Burnout is not only something that can occur on your way to success, it is something that can happen after you reach the “top” (for lawyers in a law firm, that means partnership.) Professionals and executives who reach a point in their life where they have accomplished their goals but are now feeling “is this all there is?”, may be experiencing burnout. The Career Journal gives some tips for recognizing the symptoms and offers some constructive advice about how to combat these feelings.

Gibson Dunn has announced that it is adopting a two tier partnership. I predict that in the next ten years, law firms will follow the lead of the large accounting firms and insert several new steps between associate and partner. In many ways, it makes no sense for a large organization to have so few opportunties for advancement. But law firms are conservative by nature and change is slow in this profession.

Ward Bower of Altman Weil doesn’t see this happening any time soon.

It seems obvious that good teamwork can affect the quality of professional services. New research by Harvard Business School shows that surgeons who work in more than one hospital have better outcomes in facilities that demonstrate a higher level of teamwork. Could the same be true for lawyers and law firms? Career lesson: choose a work environment that fosters good teamwork.

If you are thinking about consolodating your student loans, here are some tips for choosing a lender.

If you are interested in learning more about the mechanics of creating a podcast, click here.

It is much easier to see a return from business development activities than from marketing activities. After all, no one is going to hire you just because you were quoted in the New York Times, wrote an article for a trade association publication or spoke at a client seminar. But marketing activities play an important role in keeping up your visibility and in raising your credibility. If you spend some of your time marketing over a long period of time, then prospective clients will take you more seriously when you meet with them.

We have come a very long way since lawyers first embraced direct mail marketing. Websites are almost ubiquitous (or at least the absence of a website probably sends the message that a law firm is behind the times.) E-mail marketing is now being widely used by major law firms to supplement (or in some cases to replace) U.S. mail and blogs like this are becoming increasingly common.

It seems that podcasts may be the next wave. It is very logical that lawyers should turn to this medium. While lawyers are supposed to be masters of the written word, increasingly, we live in a multimedia culture where busy professionals do not have the time to read. Podcasts provide a very inexpensive way to basically create a private radio broadcast (in the same way that a blog creates a private newspaper.)

My Career Audit for Associates is now available on the BCG website. This is a tool I created to help law firm associates evaluate what they like and dislike about their present firm. It is not meant to be a substitute for career counseling. Rather, it is a quick way to take stock in your current job (and measure it against your career objectives.)

An article appeared in the WSJ on why 50.3% of all managers and professionals are female but women still comprise fewer than 2% of Fortune 1000 CEOs and just 7.9% of Fortune 500 top earners.

Carol Hymowitz of the WSJ reports that Catalyst (a women’s leadership organization) analyzed more than 40 studies of men and women leaders, and found no real difference in leadership styles. Despite this reality, many women perceive themselves to be weaker leaders than men.