Leadership in the Legal Profession

We will not be offering Leadership in the Legal Profession in 2025. Add yourself to our Notify Me list to be informed when the application opens for the next cohort of this program!

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Introduction

You’ve got the legal acumen. But do you have the managerial and interpersonal skills to truly get ahead in the legal field? This course combines the study of proven leadership techniques with the unique opportunity to learn from your peers’ diverse experiences and perspectives. Through 10 weeks of live, expertly facilitated online sessions, you’ll acquire insights from the other learners and reflect on your own experience, thereby gaining fresh perspectives on leadership challenges and managerial approaches.

Join us and learn how to motivate teams, engage with emotional intelligence, navigate uncertainty, drive innovation, and immediately apply your new and enhanced skills to your workplace.

Location & Start Date

Online

Live Sessions

Program Schedule

To be announced

Time Commitment: 10-weeks; 1 class per week; 2 hours per class

Pre-class assignments take approximately 1-2 hours per week.

Cohort Schedule

Cohort 13 | Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

August 29
September 5 , 12, 19, 26
October 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31

Cohort 14 | Wednesdays from from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

September 4, 11, 18, 25
October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
November 6

The program provided invaluable tools for self-awareness and effective leadership, significantly enhancing both my professional and personal interactions. I gained insights into how to communicate more meaningfully and adapt my leadership to various situations. The course has empowered me to be a better leader and collaborator. Highly recommended for anyone ready to grow and lead with confidence!

Xiaojie (Marta) Meng

Managing Attorney – Meng Law Group

I signed up for the course when I was a new partner in a boutique firm (after serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for almost a decade) because I thought it would help me navigate my new world of management and private practice, as well as give me the opportunity to meet some other lawyers. The course far exceeded my expectations and I’d highly recommend it to other attorneys looking to become more effective and confident leaders.

Ellen London

Shareholder – London & Stout

The program exceeded my expectations. Even during a time when my workload was extremely heavy, I looked forward to reading the course materials in preparation for the weekly two-hour class. The time commitment was significant, but it was very worthwhile and enjoyable.

Wei Chen

General Counsel at Infoblox and past Leadership in the Legal Profession participant

We can no longer add value merely by being an expert in a substantive legal area. We are now business partners with our clients and we must understand the business.

Jackie Donaldson

General Counsel – Zone Americas at Nestle and past Leadership in the Legal Profession participant

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Who Should Apply

The course is intended for mid- to senior-level practicing attorneys, including those from:

Law Firms
In-house Corporate Teams
Governmental Agencies
Non-profits

We accept qualified candidates on a rolling basis and space is limited, so we encourage you to apply early.

Course Benefits

Improve your interaction with internal clients, customers, and executives.
Challenge your intuitive approach to management and push yourself to consider strategies and approaches outside your current leadership comfort zone.
Learn in a safe, supportive virtual environment that encourages self-reflection and idea-sharing.
Dive deep into leadership theories during pre-class reading assignments and in-class discussions.
Become part of a growing international network of legal professionals who have completed the course.
Earn MCLE credit (where applicable).

To better understand how you can benefit from the course, learn what some past participants had to say about their experience in this interview.

Course Structure & Teaching Methodology

Class Format

Participants join a small cohort of their peers for weekly online classes conducted live via Forum, Minerva Project’s learning platform that delivers a dynamic educational experience. Each cohort is led by one of our expert facilitators, who guides participants through the carefully designed 10-week course.

Class Content

Leadership in the Legal Profession is divided into three units: Leading in Complex Systems, Engaging with Interpersonal Intelligence, and Navigating Uncertainty and Driving Innovation. Each unit is completed over the course of three class sessions and described below under Course Design.

Pre-class assignments take one to two hours each week.

Leadership in the Legal Profession is 10 weeks long so participants can apply course takeaways to their workplace over an extended period of time. This approach allows the participants to master their new skills, hone existing capabilities, and gain deeper insights into leadership styles and approaches through self-reflection and group discussion with their peers.

Peer to Peer Learning

Each cohort is led by one of our trained facilitators, who guides participants through a carefully designed learning process that unfolds over the ten week course. Participants learn from each other by engaging in group discussions that focus on how to apply course concepts to their legal practice. This peer to peer learning approach enables participants to connect with and learn from classmates who have diverse organizational perspectives and life experiences. There is no passive learning from lectures.

