In our Careers Clinic, we tackle career development questions from members of our specialist communities.
This month, Associate Consultant and Family Law Careers Specialist Mel, answers a question we hear frequently from experienced lawyers who are trusted with real responsibility:
“I manage my own matters, advise clients directly and carry significant responsibility. Objectively, I know I’m capable. But I still find myself second-guessing decisions or feeling slightly out of my depth, especially around more senior colleagues.
At this stage in my career, shouldn’t I feel more confident?”
If this resonates, you’re not alone.
In fact, this stage of a legal career, where responsibility has grown but ultimate authority still sits slightly above you, is often where confidence feels most fragile.
And that’s not a sign of weakness. It’s usually a sign of growth.
Competence and confidence don’t always rise together
One of the quiet myths in legal careers is that confidence should automatically increase as your experience deepens.
In reality, competence and confidence often move at different speeds.
By the time you’re running matters independently, advising clients without close supervision, making judgement calls on risk and strategy or supporting or mentoring more junior colleagues, you’re operating at a genuinely senior level of responsibility.
Yet internally, it can still feel like you’re “just about managing” rather than leading.
That gap, where your ability has evolved faster than your self-perception, is more common than most lawyers realise.
Why capable lawyers often doubt themselves more
Law tends to attract thoughtful, analytical and risk-aware people. The very traits that make you a strong lawyer can also make you prone to self-questioning.
If you:
- See nuance where others see simplicity
- Spot risks quickly
- Understand how much responsibility sits behind a decision
you’re more likely to pause and reflect.
That reflection can sometimes feel like insecurity. In reality, it’s often a sign of mature judgement.
Less capable lawyers rarely spend much time wondering whether they’re capable.
The benchmark quietly shifts
There’s a point in many legal careers where the comparison group changes.
You’re no longer measured against trainees or junior colleagues. Instead, you’re working alongside more senior lawyers, potential leaders or partners. The standard feels higher, and the room smaller.
It’s easy to interpret that as falling short. But often, it simply means you’re operating in a more advanced environment. Being stretched doesn’t mean you’re underperforming. It usually means you’re progressing.
When self-doubt becomes limiting
A degree of self-questioning is healthy. It keeps you careful and thorough.
But if doubt becomes constant, it can:
- Stop you speaking up in strategic discussions
- Make you hesitate to take on more complex work
- Lead you to underestimate your value in progression conversations
- Create the assumption that others are more capable than you
Over time, confidence lag can quietly limit visible progression, even when your competence is strong.
Building evidence-based confidence
The answer isn’t forced positivity. It’s evidence.
Instead of asking, “Am I good enough?”, consider:
- What responsibility am I already trusted with?
- What decisions am I making independently that I once escalated?
- How have clients responded to my advice?
- How different is my role now compared to a few years ago?
Confidence grounded in evidence is steadier than confidence built on comparison.
External perspective can also help. Understanding how your experience is viewed in the wider market often recalibrates internal doubt.
Influence externally, confidence internally
Across family, private client, litigation and property teams, we see a consistent pattern: lawyers who build long-term influence aren’t always the most outwardly confident. But over time, they learn to trust their judgement.
Influence externally often grows in parallel with confidence internally.
And for many experienced lawyers, that shift happens gradually, when they realise they’re already operating at a higher level than they’ve given themselves credit for.
If you still experience moments of doubt despite clear responsibility and capability, it doesn’t mean you’re behind.
More often, it means you care deeply about the quality of your work and understand the weight of the decisions you’re making.
That’s not weakness. It’s professional maturity.
You’re probably further ahead than you think
If you’d value a confidential, objective perspective on how your experience compares across your region or practice area, or simply want to sense-check where you’re operating, we’re always happy to have a no-pressure conversation.
Sometimes confidence doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from recognising what you’re already doing well.
