W. Morgan Burns

Faegre Baker Daniels LLP

Partner, began working with Skillful Means in 2009

 

"Mary is an outstanding career coach. Her deep knowledge of the legal business and practical insight into how to succeed in it have had a tremendous impact on my practice over the last several years. Her services add value in all aspects of an attorney's work life -- from business development to practice management to navigating the internal dynamics of a large firm."

 

 

Philip L. Gordon

Littler Mendelson P.C.

Shareholder, began working with Skillful Means in 2006

 

"My practice has benefited tremendously from Mary’s advice on business development. After consulting with Mary on business development strategy, I was able to identify an approach to business development that dovetails with my personal strengths and interests and to focus my efforts on the business development activities that are most effective and productive for me. I now enjoy business development far more than I did before consulting with Mary, and I have enjoyed many business development successes thanks to Mary’s advice."

 

 

Cheryl L. Haas

McGuireWoods LLP

Partner, began working with Skillful Means in 2010

 

"Mary was amazing at taking the daunting idea of "building my own business" and breaking it down into tangible steps that suited my personality, style and comfort level. On our regular calls, Mary would provide me with encouragement, build my confidence that I was indeed on track, help me work through thornier political issues related both to clients and within my own firm, and suggest specific next steps when I was stuck. To see how far I've come from when I first started working with Mary is truly unbelievable."

 

 

Deborah J. Israel

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Partner, began working with Skillful Means in 2012

 

"Mary brings years of experience as an attorney in private practice to her coaching.  She is strategic, yet practical. She has the depth to cover both developing lawyers and those of us who are seasoned practitioners. Her style is direct yet open and collaborative—which makes it easy to bring tough challenges and new ideas to the table for discussion. A delight to work with!"

 

 

Allegra J. Lawrence-Hardy

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

Partner, began working with Skillful Means in 2009

 

"Mary is a business development coach extraordinaire. She helped me grow my practice exponentially while honing my ability to anticipate my clients' needs. I began working with Mary as a new junior partner. With her assistance, I achieved career milestones including being appointed to the firm's executive committee and ranking as one of the highest business developers in my practice."

 

 

Janette M. Louard

Littler Mendelson P.C.

Shareholder, began working with Skillful Means in 2013

 

"Mary was instrumental in helping me to hone my client development skills. With her guidance, I was able to take my practice to the next level. I found her to be accessible, strategic and knowledgeable about identifying opportunities for growth. She is great at what she does and I highly recommend her."

 

 

E. Walter Van Valkenburg

Stoel Rives LLP

Managing Partner, began working with Skillful Means in 2014

 

"We retained Mary to help us implement a business plan for our market. We are a 350 lawyer firm, with 130 lawyers in the market in which Mary is assisting us. A key part of our plan was to identify emerging leaders among the partners in our office and help them organize teams that would focus on seven clients for whom we hope to expand out representation. Mary has worked with the seven individual leaders, both individually and collectively, to help them develop the new skills they need succeed in these roles.

As Office Managing Partner for the market in question, I could not be more pleased with Mary’s work. She is a talented teacher and a true professional. I have watched her work with our seven leaders, and seen the progress they are making under her guidance. Additionally, she has worked with the teams themselves, all of which have their own challenges in terms of personalities, skill sets, and the like. As a former practicing lawyer, Mary brings both insight and credibility to this process. Also, she is not afraid to raise difficult issues and challenge us where we need to be challenged.

For any firm that wants to up its game in business development, I would highly recommend Mary."