People — Jessica R. Natkin
Jessica R. Natkin is the Director of Programs for the Project for Attorney Retention.
Jessica is an expert in the fields of lawyer career development and work/life integration through flexible work. Prior to joining PAR, she managed the career development programs at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., focusing on personalized attention to improve attorney morale and retention. At PAR, Jessica works with members to provide them with up-to-date best practice information and the tools and techniques they can use to employ them. Jessica holds a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley, where she focused on women’s history, and a law degree Northwestern University School of Law. Her senior research project at Northwestern analyzed how and why law school should be feminized. Jessica also has a graduate certificate in career development and has been working as a career coach for lawyers for over ten years.
Jessica is a frequent speaker on the topic of coaching lawyers, setting and achieving goals, and flexible work arrangements. Her published articles include Let’s Get Personal: New Approaches to Associate Career Development (NALP Bulletin, October, 2005) and Ahem, Your Career is Starting. . . Don’t Let Your Development as a Lawyer Get Lost in the Day-to-Day Crush (New York Law Journal Magazine, September, 2007). Jessica lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, balancing life with her husband and three children.
