|
Our ongoing commitment to associate training and development includes the following:
Mentoring
From the moment a new attorney or summer associate arrives at Godfrey & Kahn, we support their professional and personal development through informal one-on-one mentoring. Strong and continued mentoring relationships have always been at the foundation of our attorneys’ development. When new associates arrive at Godfrey & Kahn, they are assigned one mentor who is a member of their team and is responsible for assisting them with their development and providing them with great opportunities for professional growth. Associates are also assigned "off-team" mentors, allowing them to confide in an attorney who is a member of a different practice group and who may be able to address their concerns more discreetly and effectively.
Formal Training Programs
Although Godfrey & Kahn’s career development efforts always will be based primarily on the informal, day-to-day mentoring that experienced attorneys provide to our other attorneys, we also provide more formal mentoring programs to help new associates and summer associates integrate with the firm and the business community. For example, a comprehensive associate-training program focuses on career development issues, including business development and client relations skills. The firm also has monthly firm-wide meetings in which various complex legal issues are discussed and explained for the benefit of all of our attorneys, including our newest associates. Other examples of Godfrey & Kahn’s professional development programs are listed below:
- Orientation
Orientation involves basic training that is designed to help you function immediately at the firm. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, general expectations; the review process; compensation; billing; professional responsibility; community involvement; pro bono work; and Continuing Legal Education (CLE). It also includes introductions to your colleagues at the firm.
- Mentoring Program
All new associates are paired with off-team mentors who are responsible for ensuring that their questions about the firm are answered in a timely manner and any concerns are resolved satisfactorily. To accomplish this, regular contact is encouraged. You will receive an off-team mentor so that in the event your concerns relate to your own team, you may confide in an attorney who is a member of a different practice group.
- New Associate Retreat (5-6 months from hire date)
Now that you’re settled, this additional training will build off the initial training you received at orientation. Retreat topics include ethics, community involvement (more in-depth exploration), expectations of general counsel, "Lawyering 101," and marketing and relationship building for new associates.
- Sales Training Program
The underlying focus of G&K's Sales Training Program, which is targeted to senior associates and junior shareholders, is on developing and leveraging internal relationships to build the firm and its practices as a team. The training program includes an accountability component (business development objectives and goals, and assignments) and incorporates tools, exercises and coaching sessions to help the attorneys strategize. The program, which is kept to a maximum of 12 attorneys to ensure individual attention as well as meaningful discussion and exchange, includes three half-day group workshops (one each month), followed by an attorney networking dinner to foster camaraderie. In addition, one-on-one or small-group coaching sessions are available.
- Marketing Training for 2nd Through 5th Year Associates
As attorneys move from new associates to shareholders, their role in the marketing of the firm and its services changes. Our business is relationship driven, so it is important to develop networks both inside and outside the firm. This three-session program, with practical exercises, assists our attorneys in identifying personal strengths, contributing positively to the firm’s business development efforts, improving client retention, and increasing the firm’s visibility. By incorporating the expertise of senior G&K attorneys—and bringing together associates from all offices—we encourage meaningful conversation and exchange, build camaraderie, and develop cross-disciplinary relationships.
- Formal and Informal Educational Opportunities
Our attorneys have access to, and are encouraged to participate in, regular practice group meetings and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs. The State Bar of Wisconsin requires attorneys to complete 30 hours of CLE during every two-year period. In order to extend the benefit to the entire firm, attendees may be asked to make presentations or supply written summaries of the information to other attorneys.
Leadership
You will be encouraged to participate in all aspects of Godfrey & Kahn’s success, including firm administration. Through various committees—like Recruiting, Marketing, Legal Education, Ethics and Conflicts, Social, Community Involvement and Technology—you will have the opportunity to provide input on firm decision making.
Community Involvement
We encourage our attorneys to become involved in pro bono legal and community activities, and they are very important to our Firm. Such volunteer work will be invaluable to your professional and personal growth. The firm provides staff, financial and other support for these efforts.
Opportunities include:
- Civil and criminal court appointments,
- Service as mediator in alternative dispute resolution,
- Bar activities, and
- Board of directors appointments for charitable and other non-profit organizations.
Feedback/Reviews
The review process is managed by the Associates Committee, not the attorney’s team. We believe this provides an additional layer of independence, clarity and objectivity in the review process.
Technology
Godfrey & Kahn believes that our extensive use of technology provides substantial benefits to our attorneys and our clients. Our powerful software suite allows our attorneys to be productive from the office or from home and provides them with greater flexibility in their personal lives. We are constantly updating our technology to make our attorneys more efficient and their practices more flexible.
Library Resources
You will find all the reference materials that you need in our library, which contains a 20,000-volume collection, is staffed by professional law librarians, and provides computers with on-line and CD/ROM access. Our helpful library staff is well trained to assist our employees with their research requests.
|
|
