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ProgramsPrograms Built for How Law Firms Actually Work
Every engagement is designed around your firm’s structure, culture, and goals, not a template.
Executive & Leadership Coaching
One on one, six to twelve months, with development goals set at the start so there is something concrete to measure against.
Executive Coaching for Partners
The skills that make someone an excellent lawyer are not the skills that make someone an effective leader. Strategic clarity, communication and feedback, delegation and trust, business development, and performing at this level for the long run.
See how coaching works →Coaching for Women Partners
A particular focus of Tara’s coaching practice. Building a book of business, stepping into firm leadership, navigating partnership dynamics, and sustaining high performance over the long term.
See the coaching focus →Meridian
Eight to ten partners, monthly two-hour sessions, ten months, under a strict confidentiality covenant. Built for the questions partners cannot put to anyone who reports to the same leadership they do. Co-founded and co-facilitated with Gwen Mellor Romans of Herald Talent.
Meridian
Partners from different Am Law 100 firms in one curated cohort. No two from the same firm, so nobody in the room has a stake in your answer. Cohorts in New York City and Washington DC. 2027 applications close January 1.
Program detail, dates and investment →Meridian Inside
The same model with your own partners in the room, selected with firm leadership. A new partner class, your practice group leaders, or succession candidates. Built for retention and collaboration across the partnership.
Program detail and investment →Not sure whether a forum or one-on-one coaching is the better fit for your people? That is what the discovery call is for.
Talk it through →Speaking & Firmwide Work
For a single session, or for the whole firm.
Keynote Speaking & Workshops
Evidence-based keynotes and interactive workshops on sustainable high performance, high-performing teams, and building a practice that lasts. Sixty minutes to a half day.
Topics and past audiences →Bring In an Outside Coach
For firms that already have a coaching benefit and need a coach their partners will actually use. How Cultivate slots into an existing program, panel arrangements, referral logistics, and confidentiality.
How it works →Culture & Performance Strategy
For firm leadership ready to move past one-off programming. Designing the systems and structures that make high performance sustainable, tied to retention, engagement, and firm strategy.
Our approach with firms →Signature Sessions
Each works as a keynote, a workshop, or the opening session of a longer program.
The Science of Sustainable Excellence
What the research says about how high performers sustain it over time. An evidence-based framework for performing at the highest level without the cost that usually comes with it.
See the outline →The Secret to High-Performing Teams
What the research actually says about what makes teams perform. Cuts through conventional wisdom and gives practice groups and firm leaders a framework for building stronger teams.
See the outline →Building a Practice That Lasts
A practical, research-informed session for attorneys at any level who want to design a career in law that is both high-performing and sustainable, on their own terms.
See the outline →The Meridian one pagers
Two pages on each forum program: the business case, the research behind the model, cohort composition, the confidentiality framework, investment, and timelines. Written to be forwarded to whoever approves the spend.
- The business case, in the form a committee expects
- Program structure, format, and the 2027 timeline
- The confidentiality framework and Group Covenant in detail
Send it to me
Common Questions
Can a partner engage Cultivate directly, or does it have to go through the firm?
Either. Many partners engage Tara directly and pay themselves or through a firm coaching benefit. Others are referred by their firm’s professional development or talent team. If you are looking for a coach for yourself, start at executive coaching for partners.
How long is a typical engagement?
One-on-one coaching runs six to twelve months, meeting every two to three weeks. Meridian forums run ten months, with monthly two-hour sessions. Keynotes and workshops are single sessions, from 60 minutes to a half day. Culture and performance strategy work is scoped to the specific question the firm is trying to answer.
Do you deliver programs in person or virtually?
Coaching is usually virtual, because it is easier to sustain a regular cadence that way. Meridian forums meet in person: the trust the model depends on does not build the same way on a screen. Keynotes and workshops work either way.
How do you measure whether a program worked?
Goals get set at the start, with the firm and with the individuals, so there is something specific to measure against rather than a satisfaction survey. Depending on the engagement that might be retention in a practice group, participation in business development, upward feedback scores, or specific behavior changes the participants and their supervisors both name.
What size firms do you work with?
Most of the work is with AmLaw 100 and AmLaw 200 firms, plus regional firms and in-house legal departments. The programs are built around partnership dynamics and the billable hour, so they translate across firm sizes better than they translate outside the profession.
What is the difference between Meridian and Meridian Inside?
Meridian places your partner in a cross-firm cohort with partners from other Am Law 100 firms, so the value is outside perspective and a network beyond the firm. Meridian Inside runs the same model inside your own partnership, so the value is trust and collaboration across your practices and offices.
Can you build something that is not on this page?
Yes, and that is a good share of the work. These are the standing formats. A fair number of engagements start with a firm describing a specific problem, and the program gets designed around it.
Not Sure Where to Start?
That’s what the discovery call is for. We’ll talk through what you’re seeing and find the right starting point.
Let’s talk about your firm →