WHEN SHOULD I GET COACHING IF I WORK AT A LAW FIRM?

There is a word in English: breakthrough.

It refers to a sudden, significant, and radical change or discovery. It can also mean breaking through a barrier or crossing a difficult threshold. In the context of this article, I wanted to explore, in general terms, the situations and purposes for which lawyers working at law firms may seek coaching support. In my next article, I will go into greater detail.

The processes that guide us in these moments are closely connected to the idea of a breakthrough. According to our source material, law firms allocate a large portion of their coaching budgets to the following three areas:

1. Transition Coaching

Any significant change in a lawyer’s role can create major technical and adaptive challenges. Being highly competent and successful in a previous position does not automatically mean someone will easily meet the expectations of a new one.

Adapting to a new role is not simply about changing routine habits. It requires developing new perspectives, new ways of thinking, and in many cases changing mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally while continuing to act with integrity.

Transition coaching is primarily used during the following stages:

1.1 Transition to Partnership

1.1.1 Preparation Before Becoming a Partner

This stage usually takes place within the year leading up to partnership. The goal is to prepare the individual for the transition. Areas examined may include their willingness and ability to delegate work, supervise junior lawyers, and manage broader responsibilities. Coaching at this stage aims to identify and strengthen potential weaknesses before they become larger issues after promotion.

1.1.2 The Early Period After Becoming a Partner

This stage is sometimes referred to as “the first 100 days” of coaching. The purpose is to reinforce both the technical and adaptive responsibilities of the transition while supporting the lawyer in one of the most critical aspects of partnership: realistic business development goals.

This process often includes learning how to navigate partnership politics, developing new habits for managing competing demands such as administrative responsibilities and client work under constant time pressure, reducing purely technical legal tasks, and building effective teams.

1.2 Transition Into Leadership Roles

This applies when a lawyer moves into a leadership position such as heading a team or department, or taking on an executive role like COO. In these cases, the individual may become accountable for financial performance, business development outcomes, or leading other partners within their field.

Coaching at this stage focuses on developing these leadership capabilities while also addressing challenges such as resistance or jealousy from peers who wish to maintain their autonomy.

1.3 Transitioning From Another Law Firm Into a Senior Role

Even when moving between firms operating in the same field, adapting to a new environment can be extremely challenging. Building new relationships, establishing credibility, understanding the culture and politics of the new firm, and managing expectations around bringing in clients can create serious issues related to confidence and competence.

Many externally hired partners are immediately given offices and teams while simultaneously being expected to generate profitable work and clients from day one.

Ironically, although coaching and mentorship may be what these lawyers need most during this period, many avoid requesting such support internally because they fear it may appear as weakness. Instead, they often choose to seek coaching independently.

1.4 Coaching During Parental Leave

This is a practice commonly seen in international law firms but one that, to my knowledge, has not yet been widely considered in Turkey. If any law firms currently implement such practices, I would genuinely appreciate hearing about their experiences.

In international practice, individuals preparing for parental leave often work with a coach for two sessions before leave to address responsibilities and planning, followed by an additional two to four sessions after returning to work. The purpose is to provide both emotional and practical support during a period where parents are balancing increasingly competing demands on their time and energy.

Choosing a Coach for Transition Coaching

In international practice, transition coaching is generally provided by external coaches. This is often because firms either lack individuals qualified to provide this type of support internally or simply do not have the time and resources.

Feedback from lawyers receiving coaching also strongly supports this approach. Many say they feel more comfortable discussing their challenges with an external coach whose only agenda is helping them succeed.

Some professionals choose a hybrid model, working with an external coach for six to ten sessions while also being mentored internally by a lawyer who has gone through similar transitions.

International coaching literature also recognizes the significant benefits of working with a coach who can move fluidly between coaching, mentoring, and educational support when needed.

2. Leadership Coaching

Leadership development is not something that can be completed through a few coaching sessions, a mentorship relationship, or a single training program. It must be approached as an ongoing and sustainable process.

Leadership coaching focuses on shaping and strengthening how leaders communicate with the outside world every day and how they demonstrate leadership competencies in practice.

The goal is to equip lawyers with practical skills and capabilities they can apply consistently in their daily and weekly routines, eventually making these skills part of who they are.

This support becomes especially valuable during periods of crisis or uncertainty, or when lawyers are entering new practice areas or markets. Regardless of seniority, working with a coach during these periods can help professionals:

• View situations from new perspectives

• Confront questions they may avoid asking themselves

• Use the coach as both a mirror and a sounding board

• Accelerate and deepen their thinking processes

Particularly for senior and partner-level lawyers, one-on-one coaching in these sensitive areas can produce highly effective and rapid results.

3. Remedial Coaching

The purpose of remedial coaching is to support lawyers, particularly those in senior or partner positions, whose behaviors negatively affect either their own performance or the morale and performance of colleagues.

Examples of such behaviors may include:

• Abuse of authority

• Refusal to delegate work

• Excessive controlling tendencies

• Constantly destructive criticism

• Extreme perfectionism

• Workaholic patterns that create stress and harm others

In many cases, these individuals are also highly profitable and successful lawyers for the firm, which can lead organizations to overlook these behaviors for extended periods.

However, once these patterns begin causing significant material or emotional harm to the organization, ignoring them is no longer acceptable for the health and reputation of the firm.

The primary goal for the coach working with such individuals is first to help them become aware of the issue, accept responsibility, and find meaningful reasons to commit to change.

That said, even internationally, success rates in these cases are estimated to be around fifty percent, and it has been observed that under the intense stress of law firm environments, individuals may return to similar behaviors over time.

4. Other Emerging Coaching Needs

Over the past decade, changing global conditions, economic instability, and health-related challenges have increasingly affected people’s mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing, especially those working in corporate environments.

When people experience feelings such as unhappiness or hopelessness, they often begin questioning their own abilities and value. This gradually weakens both self efficacy and self confidence, which naturally impacts performance.

As a result, concepts such as resilience, wellbeing, and employee happiness have become increasingly important within organizations.

In the United States, coaching focused on resilience and wellbeing has become very common. Some companies now even have departments led by professionals with titles such as Chief Happiness Officer or Employee Experience Officer.

Their role is to create systems and practices that support employees from recruitment through every stage of their professional journey, helping them live and work as healthier and happier individuals.

What do you think?

Could these kinds of practices perhaps be among the most essential needs of law firms, where people work under extremely high levels of stress?

It is possible for lawyers who value both their profession and the quality of their lives to create a more sustainable and fulfilling world for themselves.

But first, it begins with intention and the willingness to start somewhere.

Attorney Pınar Aydemir Başaran