PD Insider Library

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Craig Miller, Esq.

Craig Miller is PLI’s Senior Vice President for Membership and Accreditation. He leads the customer-facing teams at PLI and is responsible for product strategy and accreditation. Prior to joining PLI in 2017, Craig held leadership positions at ProQuest and Thomson Reuters.

JIM LOVELACE

In the first remote PD Insider interview, Jim Lovelace, Director of Talent Development at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, spoke with Craig Miller about maintaining consistent and compassionate leadership with a newly-displaced team. Their discussion highlights the present-day challenges facing PD teams against the backdrop of COVID-19 and evergreen insights to enable successful coaching and management practices at your firm.

Jennifer Bluestein

Jennifer Bluestein, Chief Talent Officer at Perkins Coie, visited PD Insider to address one of the leading issues facing PD teams: ensuring new associates find their footing and excel at a large law firm. In her lively conversation with Craig Miller, Jennifer expands on many of the concepts explored in her bestselling PLI Press title, An Associate's First Year: A Guide to Thriving at a Law Firm, sharing well-tested best practices and valuable insights for helping your new associates begin a successful career.

Burt Lipshie

PLI President Anita Shapiro sat down for a special edition of PD Insider with longtime colleague Burt Lipshie, a renowned member of the Professional Development community in New York and beyond. In his illustrious career, Burt has impacted countless attorneys and PD professionals through his work at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, where he now serves as Senior Counsel, and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he is the Professor of Practice and Director of Advocacy Skills Training. In their candid conversation, Burt and Anita discuss the history of professional development, the PDC, and how lawyering has evolved during his career.

Tammie Garner

Tammie Garner, Director of Professional Development at Jackson Lewis, visits PD Insider to review successful strategies for designing and implementing effective training programs. Tammie sat down with Craig Miller to walk through the theory and practice behind creating level-based curriculum meaningful for attorneys at all stages of their careers.

H. Sandra Bang

H. Sandra Bang, the Chief Diversity and Talent Strategy Officer at Shearman & Sterling, returns to PD Insider for the second installment in her two-part interview. During her conversation with Craig Miller, Sandra shares her expert insights on working with firm leadership to ensure executive buy-in for professional development initiatives.

Michelle Wimes

Michelle Wimes, Chief Diversity and Professional Development Officer at Ogletree Deakins, sat down with PD Insider to explore the theory behind implicit bias and the firm-wide practices which can be used to combat it. During her in-depth interview with Craig Miller, Michelle explains the unconventional methods she’s implemented: mindfulness and meditation, and the data-driven support for their effectiveness. Michelle and Craig’s conversation offers deep insight and the concrete tools for implementing mindfulness exercises and measuring their success at your firm.

Sandra Bang

Craig Miller, PLI’s Vice President of Membership and Accreditation, sat down with Sandra Bang, the Chief Diversity and Talent Strategy Officer at Shearman & Sterling, to address the universal question: how can I successfully manage my professional development team? Sandra’s unique perspective as a C-level executive within a global law firm informs her insights on leading a PD team with empathy and efficiency – their conversation is an informative must-watch for all those within PD departments.

Andrea Colby

Andrea Colby, executive coach and Principal at Pro Se, LLC sat down for a frank and illuminating conversation about attorney mental health. Now a trusted advisor for legal teams, Andrea opens up about her struggle with depression early in her career as a litigator, and how her experience has informed her advocacy for mental health awareness. Andrea shares her insights and advice for professional development teams looking to make attorney wellness a priority within their firms in this essential watch for the PD community.

Ida Abbott & Morgan Smith

Ida Abbott, President of Ida Abbott Consulting, and Morgan Smith, Professional Development Director at Dykema, visited PD Insider to explore the theory and practice of successful attorney mentorship programs. With the expert perspective of the PD consultant and in-house PD director, their conversation covers the range of considerations facing any law firm developing or managing mentorship programs.

Tim Henderson

Tim Henderson of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP shares his insights on implementing effective attorney performance evaluation systems. He discusses his innovative methods for ensuring objectivity and transparency, and making performance evaluations meaningful for every member of the firm.

Sammy Elzarka

Sammy Elzarka of Michelman & Robinson shares his expertise in data-driven professional development, focusing on instructional design and learning systems with measurable outcomes and meaningful results for your firm.

Matt Galando

Matt Galando of K&L Gates reviews some of his innovative PD initiatives, including experiential programming, emphasizing cross-departmental strategic partnerships, and teaching the valuable soft skills for successful legal practice.

Don Smith

Don Smith of Crowell & Moring unpacks the importance of diversity for successful Professional Development. Don examines how an inclusive culture benefits team performance and retention, as well as the evolving status of diversity in PD and the legal community.

Milana Hogan

Milana Hogan of Sullivan & Cromwell shares her insights into the evolution of Professional Development in law firms, predictions for the PD community in 2019 and discusses success factors for women in large law firms, including grit and the value of a growth mindset.