Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC., Author at Lawyer-Coach

1 03, 2011

Blogging Can Make the Difference in a Landing a Law Job

2019-03-21T20:14:35+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|6 Comments

Jack Whittington posted his tips for law students on getting that dream job out of law school at the Solo Practice University Blog. Jack credited blogging and using Twitter and LinkedIn with helping him nab a rare opportunity at a sports law firm. He submitted his resume to the firm as a result of some networking. When he finally got a call to interview, Jack says “the attorney already knew a great deal about me just from reading my blogs and information I had broadcast through social media.” Read here to get Jack’s in-depth story.

Last year I did a little coaching with NYU law student John Strohmeyer as he searched for a job in a tough market. […]

21 02, 2011

On Presidents Day: Abraham Lincoln’s Advice on Lawyering

2019-04-01T20:43:35+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|3 Comments

Around 1850 Abraham Lincoln wrote some sound advice to lawyers and those contemplating becoming lawyers. Over 160 years later, his advice is still worth heeding. Hat tip to Tom Adolph, a partner at Jackson Walker L.L.P., for sharing this with me. Here are Lincoln’s words:

“I am not an accomplished lawyer. I find quite as much material for a lecture in those points wherein I have failed, as in those wherein I have been moderately successful. The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day. Never let your correspondence fall behind. […]

7 02, 2011

Got Clients? How Did THAT Happen?

2019-04-01T20:49:16+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

“I’ve spoken many times at CLE programs, and I never got any business from it.” Rick Albers’ jaw dropped when he heard that. Why was Rick so surprised? A lot of lawyers (and legal marketing experts) say that speaking at CLE programs is a waste of time. It just educates your competition.

Rick was stunned because he himself had referred four different matters to the lawyer who said that. Rick, a Texas real estate lawyer, chose that attorney because he heard him speak at bar association programs, and concluded that he was very knowledgeable. In fact, it was because they both got involved in bar association work that Rick came to know him in the first place. Perhaps the lawyer thought Rick referred the matters to him just because of their acquaintance. If so…he was wrong. […]

18 01, 2011

Improving Your Resume & Cover Letter

2019-04-01T21:29:55+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Improving Your Resume & Cover Letter

I recently received a request from a stranger to review his resume and cover letter and provide feedback to him. I don’t really hold myself out as an expert in reviewing resumes, but I do sometimes give clients my reaction to theirs. Frankly, however, my interest in reading resumes ranks just slightly above reading my homeowner’s insurance policy. I think I already read more than my quota of resumes back in my law firm days.

I have empathy for law students, recent grads and laid-off lawyers who hope to find a job in this challenging economy. So from time to time, I write articles and give talks that provide tips that may help make their job search more successful. I decline, however, to read unsolicited resumes unless I get paid to do it, or until I determine that I owe penance for some crime against humanity. […]

24 12, 2010

3 Inspired Tips for a Happier Holiday

2010-12-24T12:36:23+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

This is a time when we come together with people we love, hoping to share smiles, laughter and warm feelings. Yet despite our best intentions, sometimes things go awry. Maybe we have so many preparations to complete that we get stressed and irritable. Maybe we want all the food, decorations and our clothes to be just right and beautiful, and we get a little rigid or persnickety when someone else has a different vision of what that would look like. Maybe someone does that thing they always do that annoys us so much. This year we can choose to react differently, opening the way to different results.

It is Christmas Eve morning and I woke from a dream of 5 guidelines for enjoying family time during the holidays. Unfortunately I only heard 3 before I woke up, but if I remember to follow these 3, I think that will be enough. I share the strategies with you, along with my interpretations, in hopes that these reminders will help you have the holiday you intend.

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15 12, 2010

Before You Make New Year’s Resolutions…

2010-12-15T18:11:03+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

There’s an old story about a guy who walked down the street and fell into a giant hole. He yelled for help for a long time, but no one came. Finally he managed to scratch out some notches in the wall, and with some difficulty, he clambered out.

The next day he walked down the same street and fell into the same hole. He didn’t yell very long before he remembered the notches he had scratched before. He dug them out a little more, and then climbed out much more quickly.

