One Year

A year ago, I found out I made partner. I immediately felt a wave of relief (and excitement and pride). All of those feelings have stuck with me this year.

In many ways, making and becoming a partner has not changed my day-to-day work. I still litigate on teams and support partners I worked with before joining their ranks.

In some ways, it has been transformative, though. Including:

⚖️ delegating, delegating, delegating. This has created time and space for me to dive head first into new matters and business development. It has also strengthened my relationships with associates--attorneys I know I can turn to when I start to bring in my own work or get asked to lead litigation teams.

⚖️ making decisions. People come to me directly for my opinion and insights. I'm empowered to lead and create recommendations and work product without higher review (at times, when appropriate). This feels so, so good.

⚖️ business development. This is a marathon. I'm in the training period. I've hired a coach, networked my tail off, launched a podcast, and so much more. About once a week, I get really, really excited about the possibilities. Small bites are happening. So, I know, it is only a matter of time before the big ones come my way.

As I head into Q4--of my first full year of partnership--I continue to rest in that feeling of relief (and pride and excitement). I've given myself permission this year to learn, to recover from the last few years of being a senior associate (the most hectic years of my career to date), and to take off some of the pressure I've always felt to perform.

As a result, I've been able to keep in check (mostly) the moments of anxiety and panic and enjoy the ride. I am so grateful.

❤️✌️🔥