#106: 10 Things BigLaw Attorneys and Business Professionals Should Do in January (But Usually Don’t)
Release Date: 01/07/2026
#109: When You Were Assured of BigLaw Partnership This Year But It Didn’t Happen
Big Law Life
Being told you ready for partnership creates expectations that are hard to unlearn. In this episode, I walk through what it really means when you are encouraged, guided, and perhaps even implicitly promised by firm leadership, only to be told at the end of the cycle that you did not make partner. This is not just a professional disappointment. It often feels like a betrayal of an assumed agreement, especially when you followed the roadmap you were given and told if you followed that this was your year. I explain why this situation is far more common in BigLaw than firms admit, including how...
info_outline
#108: Inside Goodwin’s Client Immersion Program for Junior Associates with Lynda Galligan and Josh Klatzkin
Big Law Life
Junior associates in BigLaw often ask for more client exposure early in their careers, but what they really need most is a clearer understanding of how clients actually operate and make decisions. In this episode, I speak with Lynda Galligan and Josh Klatzkin, both members of Goodwin’s management and executive committees, and co-chairs of the firm’s Business Law Department, about why the firm's early client immersion program for junior associates addresses this key development and training issue. Lynda and Josh explain how traditional BigLaw training can delay meaningful client exposure,...
info_outline
#107: Do You Have to Be a Big Rainmaker to Succeed in BigLaw?
Big Law Life
hear this question constantly: do you actually have to be a rainmaker to succeed in BigLaw? The short answer is no, but the longer, more important answer is that success depends on whether your firm truly rewards lawyers who help win, grow, and retain clients without personally originating them. In this episode, I break down what that looks like in practice. I explain why firms that rely on a handful of star originators are more vulnerable over time, and also why many firms say they value collaboration and the contrbutions of many to major firm clients but quietly reward something...
info_outline
#106: 10 Things BigLaw Attorneys and Business Professionals Should Do in January (But Usually Don’t)
Big Law Life
As the calendar turns, I see the same pattern repeat inside large law firms. We talk about fresh starts, priorities, and strategy, but most people carry the exact same work habits, assumptions, and risks into the new year. And yet the beginning of the calendar year when you can slow the system down just enough to make some key but deliberate decisions before urgency takes over. This episode is not a motivational reset or a list of aspirational goals, but rather some practical actions that can give BigLaw lawyers and business professionals more control over how the year unfolds. I walk through...
info_outline
#105: Cringe-Free BigLaw Goals for Associates in the New Year
Big Law Life
As the year closes, I'm focusing in this episode on BigLaw goals for associates without resorting to platitudes, firm retreat slogans, or vague resolutions that quietly collapse by February. After years as an equity partner in BigLaw, I’ve seen that the associates who actually move forward are not the ones making dramatic promises to work less, do everything better, or reinvent themselves overnight. Instead, the associates who most often make progress are the ones who focus on taking smaller, actionable steps in specific, visible ways that compound inside a system that is in many ways beyond...
info_outline
#104: BigLaw Partnership Timing: What Actually Controls When You Make Partner
Big Law Life
If you are a senior associate staring at year seven, eight, or nine and trying to decode whether you are “behind,” I want you to hear this clearly: your timeline is not controlled by your work ethic or your reviews. In this episode, I break down why partnership timing is driven by structural economics inside your firm, not individual merit. We walk through the forces that actually move or stop the process, including practice group capacity, leverage ratios, PEP pressure, capital constraints, succession bottlenecks, client portability, and internal power dynamics. I also give...
info_outline
#103: The Mid-Career BigLaw Partner Crossroad - Should You Stay or Make a Lateral Move?
