I recently visited Mont Tremblant, Quebec and Montreal with my wife, Nancy and one of my former clients and his wife. Obviously the last thing on my mind was my past work coaching lawyers. Montreal is my favorite city to visit in North America. When I was coaching I went to Montreal four times each year. I won’t spend time here explain why Montreal is my favorite, but if you are interested in my take on it my personal email is cordpar@me.com.

While in Montreal, I met with a lawyer I coached several years ago. Among other things she had invited me to join her family for the Sugar Shack experience which is all about Maple Syrup in Quebec in February and March. Her oldest is ready to go to college. So it’s been awhile. Nancy and I also ate dinner with a lawyer I coached with my first Canadian group in 2005. We had a wonderful evening catching up.

While we were away I received an email from a lawyer I coached years ago. He’s the managing partner of his office. He had written to the lawyers in his office, shared with them his experience with me and shared a collection of my blog posts that were most meaningful to him.

I read some and I was surprised by some of the insights I had at the time. At the end of his email, he told his lawyers he planned to invite me to give a presentation at his office. Having been away from working with lawyers for now what seems like many years, I wonder if anything I would have to say about careers or client development would be relevant today.

So, with all that in mind, I decided to republish what I thought at the time were my most relevant blog posts for the decade.

It’s hard for me to process that tomorrow we start a new decade. I look back and 50 years ago, I would finish my first semester of law school and surprise myself with the high grades I earned. On New Years Eve 20 years ago, I was on top of the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas to watch the restart of the Pegasus. For those not from Dallas, here is a Dallas Morning News article: Why is Dallas so obsessed with Pegasus?

If you have read my blog for the last 10 years, what do you suppose the most read posts were? Several posts were by far the most popular and were most tweeted. Here are a few:

1. 20 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I was a First Year Lawyer. This was by far the most popular blog I posted in 2010. I came to realize that lawyers like lists and want to avoid other people’s mistakes. When I discovered how popular this post was, I wrote what turned out to be the second most popular post that year.
2. 15 Additional Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I was a First Year Lawyer. It was fun to think of 15 additional things. I thought I might be on to something, but 35 things was about all I could could come up with that I wish someone had told me.
3. What Would Law Firms Be Like If They Were Led By Women. I read a satirical blog post by UConn professor Gina Barreca, Run by Women the World Would Be Better and More Fun. I realized it was ok for a woman to do a satire, but my blog post could not be a satire. I must have drafted it  20 times and I received advice from at least 10 women I coached. I was blessed to coach many successful women lawyers who moved into leadership positions in their firms. It has been great to see the results of their leadership.
4. Six Client Development Myths That Hold Most Associates Back. Why do so many lawyers waited until they became partners, when the pressure was on them to bring in business? I say there are what I call client development myths.
5. Law Firms: Some Keys to Successful Client Development Coaching
   I know from experience that only a few law firms offer their young lawyers client development coaching. If your firm wants to develop the next generation of rainmakers, here are some tips. T
6. My 5 Clues to Asking for Business/Closing the Sale. This series was popular because so many lawyers feel uncomfortable asking for business.
7. 16 Things Law Firms Expect of New Lawyers. I posted this when new lawyers were arriving at their law firms and I got a sense someone in the firms suggested the new lawyers might want to take a look at the ideas.
8. My Top 12 Tips for Law Firm Client Development Professionals. I worked with dozens of marketing professionals in my old law firm and in the law firms where I coached lawyers. Here are some thoughts for the marketing professionals.
9. 2015 Planning: Organize into Categories of Your Life. If you are thinking about your 2020 plan, this blog post might help you.
10. Are You Pursuing Excellence or Success? A few years ago I received an email from a firm that was proudly announcing the lawyers who had been promoted to equity partner. I had coached all but one of those lawyers. I wrote this blog for those lawyers.

Happy New Year to you. I hope 2020 will be your best year ever. And, I hope 2020-2030 will be your best decade ever.