We help law firms build a strong leadership bench.
Most firms promote lawyers for technical excellence or rainmaking. Many fail in new leadership roles — because they’re unable to embrace the right mindset.
We combine deep law‑firm experience with clinical‑grade psychology to remove the inner barriers that keep talented lawyers from reaching their full leadership potential.
​We use a holistic framework — The Leadership Lifecycle — to prepare your people for each major step up during their leadership journey: associate, partner, rainmaker, practice leader, and managing partner.
Core Services
1. Leadership Lifecycle Programs
Structured, cohort‑based programs built around the six key transitions—from junior associate through managing partner. Each program blends assessment, workshops, and real‑world projects so lawyers practice new behaviors in the context of your firm’s actual challenges.
​
2. High‑Impact Coaching for Lawyer/Leaders
Intensive, confidential coaching for high‑potential lawyers, partners, and firm leaders. We focus on perfectionism, imposter feelings, control, and risk‑avoidance—the psychological patterns that block delegation, business development, collaboration, and succession.
​
3. Action Learning for Partner & Practice Teams
Small teams of lawyers work on live, strategic issues for the firm while developing the skills to lead: cross‑practice collaboration, influencing peers, and making decisions under uncertainty. We design and facilitate these projects so they deliver both leadership growth and tangible business results.
​
4. The Mindset Lab
Targeted mindset work for lawyers who know what good leadership looks like but can’t consistently do it under pressure. Using evidence‑based psychological tools, we help them rewrite unhelpful narratives, experiment with new behaviors, and build the emotional stamina leadership demands.
​
Meet the Team Leaders
The Leadership Lab is co‑led by Jeffrey Cohn and Dr. Carrie Muchow, who combine law‑firm leadership and succession expertise with Columbia‑trained, clinical‑grade psychological support for high‑performing lawyers. As both business and life partners, they bring an integrated approach to leadership development that blends strategic insight with vulnerability and psychological depth.
Jeffrey Cohn
Jeffrey is a former fellow at the CEO Leadership Institute and case facilitator at Harvard Business School, where he helped write the first leadership case study on Apple. He has served as an executive coach and succession advisor at Spencer Stuart and Heidrick & Struggles, working with CEOs, general counsel, and senior partners on leadership, culture, and succession. Recent articles include “How Yale Law School Is Becoming the Next Harvard Business School” and “Why CEOs Should Model Vulnerability.”
Dr. Carrie Muchow
Dr. Carrie Muchow is a sought‑after executive coach, cognitive‑behavioral therapist, and professional assessor. She received her Ph.D. with honors in psychology, with an emphasis in neuroscience, from Columbia University. Carrie specializes in helping high‑potential lawyer‑leaders manage stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and perfectionism, and has helped global talent consultancies create proprietary assessment tools.
​What Makes Us Different?
01
-
A complete pipeline, not one‑off events – We develop leaders across the whole career arc, not just at partner retreats.
02
-
Law‑firm strategy + PhD‑level psychology – We understand your economics, culture, and politics and the inner lives of high‑achieving lawyers.
03
-
Focused on behavior change, not inspiration – Every engagement is built around specific shifts you can see: better delegation, healthier teams, stronger succession, more resilient leaders.
​A Few Client Testimonials
Practice Group Lead, AmLaw 100
"We brought in Bench Strength Advisors after trying out a slew of other leadership advisory firms and elite executive education programs—but behavior never changed. Their 'mindset challenge' is totally different...and it's gold.”
Global Managing Partner, AmLaw 100
"We saw a real shift in how key partners delegated, developed associates, and collaborated across practices—and our lateral integration outcomes improved noticeably within a year."
​The Leadership Lab Podcast​
Listen to our Podcast –
Amy Edmondson
Professor, Harvard Business School
​
Pioneer of psychological safety and “intelligent failure,” ranked the #1 management thinker in the world. In our conversation, Amy shares what leaders get wrong about failure, risk, and creating cultures where people can speak up.