Big Law Life
Mid-career partners can begin quietly wondering whether they should stay where they are or explore a move. This isn’t driven by crisis or failure. It’s driven by subtle shifts, such as declining energy for a platform that once fit well, strategy drift inside the firm, client relationships that feel different, or internal politics that have grown wearisome. Yet most partners stall making a decision because they don’t want to make the wrong call and the ambiguity keeps them stuck. In today’s episode, I walk through the five stages I see that partners typically move through when...
info_outline
#102: The Most Dangerous Time in BigLaw - What Mid-Senior Associates Should Be Thinking About
Big Law Life
After years as a partner inside global law firms, I’ve seen one stage of a BigLaw career quietly determine everything that comes after it. It isn’t the first year, when everyone expects some struggle and a lot of learning. And it isn’t partnership, when you've reached that tier and are now working to build your book of business and establish your role in that space. The most dangerous stage is the mid to senior associate years. Years four through seven are where many lawyers stall without realizing it. They’re billing hard, getting strong reviews, and hearing they’re “doing...
info_outline
#101: The Seven Billable Hour Pitfalls That Hold BigLaw Associates Back
Big Law Life
After years as a partner in global firms, I’ve watched countless associates struggle with the billable hour for reasons that have nothing to do with their talent or work ethic. What often derails them are avoidable habits: reconstructing time at the end of the month, underbilling to appear efficient, overlawyering simple assignments, taking on too much work at once, relying on one partner for all their hours, failing to bill fully legitimate work, and assuming non-billable hours will meaningfully count toward their annual target. In this episode, I walk through the seven most common pitfalls...
info_outline
#100: What 100 Episodes Reveal About BigLaw: Career Realities, Recurring Challenges, and Industry Shifts
Big Law Life
After over two decades in BigLaw, I’ve seen just how rare it is to find candid, practical conversations about what life in a large firm is really like. That’s why reaching the 100-episode milestone of Big Law Life feels so significant. In this special episode, I step out from behind my usual role behind the microphone and reflect on the real stories, hidden challenges, and universal themes that have surfaced over the past hundred conversations. I share why I started this podcast, what continues to surprise me, which episodes unexpectedly struck a chord with lawyers across firms, and...
info_outlineAs the calendar turns, I see the same pattern repeat inside large law firms. We talk about fresh starts, priorities, and strategy, but most people carry the exact same work habits, assumptions, and risks into the new year. And yet the beginning of the calendar year when you can slow the system down just enough to make some key but deliberate decisions before urgency takes over. This episode is not a motivational reset or a list of aspirational goals, but rather some practical actions that can give BigLaw lawyers and business professionals more control over how the year unfolds.
I walk through specific decisions that experienced professionals tend to avoid because they require uncomfortable honesty, including: auditing where your time actually went, naming which relationships really matter and which pose risk, deciding what work you are no longer willing to do, and defining what success looks like this year instead of defaulting to growth at all costs. I also talk candidly about replaceability, utilization ceilings, lateral vulnerability, and why clarity around evaluation and compensation mechanics must happen earlier than most people think. If you choose only two or three of these actions and do them well, you can reduce surprises and actively shape the year ahead rather than simply reacting to it.
At a Glance
1:20 With a new year, why most BigLaw professionals don’t actually change how they operate
02:12 Audit where your time and effort were actually spent last year
03:53 Name your five most important relationships and identify the riskiest one
05:16 Decide what work you are no longer willing to do this year
06:43 Set a personal utilization floor and a sustainable ceiling
08:24 Do an honest assessment of how replaceable you really are internally
10:09 Look at lateral movement and lateral vulnerability around you
11:01 Get clear on when evaluation, compensation, credit, and bonus decisions will be made (and how)
12:34 Define what success means for you this year
13:23 Choose one or two relationships to deepen deliberately
14:47 Let go of a skill you keep forcing that isn’t compounding for you
16:14 Why choosing just two or three of these actions can change how the year unfolds
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts & Spotify
Do you enjoy listening to Big Law Life? Please consider rating and reviewing the show! This helps support and reach more people like you who want to grow a career in Big Law.
For Apple Podcasts, click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast here!
For Spotify, tap here on your mobile phone, follow the podcast, listen to the show, then find the rating icon below the description, and tap to rate with five stars.
Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?
Here are ways to reach out to her:
laura@lauraterrell.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauralterrell/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/
Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast