by Chere Estrin
I recently finished a chapter in my upcoming book, Power Plays for Legal Professionals: Strategies to Move Your Career Forward. It was supposed to be about dealing with authority figures in the workplace. You know, the green-eyed monster with a fancy title and a corner office. But somewhere between writing about emotional intelligence and dodging metaphorical daggers, I remembered:
This wasn’t a personality clash.
That’s not being an authority figure.
That’s just management-by-projectile.
Years ago, an entertainment associate threw a stapler at me.
Not at me, exactly. More like, toward me. For attention.
As if throwing office supplies was just how people expressed themselves around there.
Another time, a partner (title partner, mind you) lobbed a shoe in my direction. I still have no idea why. Maybe he skipped breakfast. Maybe he just wanted to see if I was paying attention. I calmly picked it up and asked, “Are your feet getting cold?”
True story: the stapler-thrower eventually became one of my best friends. And the shoe-tosser? Let’s just say, I stopped sitting with my back to the door.
So how do you give serious career advice after that?
“Chapter Six: Duck.”
Thankfully, my editor Chris, who has the patience of a saint and the punctuation radar of a Navy SEAL, kept me in line. Every time I veered off into tales of corporate combat, he gently redirected me: “Less shoe. More strategy.”
The book comes out in about a month, and it’s packed with real-world tactics for legal professionals trying to climb that invisible ladder no one warns you about until you realize you’ve been holding it steady for everyone else.
And speaking of climbing…
I’ve been coaching legal professionals: paralegals, legal assistants, and the occasional dazed associate, and I’ve just opened up three new coaching spots this month. Just three. Because I’m not into mass advice or one-size-fits-all anything. You get real-time strategy, tailored game plans, and answers to questions you didn’t even know you should be asking.
We talk about how to move up, move on, or move out. How to finally ask for the promotion. How to rewrite your resume without sounding like every other person on LinkedIn. And how to answer the dreaded, “Why are you leaving your current role?” when the honest answer is, “Because my boss is one sandwich short of a picnic.” One of my favorite clients, a highly skilled senior paralegal, came from a textbook toxic firm. Hostile environment. Zero support. High-level gaslighting with a side of burnout. She stayed far too long because she was afraid to make a move. We rebuilt everything: clearer reachable goals, resume, mindset, narrative. Today, she’s in a firm that actually sees her, appreciates her, pays her well and she’s thriving.
The invisible ladder is real.
You just need someone to help you see the rungs.
If you’re ready to map your next move or just need someone to help you dodge the next metaphorical shoe, I’m here.
Staplers optional.
Sign up to be on the waiting list for the book
Listen to my latest podcast on Lawfully Employed: Bullying: The Law Firm’s Dirty Little Secret on YouTube.
About the Author
Chere Estrin has over 20 years of experience in the staffing arena, including executive positions in law firms, litigation support companies, and the legal staffing divisions of a $5billion publicly held corporation. She is CEO of Estrin Legal Staffing, a nationwide staffing organization. Ms. Estrin was founder of the Paralegal Knowledge Institute, an online CLE organization. She publishes the prestigious digital magazine, KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals, and is the former Editor-in-Chief of Sue, the Magazine for Women Litigators. She is also the author of 10 books about legal careers for attorneys and legal professionals.
Ms. Estrin’s contributions to the legal industry have been significant, and she continues to play an active role in shaping the future of legal staffing and training. She writes the popular,
award-winning blog, The Estrin Report, and has been interviewed by CBS News along with many top publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, Forbes.com, Los Angeles Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Journal, ABA Journal, Above the Law, ALM, Law360 and many others. She has also been a speaker for many prestigious organizations and written hundreds of articles.
As the Co-Founding Member and President of the Organization of Legal Professionals (OLP), Ms. Estrin has guided the association’s development and implementation of the eDiscovery and Litigation Support certification exams (first in the country) along with Pearson Publications, a $7 billion corporation specializing in certification exams and educational publishing. She was also the Education Director designing, creating and executing online, live training programs with an on-call roster of over 500 instructors throughout the world. Currently, she provides webinars on legal career matters for LawPractice and Lawline, two of the largest attorney CLE online training organizations.
Ms. Estrin is a co-founding member of the International Practice Management Association (IPMA) and the Organization of Legal Professionals, composed of a prestigious Board of Governors inclusive of judges, an ABA President, and well-known attorneys. She is the recipient of the Los Angeles/Century City “Women of Achievement” award and recognized as One of the Top 50 Women in Los Angeles. Ms. Estrin has been writing The Estrin Report since 2005 and most recently launched her podcast, “Lawfully Employed”.
Reach out at: chere@estrinlegal.com or visit her website at EstrinLegalStaffing.com.