A new year often brings a renewed sense of focus when it comes to career decisions and January, in particular, feels like a natural reset point. Workloads are settling back into rhythm, plans are being formed, and many legal professionals start to question whether their current role is still aligned with where they want to be heading.

Completing a legal career checklist at the start of the year can be a valuable way to take stock. Not in a rushed or reactionary way, but with clarity and perspective. It allows you to step back from the day-to-day and assess whether your role, firm, and progression are still supporting your longer-term goals.

Taking a step back from the day job

This is not about your annual appraisal or ticking boxes for someone else. It is about your own career objectives and whether they are being met.

Wherever you are in your legal career, taking time to review your position against your original intentions is a worthwhile exercise. When you look beyond job titles and billable hours, is your career progressing as you hoped? Are you developing in the way you expected? Or have things stalled without you fully realising?

A legal career checklist helps bring those questions into focus.

Reconnecting with what matters to you

Before working through the checklist, it is important to remind yourself why you are where you are in the first place.

What did you originally want from your legal career, and how has that evolved? Your motivations may be financial, such as achieving certain lifestyle goals, or more personal, such as flexibility, job satisfaction, or long-term security.

Equally important is the firm you work for. Do its values align with yours? Does the culture support your development? Are you encouraged to grow, or simply expected to maintain output?

If your answers feel uncertain, that does not automatically mean change is required, but it may signal that reflection is overdue.

Your legal career checklist

Read each statement below and rate how strongly you agree using the following scale:

1 – Strongly disagree
2 – Disagree
3 – Neutral
4 – Agree
5 – Strongly agree

Career checklist

1. I am progressing in my career in the way I want to.
2. I have achieved some of my career goals, and others feel realistically within reach.
3. I enjoy my work and feel motivated by what I do.
4. The people I work with are supportive and collaborative.
5. I feel like a valued member of my team.
6. My manager provides the right balance of guidance and autonomy.
7. I feel I make a meaningful contribution, rather than just fulfilling a role.
8. My firm invests in my development and supports my goals.
9. I can see a clear and realistic progression path within my organisation.
10. I am satisfied with the training and development opportunities available to me.
11. I feel trusted to do my job well.
12. My working environment enables me to stay focused and productive.
13. My contribution is recognised and rewarded appropriately.
14. The practice area or sector I work in genuinely interests me.
15. My work location and commute are sustainable for the long term.
16. I feel my remuneration and benefits are fair and competitive.
17. My income supports my wider personal goals and lifestyle.
18. I have a healthy and sustainable work-life balance.
19. My working day is structured in a way that works for me.
20. I can see myself staying with this firm for the foreseeable future.

Understanding your score

Once you have totalled your score, consider what it may be telling you about the year ahead.

20–40: Time for reflection

Your answers suggest that things may not be working as well as they could be. This does not mean you need to make immediate decisions, but it does indicate that something is misaligned. It may relate to workload, culture, progression, or even your practice area. Taking time to understand the root cause is the first step towards addressing it.

41–60: Some positives, but room to improve

There are elements of your role that you value, but also clear gaps. You may enjoy the people you work with but feel under-supported, or you may be comfortable day to day while questioning longer-term prospects. A constructive conversation with your manager can help clarify whether meaningful change is possible.

61–80: Steady, but not fully satisfied

You are likely fairly settled, but not entirely fulfilled. If the right opportunity arose, you would consider it, though not impulsively. This is often a point where careful evaluation matters most. Understanding whether your hesitation comes from a temporary lull or a deeper issue can help guide your next steps.

81+: Confident and content

Your career is broadly on track, and you are achieving what you set out to do. Even so, it is worth remaining proactive. Long periods of comfort can sometimes slow progression, so continuing to challenge yourself and plan ahead is key to sustained growth.

Using this legal career checklist as a starting point

A legal career checklist is not about forcing change. It is about awareness. If working through these questions has highlighted areas of uncertainty, speaking with a specialist legal recruiter can help you explore options without commitment or pressure.

At Clayton Legal, we have spent almost 30 years supporting legal professionals at every stage of their career. If you want to start the year with a clearer understanding of your position, your prospects, or the wider market, our team is here to help you make informed decisions with confidence. Let’s chat!

All great legal careers need to start somewhere. For most employees, the path to progression begins with an entry-level position. Over time, as you develop your skills and knowledge, you can apply for promotions and higher-paid roles.

After a while in the legal industry you may feel you have the leadership skills, knowledge, and expertise to thrive in a managerial role. A position as a manager can be an excellent way to increase your earning potential, showcase your knowledge, and unlock greater job satisfaction.

However, figuring out how to move into your first legal manager position can be challenging.

Here are some of the top tips you can use to improve your chances of a new leader-level job.

Step 1: Excel in Your Current Role and Do Your Research

To achieve any promotion in the legal landscape, you first need to show your manager how great you are at what you do. Managers need significant expertise and experience in the field they’re going to be supervising. Showing your leaders, you’re a capable, and accomplished member of the team will make them more likely to see your potential as a manager.

While you’re working on demonstrating your value in your current position, it’s worth doing some research. Find out what kind of skills the current managers in your law firm have, and determine whether there are any gaps you’ll need to fill in your own abilities. For example, as a manager you will need a commercial oriented mindset as you will be responsible for generating new business for the firm, and this is especially the case with solicitors and barristers, whose success depends on their ability to secure new clients and their more entrepreneurial approach.

It can also be helpful to look at how your law firm handles internal movement and promotions. Are there certain times of the year when your employer makes decisions about who should be moved into leadership roles? Finding out in advance will help you to decide when to approach your employer about any management opportunities.