When he walked down that street the third day, he caught himself as he teetered on the brink of falling into the hole again. He walked gingerly around the hole and went on his way.

On the fourth day… […]

20 10, 2010

How New or Re-tooling Lawyers Can Get Experience They Need

2019-02-10T23:05:52+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|7 Comments

Many lawyers today find themselves in the unexpected position of trying to practice law in an area where they have insufficient experience and are finding it necessary to develop a new area of proficiency due to not being hired after graduation, downsized in the recession, a slow market for their existing expertise, or just wanting to make a change into a different type of practice. Here are a number of ideas on how to gain the needed experience through Texas programs (other jurisdictions have similar options) when you don’t already have the support system to provide it.

21 09, 2010

How Lawyers Can Capitalize on Foursquare and Geotagging

2019-04-01T21:31:01+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How Lawyers Can Capitalize on Foursquare and Geotagging

Jim Calloway posted about The Dangers of Photo Geotagging. He referenced a New York Times story describing how a television personality accidentally revealed the location of his home when he posted a photo on Twitter, because of the geotagging embedded in the photo. Geotagging adds geographical metadata to some media such as photos, videos, websites, and social media postings.

Calloway posited a few circumstances in which photo geotagging might be relevant to a lawyer’s case, such as evidence of “harboring a fugitive” based on a photo geotag. Posting a geotagged photo on Facebook could result in the arrest of someone with an outstanding warrant. Remember, other people can post photos on Facebook and tag them with someone else’s name, unless they have blocked that feature. And, if you think fugitives would not be foolish enough to post their own photos on Facebook, check out this Huffington Post story. […]

7 09, 2010

Why Lawyers MUST Get Their Heads Out of the Sand about Social Media

2019-02-10T23:15:58+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|6 Comments

The mushrooming popularity of social media creates novel legal issues to be resolved, as well as a lot of opportunities for mistakes by lawyers and their clients. Wake up! How can you answer your client’s questions or warn them about potential legal infractions, if you aren’t familiar with the medium? Could you be completely missing a good business development opportunity?

Many lawyers tell me their clients don’t use social media, but have they really checked? Or is that just an assumption? How do you check, if you don’t engage in social media yourself? Not long ago I spoke to about 50 lawyers, most of whom knew very little about social media. The room got very quiet when I started putting up on the screen the logos of their clients who had Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. If you asked your clients last year whether they used social media, they may have a different answer now. Could your competitors be enhancing their relationships with your clients via social media, while you remain oblivious?

Even if your clients don’t officially have a social media presence, their employees, customers, or competitors may be posting things that affect your clients. When they ask you what to do about it, how will you be able to advise them if you don’t understand what they are talking about?

Here are some examples of how you might be called on in your law practice to address social media issues.

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30 08, 2010

Sleepless in Seattle: A Lawyer’s Occupational Hazard?

2019-02-10T23:15:58+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

“If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he’d make a fortune.” ~Griff Niblack

In my law practice I often began morning instructions to my staff with “In the middle of the night, I remembered that we need to . . . .” One day, my paralegal responded, “Don’t you ever sleep through the night?”

Taken aback, I stammered, “Uh…no. Do you?” I was surprised to learn that she usually did. Perhaps I thought waking in the middle of the night was an occupational hazard of working in a law firm. I had awakened for so many years that I forgot that some people don’t.

Waking is not really a problem, unless I can’t get back to sleep for hours. I appreciate my faithful spirit guide — or whatever it is — for the midnight alert that something is about to fall through the cracks or for gifting me with brilliant solutions to thorny problems. John Steinbeck said “It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” I just wish The Committee would wait until morning to give me the good news. Who knows? Maybe the dark of night is the only time I am quiet enough to hear whispered answers or warnings. In any event, if I don’t get back to sleep until an hour before the alarm rings, I start the day in a fog and I’ll probably react irritably to someone by 3:00 p.m.

If this sounds too familiar, here are a few tips from an experienced wee-hour-waker that may help you get back to Snoozeville more quickly.

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About Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.

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About Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.

Make an Appointment

Setting goals for your life and career?

Setting goals for
your life and career?