The Lawyer Center Feature: "A Start-of-Fall Guide for Lawyers Seeking Career Advancement"
/A Start-of-Fall Guide for Lawyers Seeking Career Advancement
Summer can be a frustrating season for ambitious attorneys. As court activity and legal work decrease, lawyers can begin to feel like they are losing momentum and missing out on growth opportunities. But for those who are strategic, the start of fall can be a season of fruitful career development.
Michelle Foster, Managing Partner at The Foster Group, believes that attorneys should consider autumn as an opportunity to reassess their career goals and explore new career opportunities. By being proactive, she says, legal professionals can ensure they are continually advancing their careers.
“Many lawyers consider making a move once they’ve reached a breaking point, whether that’s dissatisfaction with compensation, culture, or workload,” Michelle explains. “By waiting until frustration sets in, however, they often limit their options and approach the market under unnecessary pressure.”
The Foster Group is a full-service legal recruiting firm that assists partners, counsel, and associates in making strategic career moves. Top law firms and corporations also rely on The Foster Group’s decades of experience in the legal field to help them find the talent they need to provide excellent service to clients and drive strategic growth. Regardless of the career stage, from Partner to counsel to senior associate to recent law school graduate, The Foster Group has the expertise and experience needed to understand relevant career options and guide career choices.
To transform fall into a time of professional development, Michelle and her team of experts recommend proactive planning, a refined professional narrative, respect for hiring cycles, and partnering with recruiting experts.
Moving ahead in your legal career requires proactive planning
Lawyers carry a heavy workload, with recent statistics showing that 66 hours per week is the typical commitment expected of those working for large firms, and up to 54 hours for those at small and medium-sized firms. Such demands leave little time for thinking about career development, which is why a slowdown during fall is an opportunity that shouldn’t be overlooked.
"We encourage attorneys to think of their careers the same way they’d think about managing a client’s case - with foresight, strategy, and timing,” says Drew Foster, Managing Director at The Foster Group. “The best moves happen when you’re informed and intentional, not rushed. A proactive approach often results in a smoother transition and better long-term fit.”
Lawyers must continually refine their career narrative to attract attention from top law firms
When lawyers consider a career move, updating their resumes and other key documents that capture their career narrative is often their first step. But waiting can be a mistake, Michelle says. She believes those documents should be continually kept current so details on career achievements aren’t missed.
When lawyers get serious about making a move, they can then tailor their documents to address the opportunities they are considering and current practice trends. Specificity, Michelle says, is key.
“Resumes and deal sheets aren’t just historical records. They’re marketing tools,” Michelle explains. “For litigators, highlighting representative matters with concrete outcomes, such as trial wins, dispositive motions, and settlement amounts, demonstrate impact beyond generic case descriptions. For corporate attorneys, deal sheets that quantify value, such as transaction size, industry, or cross-border elements, stand out.”
The best career advancement strategies acknowledge hiring timelines and trends in the legal community
Those in the legal profession can typically expect an uptick in hiring in the fall through the first quarter. But a variety of factors can impact the job outlook in any particular year. Knowing what legal talent is needed and other specific details of the current market can give lawyers an advantage.
“The market this year has been marked by uneven demand across practice areas,” reports Drew. “Some sectors are slower, while others, like litigation, finance, real estate, and select regulatory practices, are picking up momentum. Firms are also being more selective, which means candidates need to be especially strategic about timing and presentation.”
Legal recruiters have valuable insights for mapping out a solid career path
Legal recruiters play a variety of important roles in a lawyer’s career development. They are strategic advisors, helping attorneys refine their materials and prepare for interviews, as well as advocates with long-standing relationships within firms seeking candidates. Legal recruiters are also an invaluable source of intel on job opportunities, often giving their clients access to desirable openings that are never publicly posted.
“The top value we provide is access,” Michelle shares, “to opportunities, market intelligence, and candid feedback from firms that attorneys simply don’t get on their own. Lawyers who work with recruiters gain visibility and can get ahead of the curve when firms are moving quickly to secure talent. At the end of the day, our role is to make sure attorneys don’t just move - but that they move wisely, into the environment where they will thrive long-term.”
Successful legal careers don’t happen by accident. Lawyers who want to see continual growth and greater earning potential must be strategic, proactive, and prepared to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Those who leverage every available tool, including the insights and access a legal recruiter can provide, will have the best success.
https://thelawyercenter.net/a-start-of-fall-guide-for-lawyers-seeking-career-advancement/