The short answer? Both!

After two-plus years of being limited to almost entirely virtual meetings, we’ve learned that there are huge benefits to doing things online. But many people were also chomping at the bit to get back to seeing each other in the flesh. So that begs the question – which is better? It turns out that we need both and for different reasons. So while you may be tempted to toss your ring light forever in favor of jumping back onto planes…not so fast. Let’s look at the pros of both types of meetings and see why you need to keep them all in your diary.
Continue Reading The Battle of the Meetings: Virtual vs. In-Person – Which is Better?

Recently, I saw a quote that said that adulthood is not one crisis after another, it’s multiple crises, simultaneously, forever.

Is anyone else feeling that way lately?

We had a little bit of a breather this morning when we found out that our Ukrainian colleagues are making their way from Kyiv to safety, but the war for too many continues and the choice to have to leave their homes is a terrible and heartbreaking one. One they shouldn’t have had to make. Should anyone wish to contribute to a reputable NGO, the ILN’s chair recommends this one, which has a long track record – they have been embedded in Ukraine since 2014 and are already supplying Lviv and other places with humanitarian aid.
Continue Reading Leadership Lessons: Navigating a Crisis

Tomorrow is officially the 13th “blogiversary” for Zen & the Art of Legal Networking. At times, it’s difficult to believe that I’ve been writing in this corner of the blogosphere for so long and at other times, it’s flown by. This year in particular has been a lot and it’s hard to find the words to share with you all.

Traditionally, I use this post to either reflect on where we’ve been or what I’ve learned and I appreciate the opportunity to do that each year. It’s not often that we’re able to slow down and take a look back.
Continue Reading Happy 13th Blogiversary to Zen & the Art of Legal Networking!

If you’ve been here a while, you know that I like to look back to find out whether the predictions that we made in the past ever came true – we know that the legal market likes to move slowly, but how slowly? Is the industry that we imagined ten or fifteen years ago where we really are today?

It’s hard to believe that the great recession was 13/14 years ago already, but it’s true. And that means that in the years following the recession, we were all making big promises for change and a “new normal.” (I know, I know, we’re entering yet another “new normal” following the pandemic, which of course only reminds us that the only constant is change.)
Continue Reading Did We Ever Adjust to that “New Normal”?

Here we are, another year.

Do you feel differently? Fresher? Begun again?

2021 was a challenging year for me, and for a lot of people. I lost my dog, who was my heart, after a long and challenging illness that meant we didn’t sleep a lot. My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at 36, which means I don’t sleep a lot. There is still a pandemic. I had some chest pains (which, fortunately, turned out to be anxiety – see the part about not sleeping). Betty White DIED.
Continue Reading New Year, New You? Lessons for the Beleaguered Legal Professional

We’ve got just over two weeks left in the year, and I bet you’re expecting me to write something about how you can fit in a bit more business development, call one more potential client, set up one more zoom meeting this week or write another article before the year is done.

But I’m not going to do that.

The last couple of years have been exceptionally hard.
Continue Reading How to Thrive this December

Mythily Katsaris is a partner with Fladgate LLP, a firm focused on partnerships with its clients and a member of the International Lawyers Network. In this episode, Lindsay and Mythily discuss the disproportionate effect of the pandemic on women, particularly women of color, burnout, the changing legal profession, client empathy, and the impact of the pandemic on leadership and leadership opportunities.

You can listen to the podcast here, or we’ve provided a transcript of the highlights below.

Continue Reading Law Firm ILN-telligence Podcast | Mythily Katsaris, Fladgate LLP

It’s SPOoOooOooKY Halloween this weekend (can anyone tell me which podcast that’s from?) and so I’m bringing you a post on the five most frightful business development mistakes lawyers make (and how to avoid them!).

I love Halloween, so bear with me on this.
Continue Reading Five Frightful Business Development Mistakes Lawyers Make

The obvious answer to the title question is of course, yes.

Last night, I had the opportunity to join William McLaughlin, the Business Development Manager for Southeast Asia at ZICO Law on a webinar for NEXL, a business development platform. We had a robust discussion around this topic which I’ll share when the recording is available (updating to share the recording here, but in the meantime, let’s delve into some of the questions that I’d considered in advance and where lawyers and law firms are today when it comes to business development.
Continue Reading Can Using Business Development Effectively Give you a Competitive Edge?