by Chere B. Estrin Originally Published by the ABA - Jul 05, 2026 6 min read Summary Paralegals don’t leave jobs; they leave poor management, limited growth, and underutilized skills. Motivation isn’t perks or pay; it’s engagement, feedback, purpose, and meaningful responsibility. Firms that systemize management retain talent, increase utilization, and drive...
How Mid-Career Legal Professionals Create Their Own Path to Growth, Leadership, and Longevity By Chere B. Estrin At some point in every legal professional’s career, a funny thing happens. You stop worrying about whether you can do the job. You know you can. You've survived impossible deadlines, trial war rooms, impossible attorneys, impossible clients, impossible software conversions, and at...
There’s a new role in town. It’s called Legal Operations. What is this new law firm position that supposedly is paying big bucks, is a management spot, and positions you to move up a ladder where only attorneys are supposed to go? Let’s start with what brought this role about. Law firms don’t have a revenue problem. They have a utilization problem. As a result, the Legal Operations role...
By Chere Estrin, December 2025 Every year around Thanksgiving, I hear the same line from job seekers:“I’ll wait until January to start looking.” Oh, please. You might as well gift-wrap your dream job and hand it to someone else. This time of year isn’t a pause in hiring. Iit’s a golden window of opportunity. While everyone else is doing turkey leftovers and online shopping, you can...
Stop Playing Small. This Is the Step-By-Step System to Gain Power, Earn More, and Build the Career They Never Intended for You to Have Available on Amazon By Chere B. Estrin Let’s have an honest moment together. You didn’t go to law school.You’re not gunning for partner.And yet… here you are.Holding up the law firm, case by case, deadline by deadline, caffeine by caffeine. Welcome to the...
By Chere B. Estrin The Guide Written After 30 Years of Watching People Sabotage Their Dream Jobs (And Learning How to Fix It.) Let me tell you a secret about paralegal job hunting - and lean in here - most people are doing it wrong.Not disastrously wrong, not “please don’t ever tell anyone you know me” wrong, but wrong enough that they torpedo opportunities they could have nailed...
By Chere B. Estrin I still remember one of my first big trials. It was 11:30 p.m. the night before opening statements. The “war room” looked like it had been hit by a legal tornado: exhibit boxes everywhere, sticky notes stuck to the coffee pot, and a stack of witness binders that seemed to multiply overnight. Somewhere, an attorney was pacing, muttering about a missing exhibit. And then,...
I received an email recently from a colleague I hadn’t spoken to in years. She opened with: “It’s nice to see you’re still around.” Still around? Holy moly. What was she saying, “You’re not dead yet”? “You haven’t retired to Boca Raton”? “You’re still relevant (shockingly)”? That one little sentence carried the kind of sting that so many women of a certain age know...
Let’s face it. Updating your resume ranks right up there with root canals, jury duty, and explaining TikTok to your mother. You know it has to be done, but the second you open that dusty Word file, you suddenly find yourself scrubbing grout or alphabetizing the spice rack. Anything, literally anything, is better than staring at bullet points that make you sound like you spent the last decade...
Do you want to stay competitive? By Chere Estrin Let’s be honest: if your state doesn't require CLE, most people won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. But that’s like saying you won’t go to the dentist until your tooth falls out. CLE (Continuing Legal Education) isn’t just about credits—it’s about staying sharp, staying marketable, and staying employed. And for those...
