FAQsQ: How can the CWI Women Lawyers Network help me? Q: I already belong to bar associations or practice group committees, why should I join CWI? Q: I need to broaden my network outside of the law so why should I join another network for lawyers? Q: I’m not a lawyer. Can the CWI Women Lawyers Network help me? Q: How are CWI events different from typical networking events? Q: Why is the CWI Women Lawyers Network primarily focused on women lawyers?
Q: How can the CWI Women Lawyers Network help me? The CWI Network brings members the resources, opportunities and connections they need to propel their careers forward and achieve their goals, dreams and ambitions. It is one of the best investments you can make in yourself and your career. Our Network can help at any stage, whether you are climbing the ladder or already at the top, are thinking about an employer or career change, have started your own practice or business, or are reentering the workforce. Here are some of the benefits of a CWI Women Lawyers Network membership:
Q: I already belong to bar associations or practice group committees, why should I join CWI? The CWI Women Lawyers Network is unlike any other networking organization or association within the legal profession. We are a national network that is open to (and encourages) the membership of women from other professional sectors. Our goal is to provide a forum where you can connect in ways that best develop your professional network and facilitate business relationships across sectors. Our membership is not limited to practicing attorneys or to a particular geographic area or specialty, as bar associations and practice group committees most often are. In addition, we offer services, benefits and resources that, to our knowledge, no other bar association or committee offers. For example:
Q: I need to broaden my network outside of the law so why should I join another network for lawyers? The CWI Women Lawyers Network is not just for lawyers. We have members from a variety of industries (not just the legal industry) – business, finance, consulting and accounting, to name a few. In fact, we encourage women from a variety of fields to join the CWI Network because they too can benefit from our career development and networking opportunities. In addition, we actively seek out additional opportunities to connect our members with women across industries. Our events (both our in-person events as well as our teleclasses) are open to women from across industries to facilitate additional opportunities to broaden our members’ networks. We also co-sponsor events with women’s organizations from other industries to help connect our members with potential clients and business development opportunities. We continually look for other opportunities to bring to our members and broaden their networks, and we notify our members about upcoming local and national networking and industry events. Within the legal sector, we have members from a variety of sectors and practice areas, seniority levels and geographic areas so our network is much broader than other legal networking groups or organizations. Our members also happen to be a well-connected group of women with diverse and extensive contacts from across industries so, chances are, there’s someone in our network who has exactly the contacts you need, regardless of industry or specialty. Additionally, we are not just a networking organization – our professional development resources, teleclasses classes and in-person events set us apart from peer organizations within the legal sector. Our goal is to provide you with the career support, resources and guidance you need to succeed, as well as give you the development and support attorneys do not often get on the job.
Q: But I’m burnt out or thinking about leaving the law (or my career), why should I join CWI? (And how can CWI help?) We can help. The goal of the CWI Women’s Network is to help you reconnect with the things you love about your career, help you feel engaged in (and excited by) your professional development, and make you part of a community that encourages and facilitates your career growth and ambitions. If you are considering a career change, our network can introduce you to others who’ve made similar transitions and can provide invaluable advice as to how to use your legal background to make yourself more marketable and your career transition easier. In addition, many of our teleclasses and workshops provide information and resources that will be particularly helpful during your transition. Even if you are considering leaving the workforce, our network can help by putting you in touch with others who’ve gone through the same transition, as well as provide opportunities to continue to develop your professional contacts during your time out of the workforce.
Q: I’m not a lawyer. Can the CWI Women Lawyers Network help me? The CWI Women Lawyers Network is not just for women lawyers. We believe that a CWI membership can be tremendous benefit to women from a variety of industries and particularly helpful to those in professional services industries. We encourage the membership of any woman who seeks the professional development, peer support system, and networking and business development contacts the CWI Women Lawyers Network offers.
