In addition to counseling1, CDO also offers coaching services to YLS students. Coaching differs from counseling in significant ways. Rather than advising you, a coach collaborates with you in a co-equal relationship. By answering thought-provoking questions, you will learn more about yourself and create solutions which will move your life forward. If you are feeling stuck, unsure of what you really want to do with your law degree, or disconnected with the person you were before law school, working with a coach could help you. You can work concurrently with both a coach and a counselor or you can choose to work only with a coach. Individual coaching for YLS students is available year round, and a group coaching series is offered each semester.
What is Coaching?
Coaching is a dynamic alliance between you and your coach designed to unlock your potential and guide you through the rigors of legal education and professional development. CDO's certified coach, Liz Peck3, will collaborate with you to navigate the unique challenges you encounter on your journey to becoming a legal professional. Coaching focuses on fostering your self-discovery, enabling you to harness your innate capabilities to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals. By partnering with a coach, you are investing in your success as a law student and future legal professional.
Why Choose Coaching?
- Strategic Goal Setting: A coach assists you in setting clear and strategic academic and career goals. With a well-defined roadmap, you can approach your legal education with purpose and direction.
- Accountability and Focus: A coach helps you remain accountable. Their guidance ensures that you maintain focus and consistently work toward success.
- Values and Purpose: When values align with work, lawyers experience a deep sense of purpose in their practice. A coach supports you in exploring your values and using them to design a fulfilling career.
- Confidence Building: Law school can be demanding, and a coach supports you in developing confidence in your professional growth. This self-assurance positively affects your performance in class, your job-search process, and your workplace success.
- Time Management and Balance: Balancing law studies with personal commitments is challenging. A coach can help you optimize your time management, enabling you to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
- Stress Resilience: Law school can be stressful. A coach helps you explore personalized strategies to manage stress and prevent burnout, ensuring your well-being throughout your legal education.
- Individualized Support: A coach recognizes that law students have unique needs. They tailor their approach to address your specific challenges and aspirations, providing a personalized coaching experience.
What are YLS Students Saying About Coaching?
"Coaching helps me stay grounded, identify personal values, and craft a life that pursues and aligns with those values. Coaching goes beyond implementing others' advice and teaches how to be your own changemaker." YLS, Class of 2024
"Liz is AWESOME! I have learned so much from coaching and really enjoyed working with Liz. Coaching has helped me clearly identify and better understand my values and goals, build my self-confidence, and develop routines and practices that make my daily life feel more purposeful. Coaching has shone light on my career interests and goals and helped me become a fuller and more self-aware person. I would recommend coaching to anyone who wants to get to know themselves better or to gain a new perspective on the whats, hows, and whys of life." YLS, Class of 2025
"My coaching sessions with Liz during my 3L year were an invaluable part of my YLS experience. Liz compelled me to examine my values and helped me interrogate the limiting beliefs I held about the career paths I thought were possible for me. In the fast-paced hustle culture of YLS, coaching gave me the space to really reflect, pause, and think about the big picture. I ultimately walked away with strategies for making big decisions, a deeper understanding of myself, and a clearer vision for my future. I highly encourage any YLS student to sign up for coaching." YLS, Class of 2023
“It helped me get in touch with––and accept––the parts of myself that will really make or break what types of jobs I can handle. I'll admit I went into the [group coaching] program thinking that I knew these things already. But Liz's personality assessment tools and visualization exercises helped me get way more specific about what I wanted, and they helped me realize that certain traits and preferences I had were actually way stronger than I was telling myself. This 1) made filtering out employers during VIP MUCH easier, and 2) has honestly given me a new, positive, exciting vision for the type of long-term career I'd like to attract. It helped shift me out of a mindset that was based on scarcity and following what everyone else was doing.” – YLS Class of 2026 participant in Spring 2024 group coaching series
How Can I Learn More?
With an understanding of how coaching can enhance your legal education and professional development, we invite you to schedule an exploratory coaching session with Liz Peck3. In that meeting, you will learn more about how coaching can support you and experience the potential of coaching through a sample coaching conversation.
Additional Testimonials
“This series was one of the best uses of my time so far here at YLS and is disproportionately rewarding to time commitment required. Over the course of the few weeks, I was able to think hard about what’s important to me in my career, gain skills to reframe career challenges, and learn more about what I want from life. It’s certainly a lifelong journey but it was extremely helpful to have dedicated time in the calendar weekly to make progress towards these questions and gain practical tools to continue to design a life reflecting what matters to me.”
-YLS Class of 2027 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“This series was excellent. It helped me develop a healthier, more open-minded, more optimistic, growth-oriented view of my career. Liz is very cool, and I highly recommend.”
-YLS Class of 2025 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“Setting aside time to reflect and commit to change amidst the mayhem of law school was one of the best decisions I made for myself during 1L spring. This series helped me challenge fundamental assumptions about my career and future and gave me real tools for rebuilding a life I’m excited to experience.”
-YLS Class of 2025 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“Super grounding experience! Would recommend to any 1L or upperclassman who feels impeding pressure to make career decisions and wants to reframe that in a more positive way.”
-YLS Class of 2027 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“This coaching series helped me improve my perspective about choosing a career. I learned strategies about how to think through career choices in a healthier way.”
-YLS Class of 2025 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“The coaching series allows you to meet classmates you never had before and lets you rediscover known classmates – and yourself – in new, compelling, and likely surprising ways.”
-YLS Class of 2027 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“This series was a really helpful and insightful way to approach decision-making in my personal and professional life. Liz is wonderful, and I learned so much.”
-YLS Class of 2025 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series
“I would highly recommend this course to other law students. If you’re looking for an opportunity to think about your future in a grounded context, this is the perfect course.”
-YLS Class of 2026 participant in Spring 2025 group coaching series