Career Coaching for Attorneys

D&B Consulting Can Help You Reinvent Your Career

 

Through a structured, customized career coaching process, we can help you redirect your career for greater professional and personal satisfaction.

Do any of these scenarios describe you?              

  • You have achieved recognition and financial success, only to realize that you no longer enjoy the work, and/or the environment and the lifestyle.
  • You are not excelling.
  • You have worked for two or three different firms and never really felt successful. You are an “extroverted” transactional lawyer and and the work feels too isolating.
  • You are a litigator and are not comfortable with the adversarial approach of law, the stress of deadlines, and preparing for trial.
  • The long hours, stress and pressure for billable hours interfere with your desires to spend time with family and friends and to pursue outside interests.
  • You feel added stress from the pressure to bring in business.

D&B Consulting works with lawyers from many large, medium and small law firms, corporations, and the government, as well as solo practitioners. Outplacement clients include King & Spalding, Sell & Melton, LLP., Trenam, Kemper, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill, & Mullis, and Macey, Wilensky, Cohen, Wittner & Kessler LLP.Debbie Brown participated in a program at the State Bar of Georgia “Lawyers in Transition,” (see article “How to Reinvent Your Career” by Deborah R. Brown in the State Bar of Georgia News, May, 1995. Ms. Brown has spoken at Emory Law School, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the Attorney’s Council of the Greater Atlanta Hadassah, the Atlanta Bar’s Women in the Profession, and the Atlanta Legal Recruiter’s Association. In 2000, Ms. Brown conducted a program, “Stress Management for Lawyers” for the Bleckley Inn of the Court. In 2002, she presented a program called “Alternative Careers for Lawyers” at the Hispanic National Bar Association’s 30th Annual Conference.


Testimonials from Attorneys

“Debbie understands the whole client, both professionally and personally. Her business experience, practical suggestions and varied contacts are invaluable. Perhaps more importantly, as a result of her social work background, Debbie understands the stresses, strains and other emotional forces that act on employees. Thus, Debbie is uniquely qualified to offer the best possible advice for her clients. She goes all-out for her clients. I highly recommend her services.”


“Not long after I finished my last hour of counseling with you, I was considering a job offer for exactly the position I had envisioned for myself. The key was that I had to envision it first. That is where you came in. You provided a confidential place to talk through the objections and concerns about making a transition in my legal career (which I thought was near impossible). Perhaps what is most important is that your program taught me that the process is on-going. I am still going back to some of the basic questions you asked to make sure I am “on track” with my ultimate life goals and the quest for a healthy balance of work, family, spirit, fitness, and fun.

Thanks, Debbie, for not only a great experience initially, but for the follow up calls. I value the mentoring and friendship.”


“Thanks again for your invaluable guidance and support. You made it very easy for me to make the decision to leave private practice behind. I am looking forward to the new challenges and rewards of going in-house. The resume you helped me prepare was greeted with praise by virtually every employer that reviewed it. You helped me find a new direction, and allowed me to find a fresh application for my education and experience, just when I was ready to throw it all away. I appreciate your services, and will whole-heartedly recommend you to my fellow burned-out colleagues!”


“Through the standardized tests she administered, and more importantly, through her sharp personal insight, Debbie Brown confirmed my suspicion that teaching was the right career avenue for me, and definitely a better fit than law practice. Confident that I was headed in the right direction, thanks to Debbie, I then tackled the teaching job search with a vengeance. Throughout the process, Debbie kept me focused on my goals, coached me on the various “do’s” and “don’t’s” of job hunting (particularly interviewing), and provided me with much needed support and encouragement. Debbie’s assistance played an important role in my success in finding a job within my new career. “


“Our work together was time and money well spent for me. The process of quantifying the good and bad about not only job but lifestyle was immensely useful, turning an amorphous feeling of dissatisfaction into something that could be identified and addressed. From there, it was an exercise in identifying options and finding solutions, and your insights were invaluable in that regard. It is very difficult to be “in the problem” and to find one’s own way out. In the end, I found I was able to change many of the things about my practice that had made it such a grind, and encountered surprisingly little resistance from my partners along the way. Life now is more balanced than before, and I have a sense of perspective that was missing before the process you put me through over those several weeks. Although I am keeping my options open, and exploring opportunities as they arise, it is without the prior sense of desperation, because with your help I’ve made the current situation not only bearable, but desirable. Thanks.”


“Debbie Brown inspired me to create a balanced, fulfilling life. As a new lawyer, I devoted all of my time and energy to my career to the detriment of my health, finances and relationships. Debbie showed me the way to make those things that I value the most (my faith and my relationships) my highest priorities. I am grateful for Debbie’s career and life coaching, which directed me to the right path for me.

One of the recommendations from your career testing was to establish relationships with people who were “patient with my non-conforming ways” — a perfect description of my current supervising partner and firm. I have a lot of autonomy and feel like my contribution is respected and appreciated.

Thank you, Debbie, for helping me.”


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"You should not confuse your career with your life." Dave Barry