Course Design

Unit 1

Leading in Complex Systems

Systems thinking is an approach to problem solving that involves understanding interrelationships, of seeing the whole and parts of the whole, of recognizing patterns of change.

We first use systems thinking to analyze and understand the complex interactions among individuals and groups. We then identify the factors that motivate individual behavior, including habits and cognitive biases, and consider how to leverage this knowledge to inspire others to achieve a common purpose.

Week 1 Systems Thinking

Week 2 Behavioral Science and Motivation

Week 3 Purpose-Driven Leadership

Unit 2

Engaging with Interpersonal Intelligence

Self-awareness and listening empathically to others are foundations of effective communication and team building.

We study techniques to build these skills, and then observe how emotional intelligence manifests in groups that collaborate well. We also learn how leaders use verbal and nonverbal cues in order to respond clearly and persuasively.

Week 4 Leading with Emotional Intelligence

Week 5 Effective Team Dynamics

Week 6 Communicating with Impact

Unit 3

Navigating Uncertainty and Driving Innovation

Inspirational leaders navigate and resolve problems, support innovation, manage change, and address challenges.

We examine how to identify and characterize problems and break them down into manageable subproblems, as well as discuss the benefits of gap analysis. Then, drawing on knowledge of motivation and communication discussed earlier in the course, we consider how an iterative design process and human-centered design can help leaders foster innovation within their organizations. Next we apply this approach to strategic challenges that arise in a complex, evolving environment. Finally, we ask participants to synthesize the different components of effective leadership and decision-making by applying the course frameworks to an actual management challenge they face in their professional roles.

Week 7 Problem Analysis in Evolving Systems

Week 8 Agile Innovation

Week 9 Decision Leadership

Week 10 Course Synthesis

2024 Tuition & Discounts

General Tuition

$5,500

Berkeley Law Alumni Tuition

Applies to Berkeley Law JD and LLM alumni, as well as past participants of paid Berkeley Law Executive Education programs

$4,500

Group Discount

Available for organizations that enroll three or more individuals.

Nonprofit Discount

Available for attorneys working for non-profits and governmental agencies.

Financing

If you are interested in financing this course, Sallie Mae provides competitive education loan programs for credit qualified borrowers. For more information and to apply, visit the Sallie Mae website. If you decide to pursue such financing, please submit your application to Sallie Mae first and then contact us at [email protected]. We will provide additional instructions on completing your registration.

Certificates & MCLE

Certificate Type

Certificate of Completion

Participants who successfully complete the program will earn a certificate in leadership from Berkeley Law Executive Education.

MCLE

20 Hours

This program has been approved by the California State Bar to offer up to 20 credit hours of MCLE. Attorneys from other states will need to contact their local bar to verify their own certification requirements.

Meet the Facilitators

Catherine Saine

Senior Director, Strategy, Office of the CEO at Mila

Catherine is passionate about helping leaders and organizations adapt to new challenges and develop their full potential. She started off her career as an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright and has since held various business and legal roles for organizations in entertainment (Cirque du Soleil), strategy consulting (Juniper Advisors), and cleantech (Cycle Momentum). She currently works in Strategy at the Office of the CEO of one of the world’s largest AI research labs (Mila). Catherine is also a part-time lecturer on negotiation strategies at the Faculty of Law of McGill University. Her extensive experience in leadership development, strategic planning, negotiation skills, and managing complex relationships has enabled her to deliver training programs for executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs in collaboration with higher education institutions. She holds a BCL/LLB (JD) and a BA Honours from McGill University.

Nicholas Kenney

Assistant Professor at Minerva University

Nick currently teaches courses on leadership, managing complexity, and constitutional law at Minerva University. His training includes academic conference seminars on complexity theory in political science. Nick’s academic expertise centers on the study of complex national security issues and constitutional law, involving the intersection of conventional and unconventional threats. His research focuses on grand strategy and the rise of terrorist organizations, insurgencies, and cyberpower. Prior to entering academia, Nick practiced administrative, environmental, criminal procedure, and constitutional law at both the state and federal levels. In addition, he has worked in Jerusalem for a conflict resolution NGO and for the U.S. Department of State, as well as at the Department of Defense’s Special Warfare School. Nick earned his Ph.D. in International Relations from Tufts University, a J.D. from Boston College, and a B.A. in History from the College of the Holy Cross. He has also served as faculty at Tufts University, National Defense University, and St. Lawrence University.

Accessibility

For disability accommodation requests and information, please contact us at [email protected]. Please attempt to make your service request with as much advance notice as possible.