Q: I already belong to women’s associations or industry groups, why should I join CWI? (And how is the CWI Network different?) The CWI Network is not your typical industry group or networking organization. We realize our members have little free time, and so our Network is focused on providing career development and support, in addition to networking opportunities. Our varied offerings are designed to fit into our members’ busy lives and address their diverse needs. Our online network, directory and discussion forums allow members to connect on their own schedule and in one quick email. Through our database, members can easily search for other members in a certain practice area, city, employer or by law school attended, among other things. We couple our online offerings with teleclasses and tele-workshops which provide useful career development opportunities and resources on topics not often taught on the job (such as Building Your Career Board of Advisors (How to Find the Mentors and Strategic Alliances You Need); Take Charge of Your Career: Creating Your Career Development and Success Plan; Finding Your Way: Career Paths for Women Lawyers; The Art of Influence (How to Assert Your Power and Self-Promote); Creating Your 10-Second Pitch and Breaking the Ice at Networking Events; Rainmaking Skills and Strategies; You’re Looking for a Change: Now What? (Exploring Employer and Career Change Options); etc.). And, for our local members in the New York City-area, we provide fun, laid-back in-person events in a variety of formats, to best accomplish your objectives and provide varied opportunities to connect and learn (e.g., through panel discussions, speed networking, workshops and combined networking/lecture format). We continually strive to make all of our events as useful and meaningful to you as possible. Other women’s associations or industry groups may offer some of the above, but very few provide all of the offerings we do. Additionally, we are not just a networking organization – our professional development resources, teleclasses and in-person events set us apart from peer organizations. Our goal is to provide you with the career support, resources and guidance you need to succeed, as well as give you the development and support attorneys and other professionals do not often get on the job. We carefully design our events and offerings to encourage connection, dialogue and relationships among members, as well as provide useful information, tools and resources.
Q: How are CWI events different from typical networking events? We know what makes a good networking event. All of our events are governed by several principles: 1) providing fun, low-pressure opportunities to network and make meaningful business (and personal) connections; 2) actively facilitating and organizing events in a way that encourages connection, dialogue and relationships among members; 3) providing a combination of professional development and networking opportunities (not only are you meeting new people, you’re also receiving information, tools and resources from experts and business and professional leaders on a variety of career topics); and 4) offering events in a variety of formats, to best accomplish your objectives and provide varied opportunities to connect and learn (e.g., through panel discussions, speed networking, workshops and combined networking/lecture format). As busy professional women, we know you have limited free time to network. We created the CWI Women’s Network to make the most of your scarce free time: we are not just about networking, we are about creating meaningful professional connections and providing our members with essential career information, tools and support. We want each event to be as useful and meaningful to you as possible and continually strive to make that happen (which is why we continually solicit and encourage input from our members on what events and topics they are interested in, among other things).
Q: Why is the CWI Women Lawyers Network primarily focused on women lawyers? While we are certainly focused on helping women lawyers, the CWI Women Lawyers Network encourages the membership of any woman who wants to become part of a network dedicated to the support, development and advancement of women professionals. We believe that membership in the CWI Women Lawyers Network can be a tremendous benefit to women from a variety of industries, especially those in professional services sectors, and our members include women from industries such as business, finance, consulting and accounting, to name a few. The CWI Women’s Network was initially created in January 2007 with the goal of building a community where professional women could connect and network, share experience and expertise, and obtain targeted career development in support. In January 2008, we created the CWI Women Lawyers Network and began targeting women lawyers to address what we, as lawyers ourselves, saw as an urgent need in the legal community at both the institutional and individual level. Legal employers – and especially large law firms – often lag far behind their corporate counterparts in terms of career development initiatives and professional development training. At the individual level, the demands of the legal profession leave lawyers with scarce free time to strategically plan for their careers or seek out the networks, mentors and other resources they need to reach the next level of their career (whether that is partnership, general counsel, a senior government position or a career outside of the law entirely). Many of our colleagues realized when they were up for partner (or had recently made partner) that they didn’t have the contacts or skills needed to develop business and bring in clients. Others abandoned earlier aspirations of partnership or leadership within the profession, taking themselves “off-track.” Many wanted to make an employer or career change, but, because they didn’t have access to contacts and information that could help their transition, they felt their options were limited and their career path constricted. And so many women felt they were doing it all alone. They might have great friends, a good support system and helpful mentors, but many still felt they were charting their own path to success (or redefining what success meant to them) and didn’t have the resources they needed. We wanted to change all that. We created the CWI Women Lawyers Network, the first of its kind in the legal profession, to provide a community where women could obtain targeted career development and support, have access to the resources and networking opportunities they need, and become part of a community that is invested in them, in their professional development and their success. Our goal is to help more women succeed and achieve greater fulfillment in their careers – whether they want to reach the top of firms, transition into the government or non-profit sector, become leaders within the profession or leave the profession entirely. |
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