Can I be happy and a lawyer?

It’s no secret that many smart lawyers are also very unhappy.

Why does a thriving professional career as a lawyer so often seem to be set up as mutually exclusive with little things like… time with your family and friends, a good night’s sleep, feeling calm, enjoying your day, feeling confident and on top of things, doing work you enjoy, being able to speak up at work, progressing up the career chain without needing to give up the rest of your life…

If all it took was brains to solve that problem, you’d have done it long ago. So what now?

In Thriving as a Lawyer you will explore the patterns, habits and subconscious beliefs that may be holding you back from setting up your work and life so you can thrive in both. 

Common unhelpful patterns include

·      Perfectionism

·      People pleasing

·      Conflict avoidance, or frequent conflict

·      Difficulty making decisions

·      Overwork and burnout

·      Micromanaging and difficulty delegating

·      Clashing demands in different areas of life

·      Reluctance around business development

The key to this process is that we do not seek to eliminate these patterns.

Rather, we begin from the assumption that these behaviours are driven on some level by an intention to serve you in some way. Trying to eliminate them without surfacing and handling this intention only creates dysfunction. In Thriving as a Lawyer we keep what is useful from these parts, allowing them to be integrated into more functional ways of operating.

The result? You feel more calm and clear, you’re not re-reading emails ten times after you’ve sent them in case they have a typo, you have a matter list full of interesting work you enjoy, you have control over your time, and you don’t spend your evenings and weekends stressed out about work.

Madeleine was excellent. Loved this session. Great balance of theory and practical tips and thank you for acknowledging how difficult it can be at times for in-house counsel
— Workshop participant, 2023

Request an application now


There’s no doubt that there are structural and systemic challenges in legal practice that are bigger than any one person.

As a former lawyer myself, I have also noticed that there is a paradox at play in that many lawyers are just so exhausted from trying to meet what can feel like constantly changing, unreachable or invisible standards that they end up being less able to make the creative and adaptive changes they need in order to thrive.

Eliminating the exhaustion means you can change the game.

In the legal context, people tend to

  • Succeed more at work, and 

  • Do what they need to do to thrive personally,

when they care just a little bit less about what people think… and they can stop ticking other people’s boxes and start calling the shots on their own terms.

But taking that leap from A to B can feel impossible, leaving people stuck. 

Thriving as a Lawyer is an exclusive, private client program tailored to your needs. You will reconnect with your confidence and agency in a practical way, so that you can more effortlessly make the calls you need in your work and life in order to thrive in both.


100% of participants have said their relationship to work improved as a result of their participation in Thriving as a Lawyer.



 

Is Thriving as a Lawyer suitable for me?

Thriving as a Lawyer is for lawyers from all kinds of practices (private practice, government and in-house) and of all levels of experience. I work extensively with lawyers ranging from new graduates to senior partners approaching retirement.

If you:

  • feel like the way you are living your life is at odds with what you really want for yourself, and want to change that

  • are working harder and harder at succeeding as a lawyer but becoming less and less satisfied, when you’d rather feel happy and fulfilled across all the domains of your life

  • are wondering whether it’s even possible to be happy as a human AND successful as a lawyer (it is)

then Thriving as a Lawyer could be the program for you.

How can I access Thriving as a Lawyer?

Thriving as a Lawyer is offered as:

  • Individual program

  • Group program

  • 1-Day masterclass with follow up sessions

Sessions are delivered online or, for group or masterclasses, in-person by arrangement.

Because I work with you on a 1:1 basis, places in the individual program are strictly limited. I take care to ensure that this is the right program for you before offering you a place. Request an application for the individual program now or contact me for information about group programs and masterclasses.

 

Request an application

Thriving as a Lawyer is an exclusive, confidential program in which you will work with me personally. This is for you if you feel like the way you are working is blocking your ability to thrive in life, and you want to do something about it.

Not everyone is ready to go there, and that’s fine.

If you join me, you want it to work. I want to work with people who are going to get the most value from our time together. That means it’s in our mutual interest to be sure it’s a fit.

Request an application to join the program. If it looks like you’re in the right zone to do this work, we’ll contact you to set up a short meeting to explain the program in as much detail as you need and answer any questions you might have. From there, if you’re keen (and satisfied I don’t have two heads!) you’ll have the option to sign up and we can get started.

Madeleine being a lawyer made a huge difference. She really understood my world and how I could - and couldn’t - change it. It meant I could explore possibilities in ways that were actually practical and achievable.
— Rebecca - Corporate Counsel

Groups/Masterclasses:
Enquire now

Interested in setting up a group program or masterclass? Book a meeting at a time that suits you, or send me your details below and I will get back to you - thank you.