News & Insights
Explore our latest thinking on lawyer development, leadership, and the changing legal profession, alongside updates from conferences, presentations, and other speaking engagements. These articles and event highlights share practical ideas, emerging perspectives, and lessons drawn from our work with lawyers, firm leaders, talent professionals, and practice leaders.
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Lawyers are trained to persuade, but effective development often starts with understanding. This article explores how tactical empathy, thoughtful questions, and active listening can help leaders deliver clearer feedback, reduce defensiveness, and build greater ownership and accountability.
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Building a high-impact leadership team requires more than reaching agreement in the room. This article explores how 360-degree feedback can uncover gaps in communication, alignment, and execution, helping leaders work together more effectively and translate strategic priorities into measurable results.
Julia Mercier will co-present a session at the 2026 PDC Summer Conference exploring how lawyers learn by observing their leaders. The session will examine how everyday leadership behavior shapes culture and how greater awareness of intent and impact can strengthen trust.
As AI, hybrid work, and generational change reshape how lawyers learn, firms must rebuild the developmental conditions once created through apprenticeship. This article introduces the D.R.I.V.E.™ Framework, five practical leadership habits that strengthen trust, feedback, visibility, and intentional development.
Executive communication requires lawyers to move beyond presenting the full analysis and lead with clear judgment. This article explores how stating the bottom line, identifying the key drivers and knowing when to stop can strengthen leadership presence and influence.
As technology, consolidation and shifting expectations reshape the legal industry, leaders increasingly must guide others without a clear roadmap. This article explores how transparent decision-making, consistent behavior and intentional communication can sustain trust and strengthen culture through uncertainty.
Julia Mercier co-presented a session at the NALP Professional Development Institute exploring how multigenerational teams can collaborate more effectively. The discussion focused on cognitive empathy, clear communication and practical ways to reduce friction and strengthen workplace relationships.
The Feedback Deficit explores why clear, timely feedback remains difficult in law firms and the impact this has on development, confidence and team performance. Featuring the A.L.I.G.N. Feedback Model™ and Maturity Model™, the paper offers practical ways to build greater clarity, candor and trust.
Targeted 360-degree feedback helps successful law firm partners identify the leadership and team dynamics that may be limiting further growth. Drawing on confidential interviews rather than surveys, the process provides actionable insights to strengthen delegation, collaboration and long-term impact.
Difficult personalities do not have to derail professional relationships. This article offers practical strategies for lawyers to manage conflict through active listening, clear boundaries, collaborative problem-solving and emotional intelligence.
High-performing teams are built through shared direction, clear roles, resilience, adaptability and trust. This article offers a practical framework for strengthening teamwork, sustaining momentum and creating the conditions for long-term organizational success.
360-degree feedback gives law firm partners valuable insight into how their leadership, communication and management skills are perceived by colleagues. By identifying strengths, blind spots and practical development opportunities, the process can strengthen performance, client relationships and firm culture.
Writing down goals can turn abstract ambitions into clear, actionable commitments. This article explores how reflection, visualization and simple practices such as tracking daily and weekly wins can strengthen focus, motivation and progress.
Understanding the neuroscience behind feedback can help leaders deliver it more effectively. Using the SCARF model, this article explores how thoughtful communication can reduce defensiveness, support learning and create a more constructive feedback experience.
Julia Mercier and fellow coaching leaders explore how group coaching can strengthen professional development and talent strategies within law firms. The interactive session offers a practical framework for designing programs that support sponsorship, integration, career development and business development.
Learning to ride offers powerful lessons in resilience, communication and leadership. Drawing parallels between equestrianism and professional development, Julia explores how coaching, advocacy and emotional intelligence help individuals and teams grow.
Julia to Speak at Louisiana State Bar Association 14th Annual Conclave on Diversity in the Legal Profession on August 12, 2022.
Julia Mercier and Diane Costigan explore the leadership skills needed to strengthen engagement, learning and retention in hybrid and distributed workplaces. Drawing on multimodal leadership research, they also discuss how professional development teams can support attorney and staff wellbeing.
In this Law Journal Newsletters article, Julia explores how firms can lead effectively through disruption by taking a more strategic approach to talent management. Strong leadership helps keep associates and partners engaged with their matters, clients and colleagues while strengthening the firm’s position as an employer of choice.
In a competitive talent market, compensation and flexibility may attract employees, but strong leadership is what helps retain them. By acting as champions, conductors, coaches and catalysts, leaders can strengthen connection, development, trust and engagement across their teams.
Burnout is often the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been effectively managed. Leaders can help protect employee wellbeing by monitoring workloads, communicating clearly, seeking input and creating stronger alignment between individual skills, goals and responsibilities.