Attorney Charise Naifeh of Happy Law Mom: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Attorney

Scarcity Is a Scam: Many believe that legal career options are scarce but it’s just not true. Lawyers help solve and prevent critical problems — skills that are always in demand. I have a mentor who created a seven-figure law practice when many others were closing their doors because she identified a problem that people needed to solve and communicated a clear message about how she could help. There’s always a market for that.

As a part of my series about “5 things I wish someone told me when I first became an attorney” I had the pleasure of interviewing Charise Naifeh.

Charise Naifeh practiced law for 10 years at a top international firm in Washington D.C. before becoming a Certified Professional Coach and founding Happy Law Mom, a coaching practice dedicated to helping lawyer moms take control of their careers and find meaningful work that fits their motherhood. She now lives in Annapolis, MD with her husband and two young sons.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is the “backstory” that brought you to this particular career path in Law?

After I had my second child as a seventh-year associate, I hit a wall. I often found myself working late into the night while everyone else in my household slept. Something had to change but I couldn’t see other options and felt utterly stuck.

I tried a lot of things to figure it out: career books, workshops, personality type testing, strengths testing, different kinds of coaching, you name it. Most of what I tried didn’t work but a few things worked surprisingly well. As I gathered different tools and honed critical skills that they don’t teach in law school, I started to take charge of my life and legal practice in a new way. I was getting better results at work and was also much happier in general.