Diana Hughes Leiden, left, and Shilpa Coorg, right, of Winston & Strawn. over one-half important aspect common symptom bias
  1. Low-risk opportunities for failure. Low-risk often translates to low pressure. Provide young lawyers “stretch opportunities” in situations where the stakes are not high.  Experiential training programs are a great way for junior attorneys to develop and practice important skills, get feedback, and even to fail, with minimal consequences. These programs allow the firm to identify high-potential individuals early and also allow senior attorneys to foster talent by providing mentorship and guidance.
  2. Robust mentorship programs. In addition to promoting confidence and offering an unbiased perspective, mentors can provide feedback and serve as a buffer on key projects.  Although the best mentor-mentee relationships are often formed organically, formalized mentorship programs are important as well, because they serve as a structured resource for those unable to find effective mentoring relationships on their own. Formalized programs also add legitimacy to a mentor-mentee relationship, provide important guidelines on expectations of the relationship and confidentiality, and send a positive message about the firm's commitment to fostering junior lawyers.
  3. Early substantive opportunities. Allow attorneys to work on tasks that are challenging for their level. Providing substantive work with supervision, whether it is drafting a nondispositive motion from scratch, defending a deposition, or handling a small aspect of an important deal can build confidence gradually and prepare the attorney to handle more.  Pro bono opportunities can also provide significant standup experience at any level.
  1. Gain expertise. Identify strengths and build confidence by becoming an expert at one thing. Become the go-to person on a discrete chunk of the project. Transfer those skills—and the belief in your own competency—to other projects.
  2. Build up to large tasks. Jumping from document review to taking a deposition can be daunting. Stay involved in the interim steps to build up to larger, higher-stakes tasks. For example, document review can lend itself to culling deposition materials and documents, which puts you in the best position to prepare the outline. The next logical step is taking the deposition. Breaking down a large task into increments and working to master each stage in the process can build confidence.
  3. Practice self-trust. Over-preparedness and perfectionism are symptoms, not alleviators, of imposter syndrome. Individuals suffering from imposter syndrome may mistakenly correlate over-preparation with success. Practice trusting that things will fall into place, even in small ways. Take on opportunities that feel scary and get used to feeling comfortable outside the comfort-zone. Focus on identifying what you can control to increase your feeling of self-trust.
  4. Know that you are not alone. Studies have estimated that 70 percent of the general population has experienced imposter syndrome. It is likely people around you, even those who look and seem confident, have felt these same feelings. Don't be afraid to ask for help from mentors or the professional development team at your firm.
  5. Fake it until you make it. The age-old cliché does work. Time and experience will chip away at feelings of inadequacy.
Diana Hughes Leiden is a partner at Winston & Strawn in Los Angeles. She practices trademark, copyright, right of publicity, and antitrust litigation, focusing on emerging technology and internet issues. She has represented a number of technology and media companies in cutting-edge intellectual property matters, and is a frequent writer on new developments in copyright and entertainment law. Shilpa Coorg is an associate at the firm in Los Angeles. She focuses her practice on patent litigation, including pharmaceutical litigation under Hatch-Waxman. She represents and advises industry leaders on intellectual property matters across a broad spectrum of technologies.