BigLaw doesn't just run on policies and handbooks. It runs on unwritten rules that quietly shape staffing, advancement, workload, and opportunity.

In this episode of Big Law Life, I break down three of the most powerful unwritten systems inside large law firms that every associate and partner needs to understand to navigate their career strategically. We explore why staffing is one of the main currencies firms use to allocate value, how becoming the "reliable solution" lawyer can actually stall advancement, and why institutional memory in BigLaw fades faster than most lawyers expect.

I also explain the critical gap between written firm policies and real firm culture, including how flexible work, remote arrangements, and leave policies are technically allowed but often carry unspoken career consequences depending on who uses them and when.

If you want to understand how BigLaw actually operates beneath the surface and how to position yourself for growth, visibility, and long-term success, this episode gives you a clear framework for reading the system and responding strategically.

At a Glance
01:20 Why BigLaw runs on unwritten rules, not just formal policies
01:46 Staffing as currency and how lawyers are quietly "traded"
02:11 Why being constantly busy can actually stall advancement
03:06 How becoming the reliable solution associate turns into a trap
04:02 Why firms reuse high performers instead of protecting them
04:49 The real difference between being needed and being valued
05:15 Why constant work without development signals optimization, not growth
05:41 How institutional memory fades faster than lawyers expect
06:11 Why BigLaw operates on recency, not career-long performance
07:26 How visibility determines staffing, reviews, and promotion narratives
08:40 Why your firm's story about you is only a snapshot unless you shape it
09:32 How to refresh your value through outcomes, not effort
10:29 Why written policies matter less than lived culture
11:22 How flexibility and remote work quietly carry career consequences
12:29 What culture actually rewards versus what policies technically allow
13:26 How perceptions form and quietly limit opportunities
14:48 Why smart lawyers study who uses policies safely, not what's permitted
15:34 What BigLaw's unwritten rules are really incentivizing

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

If you work in BigLaw, you already expect weekends to be part of the job. But you find that not all weekend work is created equal. In this episode, I walk through the difference between healthy, role-appropriate weekend demands and the kind of constant disruption that signals deeper management and culture problems inside a firm. I explain the three traits that define normal weekend work: a real reason tied to client reality, a clearly scoped task, and a true endpoint. We then unpack what dysfunctional weekend work looks like in practice, including poor planning disguised as urgency, perpetual low-grade emergencies, and being kept mentally on call even when no real deadline exists.

I break down how these patterns show up differently in transactional versus litigation practices and why weekend culture is one of the strongest predictors of burnout and reactive exits. Finally, I share concrete strategies for setting boundaries that actually work in BigLaw by shaping timelines, preempting chaos earlier in the week, and using seniority to delegate rather than absorb endless work.

At a Glance
01:20 Why the real issue isn't working weekends but how and how often
02:09 The three traits that define normal weekend work in BigLaw
02:41 Why real deadlines feel different from anxiety-driven urgency
03:10 How scoped tasks and clear endpoints protect your time and sanity
04:03 How poor planning gets passed down as "emergencies"
05:16 What perpetual urgency without deadlines actually signals
05:46 When firms stop buying labor and start renting your nervous system
06:13 Why constant weekend work becomes a structural problem
06:38 How weekend chaos at senior levels signals stagnation, not growth
07:11 How transactional and litigation practices show dysfunction differently
08:25 Why weekend culture predicts burnout and rushed exits
09:35 The clear difference between purposeful intensity and endless chaos
10:24 Why the goal isn't fewer weekends but fewer bad weekends
10:51 How structured availability reshapes expectations without backlash
11:21 How anticipatory communication prevents most weekend emergencies
12:22 Why reliability during real crises earns boundary credibility
12:53 How delegation becomes the senior lawyer's real boundary tool
13:17 How to read firm reactions to boundaries as cultural data

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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.

