Here is a common scenario for you:
Simon is buckling under the pressure of an endless stream of emails, messages, and calls from disgruntled clients. Simon’s thoughts race. He worries about missing something important, and he second-guesses the decisions he made on a recent file. As his anxiety level rises, he wonders, “do I need to leave legal practice?”
The mental health challenges legal professionals face all begs the question of whether there is a better way of practicing law. My answer is “Yes, there is.” There is so much that is within the ability of lawyers to control or influence. Here are my 10 coaching questions to inspire your thinking about opportunities for bettering your law practice:
- What are the values you wish to align with?
- What is meaningful to you about your work?
- How are you making life harder for yourself?
- When do you need to say No to say Yes to your priorities and commitments?
- What are the boundaries you want to set to protect your time for (a) focused work (b) for priorities (c) for life outside of law?
- What systems and processes might you implement to strengthen boundaries and streamline administrative tasks, communication, and other aspects of your practice?
- What can you delegate or outsource?
- What technologies are available for streamlining communications between lawyers on your files and with your clients?
- How can you better onboard clients, so they are clear on what to expect from you (the team, the firm) and what you expect from them in all aspects of the lawyer-client relationship?
- What new roles might you add to your team or firm?
These are just a few examples of areas for focus. Look to your current pain points and bottlenecks as the starting point for introducing new strategies or practices to find better ways of practicing law and serving clients.
To read a more in-depth discussion of these questions, you can find it here.