Step 2: Develop Your Managerial Skills

There’s more to thriving in a managerial position than being an expert in the legal industry. There’s a good chance you’ll need to develop some crucial new skills to prove you can succeed in a managerial role.

The research you’ve done into the other managers in your law firm should help you to determine which talents matter most to your law firm. However, some of the most common managerial skills you may need to develop include:

Leadership skills: Learn how to motivate, inspire, and engage other employees by taking on the leader position in group tasks and volunteering for opportunities to take charge.
Decision making skills: You’ll need to be able to effectively analyse situations and respond to different scenarios with confidence.
Organisational skills: Demonstrate your organisational skills by ensuring you always meet with deadlines, and deliver punctual work.
Interpersonal skills: Work on your emotional intelligence and communicate regularly with leaders and other colleagues in your law firm.
Problem-solving skills: Show your ability to respond creatively to problems by suggesting solutions to issues in team meetings.

It’s also helpful to invest in your continued education. Earning new certifications and accreditation will demonstrate your expertise in your industry, and help to differentiate you as a potential leader.

Step 3: Show Initiative

Often, proving you’re ready for a legal management job means making sure you take advantage of every opportunity to showcase your expertise and abilities. This means you’re going to need to take initiative if you want to stand out.

Volunteer for tasks a manager might normally do, like taking charge of a team project, or helping your boss with a challenge most people would rather avoid. Rather than waiting for your supervisors to offer you training and development opportunities, seek out your own educational strategies to develop the skills you know are crucial to your law firm.

You can even demonstrate your leadership capabilities outside of your current role, by taking on leadership positions in non-profit organisations, and sharing your volunteering experiences with your company leaders.

Step 4: Ask for the Position

Once you’ve had a chance to demonstrate your abilities, built your skillset and connected with the supervisors in your workplace, it’s time to ask for your new role. Arrange a time to meet with your boss face-to-face or over video so you can discuss your career progression opportunities.

During this meeting, you’ll need to be prepared to explain why you’re ready for this new challenge, and provide as much evidence as possible. Highlighting your recent accomplishments, and drawing attention to the managerial skills you’ve developed will be useful here. If possible, it’s always a good idea to have relationships with other legal managers in your team who can vouch for you.

If your employer doesn’t think you’re ready for a manager role yet, or there isn’t a space available for you to move into, ask what the next step is. Work with your boss to figure out what you need to do to transition into your ideal role.

Step 5: Be Prepared to Switch Law Firms

Finally, if you’re committed to becoming a legal manager, it’s important to be flexible. The reality is, even if you do all the work and prove yourself to your existing employer, there may not be a leadership opportunity available in your current law firm.

Unless your boss is looking for a manager to fill a role after another team member has left, there’s a good chance they won’t be able to find the budget to create a new position just for you. With this in mind, you may need to look elsewhere for your management job.

Work with a legal recruitment agency to track down positions relevant to your expertise and experience. Our team at Clayton Legal will be able to help you find a new legal role that not only offers you the manager responsibilities you want, but the firm culture and benefits you need too.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

Click here to speak to one of our experienced Legal specialists or call 01772 259121 for more information on how our exceptional recruitment experience can help your career aspirations.

Have you been over performing in your current position, exceeding expectations, and being given glowing reviews by your employer? If the answer is yes, then you may very well be ready for that all important promotion. Clearly, though, the opportunity isn’t going to simply fall into your lap. So how do you get noticed and get that well deserved promotion?

Here are our five top tips.

Set goals:

Setting goals should always be your first step, if you aren’t clear about where you want to go or what you want to achieve you’ll find yourself stuck in the same role. Only once you’ve set yourself goals can you start to work out how to achieve them. Work out the specific position you want and then imagine yourself attending an interview and the kind of questions they might ask. What makes you the right fit for the position? Do you have the appropriate experience? How would you manage the responsibilities? If you aren’t already able to answer these questions then they should provide you with a good indication of what you need to work on.

Why do you deserve the promotion?

Consider exactly why you’re suitable for the new role. If you’ve developed skills beyond the ones required for your current position see how well they align with those required for a more senior role. If they overlap significantly then it’s likely your manager may already be considering you for a step up. Conversely, if your skillsets aren’t yet up to the level required, then make sure to demonstrate that you are proactively taking steps to improve key skills and are committed to continued professional development. The same principle applies for your relevant experience, do you have enough already, or are there new responsibilities you could potentially take on?

Shout about your achievements:

Make sure your manager is aware of your achievements. If you work in a fast paced environment you’ll likely find that smaller successes are brushed to one side fairly quickly, or that your input into team achievements isn’t fully recognised. However, being able to demonstrate your successes and contributions will be key when discussing a potential promotion with your boss, so make sure to document all of them, however minor they may seem.

Get a meeting in the diary:

Schedule a meeting with your boss. While it’s important to formally schedule a consultation with your manager to ensure they understand the importance of the meeting, it’s also vital that you approach the conversation with enquires rather than demands. Let them know that you are keen to receive feedback on your performance and ask about potential opportunities for you to move up. Explain why you want to take on a new role, and demonstrate why you are ready if given the opportunity. However refrain from being pushy – if you come across as demanding you’ll hurt your chances of promotion rather then come any closer to gaining one.

Be realistic:

Be patient and realistic. If there is a role already available it may be that your meeting highlights you as an obvious candidate, however you may find that the reason you haven’t been promoted yet is because there simply isn’t a position open. In which case it’s key that you continue to demonstrate your relevant skillset, enthusiasm and commitment to professional development. You may find that your promotion is just around the corner.

Take a look at some our other blogs to gain some more valuable career advice.

Or take a look at our current roles to find your next game-changing role.