Discovering Who You Are As A Lawyer
This worksheet is designed to help you build your professional identity deliberately — not just as a technically strong lawyer, but as someone who develops confidence, influence, and a career that feels like it genuinely belongs to you.
Grab a notebook and give yourself 10 minutes.
There are no right answers. This is for your insight - not your performance review.
1. Your Starting Point
Right now, what do you feel most confident about in your role?
(Examples: technical skills, research, client communication, teamwork, organisation, reliability)
Notes:
What currently feels most uncomfortable or uncertain?
(Examples: speaking up in meetings, managing expectations, difficult conversations, confidence with senior colleagues, client exposure)
Notes:
2. Your Natural Strengths
Who are you? (This question is harder to answer than you’d think)
When people give you positive feedback, what do they usually comment on?
(List words or phrases you’ve heard more than once.)
What feels most “like you” when you’re working at your best?
(Examples: calm under pressure, detail-focused, empathetic, persuasive, analytical, creative, collaborative)
3. The Lawyer You’re Becoming
Complete this sentence:
“I want to be known as the kind of lawyer who ____________________________.”
If a colleague recommended you to a partner or client in two years’ time, what would you like them to say about you?
4. Confidence & Presence Check
Rate yourself from 1–5 on the following:
Speaking up in meetings ☐ 1 2 3 4 5
Handling difficult conversations ☐ 1 2 3 4 5
Asking for feedback or support ☐ 1 2 3 4 5
Building professional relationships ☐ 1 2 3 4 5
Which one, if improved slightly, would make the biggest difference to your day-to-day experience?
5. Thinking Beyond the Billables
What parts of your work give you energy, not just a sense of completion?
What parts of your role feel draining or disproportionately stressful?
What might this tell you about the kind of lawyer you are naturally suited to become?
6. Your Learning Edge
What is one non-technical skill that, if you developed it, would noticeably improve your confidence or effectiveness?
(Examples: communication, negotiation, emotional intelligence, managing pressure, networking, assertiveness)
What has stopped you from working on this so far?
7. Your 90-Day Identity Experiment
Rather than a big career plan, choose one small, low-pressure action that helps you practise becoming the lawyer you want to be.
Examples:
Volunteering to speak in a meeting once a week
Asking a colleague for structured feedback
Having one intentional networking conversation per month
Practising one difficult conversation instead of avoiding it
Your action:
How will you know it’s working?
Closing Reflection
The most interesting legal careers aren’t just about what you do. They’re about who you become while you’re doing it.
If you looked back on this stage of your career in five years’ time, what would you be proud of developing — not just achieving?