Stephen Seckler
Stephen Seckler

When I graduated from law school in the late 1980s, I had a strong interest in social justice and in saving the world.  In college, I was very active politically and so I attended Northeastern because it is one of the top law schools for public interest work.

Through my four coop experiences (working for The U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston, a highly regarded plaintiff’s toxic tort law firm, the public defender, and the Office of General Counsel at Boston University), I had the chance to work with some very talented advocates who truly cared about justice.  I loved (and still love) the law.  But I realized by the end of law school, that working with attorneys rather than as an attorney, was a better fit for my personality.

I also began to realize that I had a strong preference for helping individuals rather than working on large systemic problems.

I began my legal career as program attorney for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education and over the next seven years, I organized hundreds of panels on substantive legal topics.  I recruited over 1000 leading lawyers, judges, and consultants to plan our curriculum and speak on our panels.  I attended hundreds of planning meetings and had the unique opportunity to meet many of the leaders of the Massachusetts bar and learn how they think.

It was a great experience and it gave me an inside view into what successful lawyers do to advance their careers.

In the early 1990s, the field of legal marketing was taking off. In addition, more modern management practices that had already been incorporated into the accounting profession, were being adopted by law firms.  I became very interested in law firm management and legal marketing.  In addition to the many substantive panels I organized, I also had the chance to meet many of the pioneers of legal marketing.  I could also see that this was an area that was a struggle for many lawyers.

When our second child was born, I worked with a coach to start my own recruiting business.  The field of executive coaching was also taking off and I became a dedicated student of coaching.  When I launched my recruiting business, I realized that I could combine that work with coaching and that is what I did until 2021.

I’ve always felt that coaching is my true calling and as of 2022, I no longer recruit.  And because I think like a lawyer myself, I am well positioned to help lawyers to change their behavior so that they can build more satisfaction in their professional (and personal) lives.

Today, I am a seasoned marketing, career, and leadership coach with 20+ years of experience working with 100’s of partners, associates, and in-house counsel. I advise attorneys on advancing their careers and coach them on taking actions that will help them reach their goals.  I help lawyers to change their mindset when they are not advising clients.

As an attorney who has dedicated his entire professional life to helping lawyers find more career satisfaction and achieve marketing success, I am “Counsel to Counsel.” What gets me excited is identifying ways to get intelligent professionals to embrace the change they want and then move past obstacles that are getting in the way.

Sometimes this means making a lateral move. Sometimes this means building a book of business. Sometimes this means making a career transition. Sometimes this means developing better leadership skills.  All four involve a mix of coaching, consulting, and counseling.

I like to bring humor (think bad dad jokes) and lots of pop culture references into my coaching and recruiting.

Since 2021, I have been a winner of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Reader Rankings Awards.  Most recently, I was name #1 for Lawyer Outplacement, #1 for Business Development Coach, and #2 for Executive Coaching.  I have been the author of the blog Counsel to Counsel since 2005. C2C was twice named to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 (top 100 blogs by lawyers for lawyers). I host the Counsel to Counsel Podcast featuring interviews with leading attorneys who have done interesting things with their careers and consultants who have interesting things to say about the delivery of legal services.  As of summer 2023, there have been over 25,000 downloads.

I am an active member of the ProVisors business network and I sit on the Board of the American Bar Association’s Career Center.  I also serve as a mentor for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Mentoring Program which operates under the SJC Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being.

My coaching program, The Next Stage, is for senior lawyers who want to explore “What Comes Next”. I began my post law school career developing 100’s of continuing education programs for a nationally recognized leader in CLE where I had the opportunity to work with leading judges and attorneys in Massachusetts. I am trained in mediation and have worked with some of the pioneers in legal marketing.

Since the 1990’s, I have helped many attorneys get more clarity on what they want from their careers. I write extensively and speak at bar associations and law schools. I have been quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the Boston Business Journal, the National Law Journal and in many other publications.

I spent two decades recruiting legal talent for top law firms and corporate law departments. I am active in the Senior Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association. I am a fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and volunteer for a mix of community and non-profit organizations. I am also a member of the New England Chapter of the Mindfulness in Law Society.

In particular, I enjoy mentoring first generation college and law students about their careers. Previously, I served on the Boston Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Work Life Balance and as Vice Chair of the Law Practice Management Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Whether you are Moving Up, Moving Out, Stuck in Neutral, or Investing in Your Talent, I invite you to explore my website to find out more about how I can help advance your career to Thrive, Achieve Greater Success, and Personal Fulfillment.

Want to know more about my coaching programs?

BOOK A NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION WITH ME.

What my clients say…

“I had the good luck of meeting Steve, through a mutual connection on LinkedIn. In the past year, he has proven to be not only a fantastic coach, but an even better human being. Steve has helped me through some extremely difficult periods in my career and he makes himself available at all hours.
He helped both guide me to a particular firm that was a really good fit for me, and to make that transition a success.  He was also extremely helpful and successful in working with me to cultivate clients, which is something I have struggled with in the past. With Steve’s help and expertise, I was able to start building my book of business. I already referred several colleagues to Steve who are working with him and share similar sentiments to mine.”
Real Estate Partner at AmLaw50 Firm

“Stephen works closely with his clients to help them develop strategies for legal marketing tailored to their unique circumstances. He brings to bear a strong understanding of best practices for establishing relationships of trust that will benefit both attorneys and their clients, and works closely with his clients to design effective and achievable business development plans. I highly recommend him.”
Litigation Partner at Large Regional Firm and Past President, Boston Bar Association

“Steve Seckler has been a tremendous help to me over this past year with his sage advice, clear insights, endless patience, preternatural positivity, ability to push me without being pushy, and creative solutions to thorny problems. I feel he is an advisor, friend, and role model all rolled into one.”
Construction Law Partner at Suburban Practice