Tara Antonipillai | Executive Coach for Law Firm Partners

A lawyer, an applied psychology practitioner, and a coach.

Tara Antonipillai is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and leadership consultant for the legal profession. She coaches law firm partners, counsel, and senior lawyers, a substantial part of that with women lawyers navigating partnership, client relationships, and firm leadership.

She trained as a lawyer at Georgetown University Law Center and practiced in the tax group at Arnold & Porter, then earned her masters in applied positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and her coaching certification at Brown University. She is an ICF-accredited coach.

One thing she keeps noticing with the lawyers she works with: the drive to be excellent is real, and it matters. The problem isn’t the drive. It’s that most firms aren’t structured to sustain it. How work gets assigned, how leadership develops, how pressure gets absorbed. When the conditions are right, excellence and well-being feed each other. That looks different at every firm, but the pattern is real.

Over the years she has learned which leadership changes, team structures, and ways of working make a real difference, and which ones don’t, no matter how good they sound. Her programs draw on performance psychology, behavioral science, and positive organizational scholarship.

She works with individuals and firms who are interested in taking action. The work is not rehabilitative. It is for high performers who want to change something specific that is holding them back.

In Progress

The Book

Tara is writing a book with Anne Brafford about why the well-being versus performance framing has it backwards. What the research on high-performing teams actually tells us, and what it looks like in practice inside law firms.

The research behind it is the same body of work her coaching and cohort programs are built on, which is why the programs tend to contradict a fair amount of conventional wisdom about how lawyers get to be good at their jobs.

Background

Education & Experience

Georgetown University, A.B., J.D.

Arnold & Porter LLP, Tax Group

Leadership & Performance Coaching, Brown University

University of Pennsylvania, Applied Positive Psychology, MAPP

Service to the Profession

Former Director of Programming, Institute for Well-Being in Law

Chair, DC Bar Lawyer Assistance Committee

Certifications

ICF Accredited Coach

Certified Mindfulness Instructor

Selected Speaking and Program Work

Firms and organizations Tara has delivered programs, keynotes, and workshops for include:

DC Bar, Practice 360

NALP Professional Development Institute

Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia

Institute for Well-Being in Law

Arnold & Porter

Katten

Skadden

King & Spalding

Foley & Lardner

The WLF Group

Approach

How Tara Works

Everything starts with listening, and every program is designed for your people and your structure rather than pulled off a shelf. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you, and point you to someone who is.

Tara truly understands the legal industry and its unique challenges because of her own experience as an attorney. The practical tips for boosting performance were incredibly valuable.

Office Manager, AmLaw 100 Firm

She and her husband live in Arlington, VA with their four children and their chocolate lab, Judy.

Meet Tara Antonipillai