Valerie A. Fontaine earned her JD from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and her BA, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, from UCLA. She was on the Editorial Board of COMM/ENT, a Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. Valerie practiced law with a prominent Los Angeles law firm and entered the legal search profession in 1981. Valerie is past Secretary to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and former Chair of its Newsletter Committee. She currently serves as a consultant to NALSC headquarters.
Ignore all the advice I’ve previously espoused regarding the importance of starting and ending each job interview with a firm handshake. Dr. Fauci says that handshaking must stop—even when this pandemic ends—and other medical and public health experts agree. When you shake another person’s hand, you have no idea where that hand has been, and…
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Visibility greatly impacts career success. Being visible means not only being seen but also being included, recognized, and valued by others. Now that most lawyers are working remotely and can’t rely on developing relationships via organic, in-person interactions, you must be more creative and intentional about making your presence known. Doing good work is a…
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Holidays are a good time to reach out to people you haven’t spoken to in a while, the ones you usually see only at holiday parties, and those who mean the most to you and your business. In this time of social distancing, extra thought must go into your holiday wishes, which can be in…
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“Why is there ‘Esq.’ after your name?” asked my grandfather, who had moved to the United States from England, “You’re not a gentleman!” I had proudly handed him one of my first post-Bar-admission business cards, and that was not the reaction I expected. I informed him that, in the U.S., “Esquire” denotes lawyer, irrespective of…
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