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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www.lauraterrell.com

laura@lauraterrell.com

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/

Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

By the time you reach mid-level or senior associate status, the Cravath Scale often stops feeling like a promise and more like a moving target. In this episode, I break down what the scale actually governs, what it never covered, and how discretion quietly replaces transparency as you become more experienced. I explain why base salary uniformity masks wide variation in bonuses, timing, and opportunity, and how firms use the language of "market" and "culture" to justify outcomes that feel inconsistent year to year and group to group. We walk through concrete bonus scenarios, how hour thresholds quietly drift upward, and why performance reviews are comparative rather than absolute.

I also unpack the role of discretionary and special bonuses, including when they signal genuine investment versus when they function as golden handcuffs. Finally, I explain why salary compression at the senior level is structural, not accidental, and how to assess whether staying on scale still makes sense given your responsibilities, leverage, and future prospects.

At a Glance
01:20 Why the Cravath Scale feels predictable early and flexible later
02:37 What the scale actually standardizes and what it never promised
03:35 How discretion replaces transparency for mid- and senior-level associates
04:02 Why bonuses are the first place cracks appear
04:32 How billable hour thresholds quietly move beyond the stated minimum
05:43 Why performance ratings are comparative, not absolute
06:31 How practice group and firm overlays affect identical profiles differently
07:53 How firms "shade around" the scale without openly breaking from it
09:41 When bonuses become forward-looking signals, not rewards
10:42 How to tell reward bonuses from golden handcuffs
12:22 Why senior-level salary compression is structural
13:22 Why waiting without clarity is no longer neutral
14:16 How comp reveals if the firm sees a future partner or a long-term senior associate
14:47 How to assess your effective compensation and leverage over time
15:47 The real question long-tenured associates need to ask themselves

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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.

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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www.lauraterrell.com

laura@lauraterrell.com

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/

Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

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 headcount, internal politics, profitability pressures, and decision-making power can quietly override performance. I unpack why encouragement is not the same as influence, why firms often avoid hard truths during partnership conversations, and how vague feedback keeps lawyers stuck in uncertainty. I also outline how to approach post-decision conversations strategically, what questions actually surface usable information, and how to distinguish between fixable gaps, moving goalposts, and structural ceilings in determining whether you actually make partnership at your firm.

At a Glance
01:20 What it means to be "in consideration" for partnership
02:08 Why doing exactly what you were told would mean partnership can still mean "no"
03:01 Why missing partnership feels like a broken narrative, not just rejection
04:23 How reliance on firm guidance costs lawyers optionality and time
05:29 Why encouragement is not the same as decision-making power
06:18 How firms avoid hard truths through vague feedback
07:21 How to prepare for partnership conversations without burning bridges
07:48 Why post-decision meetings are about information, not catharsis
08:16 The exact process questions that surface real explanations
09:09 How to determine whether issues are fixable or structural
10:21 What a fixable partnership gap actually looks like in practice
11:25 How to recognize when the goalposts are always moving
12:20 What it means to hit a structural ceiling in the firm that may block partnership
14:26 Why quietly exploring external options is rational, not disloyal
16:11 How to reframe not making partner as information, not failure

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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.

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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www.lauraterrell.com

laura@lauraterrell.com

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Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

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, why business undersanding is assumed rather than a differentiator, and how understanding of a client's business needs and concerns must be learned. We also discuss how Goodwin's structured training program makes early immersion viable, what clients gain from working with junior lawyers, and how early exposure reshapes the way associates approach client relationships throughout their careers.

