
… or shift off-track, if that’s a better fit for you.
Some of our clients aren’t looking to move up the track they’re on. They’re considering moving off.
If you’re looking to downshift, reduce your hours, or even explore options outside the practice of law, then we can help you with that too.
How we can help you
Career Services for Executive and On-Track Lawyers
Just a few of the areas we can help you with are...
Writing and Branding
Résumés and CVs
Cover letters and correspondence
LinkedIn profiles
Deal sheets, representative matters, and sample projects
Listings of presentations, speaking engagements, and media mentions
Leadership bios
Recruiter questionnaires
Marketing and website copy
Business plans
30-60-90 day plans
Creation and articulation of a clear professional brand
Identification of value and impact
Immediate Career Decision-Making
Working with retained legal and executive search consultants
Moving in-house from a law firm or other lateral moves
Demonstrating industry-specific or problem-specific track records
Building career narratives around non-linear work experience
Developing a potential book of business
Improving on-the-job performance
Navigating office politics and personalities
Getting sponsors and mentors
Leveraging early career or military experience
Getting credit for language and cultural fluencies
Changing job markets
Deciding among job offers
Preparing for job interviews
Negotiating salary
Downshifting
Long-Term Career Planning
Networking and relationship building
Building and showcasing thought leadership
Positioning for corporate or nonprofit boards
Identifying your best fit roles and employers
Identifying technical or experiential soft spots, as well as building plans to beef them up
Creating and moving toward end-goals
Planning for retirement
Looking forward to giving back and post-retirement fulfillment
Career Coaching for Executive and On-Track Lawyers
Most of our executive and executive-track clients don’t want big-investment career coaching packages. Instead, they have specific, periodic need for a strategic career adviser and partner. Our career coaching is designed as a simple, elegant solution: just tell us the issues you’d like to discuss, and send us your current résumé (Don’t worry: it doesn’t have to be in great shape) so that we have some context. We offer general career coaching, coaching with executive / legal recruiters, job search coaching, career decision-making, and more.
“This whole process has been educational and exciting. When I look at my original CV side by side with yours, mine looks like it was done by a third grader. Yours looks like a master’s thesis. This résumé opens me up to so many other opportunities. I wish I had met you and gone through this process years ago. I keep wondering how many opportunities I’ve missed out on over the years.”
Résumé Writing by Screen Share for Executive and On-Track Lawyers
Through the résumé writing by screen share, you can get an expert critique of your existing résumé and edit at same time.
This can be a great option for those who need a quick turnaround, a more straight-forward story, or who already have a solid résumé. However, résumé writing by screen share is also a great choice for lawyers of all levels who are concerned about professional branding and positioning for a shifting marketplace, or those with a complex career narrative.
Résumé writing by screen share services are performed at hourly rates, which gives clients enormous flexibility. Lawyers can work with their expert for as much—or as little—time as they want.
Shauna C. Bryce at speaking about career re-evalutaion and mid-career pivots at a Harvard Law School alumni event.
Bespoke Résumé Writing for Executive and On-Track Lawyers
Although designed for CLOs, GCs, C-Suite Lawyers, and Law Firm Equity Partner, the bespoke résumé writing track can be useful to lawyers aspiring to those roles as well.
While most lawyers prefer our Résumé Writing by Screen Share process, if you need a complete suite of career documents and a deep dive approach to your career narrative / branding—and you’re timeframe allows for a 3-5 month process, then the Bespoke program may be a better option. (Compare our two résumé writing tracks here.)
All lawyers in our bespoke program receive a suite of primary and secondary deliverables. Because of the time and investment involved, the Bryce Legal Bespoke Résumé Writing program is typically reserved for top-tier lawyers.
What’s the Difference Between a Résumé and a CV?
LinkedIn Profile Optimization for Executive and On-Track Lawyers
“I just got a request via LinkedIn to be a financial advisor on a board.”
There are said to be more than eight million C-level executives on LinkedIn, and been reported that more than one third of business executives in the U.S., Europe, and Asia use LinkedIn. Additionally, LinkedIn is now one of top recruiting tools for retained, contingency, and internal recruiters. Therefore, we recommend all lawyers have a strong, polished presence on LinkedIn—even those who are passive or stealth job seekers. We can help you put together a LinkedIn profile that reflects your career goals, leadership, and value, as well as positions you as a target of acquisition.
Why Work with Us? Sample Testimonials from Executive and On-Track Lawyers
Why work with Bryce Legal? How can you choose the best lawyer coach and legal résumé writer for you? Here’s what just a few our clients say. For more, please see Our Client Testimonials.
Your Career Experts for Executive, Executive-Track, and Partnership-Track Lawyers
Team Bios
