How to Give Clear, Actionable Feedback as a Lawyer (That Gets Results)

As a lawyer, giving feedback is part of the job - whether it’s guiding junior members of the team, working with peers, or even managing up those you report to. Yet, many lawyers struggle with giving feedback. They either avoid giving it, or deliver it so bluntly that it backfires.

The legal profession is built on precision, but when feedback is vague, overly critical, or not given immediately, it loses impact. The key? Give feedback that is clear, constructive, and actionable.

In this post, I’ll walk you through three models to help you give feedback effectively:

✔ BOOSTER – for constructive, developmental feedback
✔ Bullseye – for well-intentioned but ineffective behaviour
✔ BEEF – for serious performance issues

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Why giving feedback matters

Whether you’re in a law firm or in-house, feedback plays a crucial role in:

● Helping junior lawyers develop faster and become more reliable

● Improving team efficiency and delegation

● Strengthening relationships and fostering collaboration

● Positioning yourself as a leader

But here’s the problem:

❌ Feedback is often too vague (e.g. “Your analysis needs work”)

❌ It’s delivered too late (e.g. “That mistake last summer caused issues”)

❌ It’s overly critical, missing opportunities to reinforce what’s working

If you want to give feedback that actually leads to improvement, follow these three models.

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The BOOSTER Model: Constructive developmental feedback

This model works when a junior lawyer is doing well but could improve. It ensures feedback is:

✅ Balanced – Highlight both strengths and areas for growth.

Emphasise what you want the lawyer to keep doing to develop their confidence in their own judgment and encourage their initiative.

✅ Observed – Base feedback on what you saw/heard, not hearsay.

This can be particularly tricky when you’re responsible for giving a performance review based on other people’s comments. You can role-model giving constructive feedback by holding your colleagues to account for feedback which they really should be giving themselves.

✅ Objective – Keep personal bias out of it.

I was given back a piece of work covered in red ink (back in the day when people still handwrote stuff!) When I read the comments, it seemed to me that they were stylistic rather than a correcting mistakes. I asked my partner whether they were substantive changes or simply partnerial. When he agreed they were partnerial, I gave the work to a secretary to amend rather than spending time on it myself.

Also, make sure you are giving the same feedback to different lawyers if they are making the same mistakes.

✅ Specific – Provide clear, actionable details.

Feedback such as “You need to be more confident” or “You need to improve your drafting” is useless. Your junior will have to guess at what you mean and will probably get it wrong, wasting their time and not improving their performance in the way you want. Give them a specific roadmap to developing their skills:

“When you speak up in meetings, hold eye contact with the people around the table.”

“Decide on a point you will take responsibility for expanding on in our next team call, then devise 3 issues you will highlight.”

“Before you start drafting your next memo, decide what you want the impact of your memo to be, the action you want the reader to take and the appropriate degree of formality.”

✅ Timely – Deliver feedback soon after the event.

Don’t wait to tell your junior they’ve done a good job or that they should change how they are doing things. If you wait more than a couple of weeks, it will get overtaken by events. Any delay in delivering feedback on something important is a reflection on your leadership.

✅ Easy in number – Focus on 2-3 key points at a time.

Don’t overwhelm your junior with too many points. If there are quite a few things wrong with a piece of work, find themes to cluster the points.

✅ Receiver-led – Start by asking: “How did you find that task?”

Juniors are usually only too happy to tell you what they think they could have done better, and they are usually right. If not, then this is good feedback for you as to their degree of self-awareness. It’s also a great opportunity to reassure them if their confidence needs to be built up.

For example:

“Your memo was well-structured – it was easy to follow the logical flow of your points and you set out clearly what action you expect the reader to take. Next time, use a more formal tone. Avoid contractions like ‘don’t’ - use ‘do not’ instead.”

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The Bullseye Model: Managing well-intentioned, but ineffective behaviour

This is useful when someone means well, but is missing the mark - for example, an eager junior who interrupts clients or over-explains.

1️⃣ Start with positive intent: “I can see you’re engaged and that’s great.”
2️⃣ Ask: “What impression do you want to give?”
3️⃣ Highlight where their behaviour doesn’t align with that intention.
4️⃣ Offer a practical solution

For example:

Supervisor: “Your comments on Clause 3 were spot on. Did you notice how you talked over the client a couple of times? What impression were you hoping to make?

Junior: “I wanted to show that I’m enthusiastic and that I’ve done my homework.”

Supervisor: “You may not have noticed, but the client looked disconcerted to be interrupted. By speaking over them, you gave the impression of not being aware of the impact you were having on the meeting. Next time, send me a quick message first to check if it’s the right time to raise your point.”

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The BEEF Model: Performance-related feedback for persistent issues

If someone repeatedly ignores feedback or underperforms, you need a firmer approach.

✔ Behaviour: Describe what they did.

Remember to be specific so the junior knows exactly what you’re referring to.

“When you were late sending me the document, it delayed my response to the client.”

✔ Effect: Explain the impact.

“This makes it look like we’re not organised and don’t deliver when we say we will.”

✔ Expectation: Clarify what must change.

“If you say you’ll get a document to me by a particular deadline, you must either do that or give me at least a day’s notice that you’re going to miss the deadline. Then we can work out how to manage that.”

✔ Future – Set a timeframe for review.

“Let’s meet again in a month to review. Given that we spoke about this at your review in January and again last week, I expect to see you either delivering your work at the agreed time, or giving me appropriate notice of any delay.”

If things still don’t improve, it may be time for a formal approach.

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Conclusion: How to give feedback that lawyers will act on

Giving feedback well is a skill that sets strong lawyers apart.

Use:

✔ BOOSTER for constructive coaching
✔ BULLSEYE for well-intentioned, but ineffective behaviour
✔ BEEF for more serious performance issues

Want to enhance your leadership and feedback skills? 📆 Book a career coaching session today to refine your approach, enhance your personal brand and become a stronger leader.