At a Glance
01:20 Why junior associates ask for more hands-on client experience
02:17 Why traditional BigLaw training can delay better understanding of what juniors need to know about working with clients
02:52 How Goodwin's client immersion program differs from the usual secondments
03:24 Why empathy is a core legal skill that law school cannot teach
06:30 The role of intensive first-year training in preparing juniors for client work
07:31 Why doing excellent legal work is the baseline, not a competitive advantage
08:08 What associates learn by seeing clients as people with careers and pressures
09:52 Why consistent early training matters more than ad hoc learning
11:02 How immersion opportunities are identified and matched
13:35 The criteria clients must meet to participate in the program
15:39 Why clients repeatedly request junior associates after trying the program
16:26 What happens when immersion leads to in-house offers
18:16 How immersion strengthens firm-client relationships in unexpected ways
21:52 Addressing associate concerns about missing firm relationship-building
24:42 How partners evaluate the value of early client immersion
26:27 Why firms may need to rethink associate training more broadly
29:06 How early client exposure builds confidence long before partnership is in view

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Reach Lynda Galligan:

https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/people/g/galligan-lynda
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-galligan-41ab058/

Reach Josh Klatzkin:

https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/people/k/klatzkin-joshua
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-klatzkin-a186022/

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:

www.lauraterrell.com

laura@lauraterrell.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauralterrell/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/

Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

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 very different. I walk through how non-originating lawyers can become force multipliers by expanding existing clients, owning client problems instead of just matters, and positioning themselves as essential to client growth rather than execution alone. I also explain how to diagnose whether your firm will actually promote and reward this type of lawyer by looking at promotion histories, credit allocation practices, compensation structures, and who really holds power inside the firm. This episode is about clarity: understanding what success looks like at your firm before you invest years playing the wrong game.

At a Glance
01:20 Why rainmaking dominates BigLaw conversations and why firms still need more than originators
02:39 Why firms dependent on a few rainmakers become vulnerable over time
03:17 How non-rainmakers succeed by acting as force multipliers inside client relationships
03:43 Growing existing clients instead of chasing cold starts
04:22 Becoming the lawyer rainmakers cannot afford to exclude
05:07 Owning client problems, not just discrete matters
06:12 Building internal political capital through client expansion
06:40 Why "supporting" a client is the wrong way to describe your role
07:25 How to articulate leadership and revenue impact without origination credit
07:52 How to assess whether your firm really values non-originating partners
08:16 What to look for in recent partner promotions
09:20 Credit allocation, shared origination, and what collaboration actually looks like
10:42 Warning signs that your firm has a structural ceiling for non-originators
12:26 The non-equity partner tier and what it really means at your firm
13:12 Who holds real power over comp, promotion, and clients
14:07 The core diagnostic question every lawyer should ask about partnership success

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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.

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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www.lauraterrell.com

laura@lauraterrell.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauralterrell/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/

Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

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 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

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/

Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast

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 their control.

In this episode, I walk through what that looks like in practice. We talk about why goals built around staffing, hours, or personality change usually fail, and what BigLaw actually rewards instead: reducing friction for partners, exercising judgment, managing up, and being predictable and reliable in ways that matter. I explain concrete behaviors partners notice when evaluating and promoting associates, including how you frame decisions, communicate risk and timing, and signal judgment without overstepping. This is about learning how to operate more effectively inside BigLaw as it exists, not as we wish it did.

At a Glance
00:00 Why BigLaw goal-setting can feel hollow and frustrating - even cringey
01:19 Why extreme "everything must change" thinking misses what actually moves careers
02:40 Why goals tied to things you don't control quietly set you up to fail
03:40 The compounding advantage of getting slightly better in visible ways
04:08 Reducing friction: how partners actually experience working with you
04:29 Anticipation and judgment versus stopping exactly at the four corners of the assignment
05:57 Managing up by framing decisions instead of asking open-ended questions
06:44 Predictability, early flags, and why silence is riskier than bad news
08:00 How BigLaw gives you positive feedback without ever saying "good job"
09:17 Why choosing one key incremental improvement beats trying to fix everything
10:06 The practical bottom line for building momentum year over year

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!

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Interested in doing 1-2-1 coaching with Laura Terrell? Or learning more about her work coaching and consulting?

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www.lauraterrell.com

laura@lauraterrell.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauralterrell/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraterrellcoaching/

Show notes: https://www.lauraterrell.com/podcast