Kathy is a longtime, well-known career coach for lawyers. With a BA from the University of Michigan and a JD from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, she practiced law in Honolulu and Chicago, taught at the law school at Northwestern University and headed its Career Services Office, and founded her private practice, Under Advisement, Ltd. She has also held hallmark roles as a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, launching and chairing its global Women Coaches Group, the American Bar Association, as creator and inaugural chair of its Career Center, and as the Chicago Bar Association’s featured career advisor for the past twelve years for her CBA Career Advancement Program.

Kathy is also a pioneer in large law firm attorney development, ultimately holding a C-Suite position created for her in Training and Development by the global firm Sidley Austin LLP, named a LearningElite organization by Chief Learning Officer magazine every year since she and her team earned it first in 2011. She was also a board member at the inception of the Professional Development Consortium and is profiled in the Association of Corporate Council Coaches Directory.

What coaching services do you provide?

I work one-on-one with lawyers, via Zoom, across the professional spectrum on their career planning, job searches, and performance improvement. I also conduct outplacement and a service I call inplacement…for valued lawyers whose workplace affords them coaching to develop a particular skill. I also have Speed Coaching Days when, through the Chicago Bar Association, members sign up for 20-minute sessions on a pre-selected topic. 

What services do you provide in addition to coaching?

I provide career check-ups and work with lawyers on resumes, cover letters, networking, and interview prep. I also advise legal workplaces about stemming unwanted attrition, as well as present and moderate career programming. Finally, I launched and led the Forbes Coaches Council award-winning Women Coaches Group.

What is your coaching philosophy?

Lawyers need support and guidance in managing their career junctures, enhancing their work habits, and finding/keeping their bearings across their careers. I am an interactive participant in our sessions and individualize all my advice…which they needn’t take all of, but we both must listen intently to each other. I also use humor when appropriate to help make the coaching process as painless as possible.

What interests or excites you about coaching women lawyers?

Having experienced women lawyers’ personal and professional challenges and choices first-hand, and having worked with women’s groups within a number of legal workplaces, it is highly meaningful to me to validate and coach women lawyers, to help each one strengthen her career footing and attorney persona while bringing her individuality forward.

Tell us about your training and certifications as a coach.

After practicing law in Honolulu and Chicago and teaching legal ethics at Northwestern Law School, I headed its career services office and began advising students and alumni/ae. In 1988, I was an early entrant into career counseling for lawyers, starting Under Advisement, Ltd.