Ellen Ostrow

Several women working in a variety of practice areas within the same firm received support from their firm to hire Ellen to coach them to succeed in their business development efforts. They faced a range of obstacles. One was overloaded with non-billable work from the partner with whom she'd worked for years. Another worked for a partner who only introduced his clients to the younger male lawyers in his group. Economic factors had all but devastated the practice of one group member. All participants were mothers of young children and most worked reduced hours. They had no interest in client dinners or other business development activities that would keep them away from home.

Marie* had spent years languishing at the firm where she'd begun her career. In spite of the fact that her firm had been named a "Best Law Firm for Women," she could not advance to partnership. As Of Counsel, she functioned like a partner: she brought in a significant amount of business, mentored associates, and managed multiple client relationships. However, she was always denied origination credit for the business she developed by senior male partners with long-standing, though inactive, relationships with institutional clients. As a result, Marie's career was stalled and she earned a fraction of what the firm's equity partners were able to pocket.

Marie asked me to coach her after a recruiter contacted her to indicate that a few firms were interested in bringing in senior lawyers in her specialty. The idea of making a change was intimidating.

Jennifer* had persuaded the partners in a small firm to allow her to return from her second maternity leave on a reduced-hours schedule. She was overwhelmed by the daunting task of raising two young children and managing her practice as a matrimonial lawyer. Although partnership in the firm had always been her goal, the partners had told her that this would not be an option unless she worked 100% time.

Jennifer hoped that coaching would help her manage the many demands in her life more effectively. We began by coaching her to develop systems at work that would increase her efficiency. She was charged with managing the office so her initial goal was to create manuals which could be used for training office staff. Having these available enabled her to efficiently train personnel and freed up time she'd been spending providing lengthy answers to questions and dropping everything each time a new staff person came on board in order to bring her/him up to speed.

Karen* called me when she was almost at her wits end trying to negotiate the gender barriers at her firm. She'd struggled to get career-advancing work assignments only to be labeled as too aggressive. As a senior litigation associate, she'd logged in 100s of hours beyond her firms billable requirements but her questions about her prospects for advancement were consistently avoided by the partners with whom she worked. She'd tried to address blatantly gender-biased comments in as calm, mindful and respectful a way as she could only to be told she was overly sensitive.

Recommendations and testimonials are available on Ellen's LinkedIn page here.