July 2025 through February 2026
Applications are Closed
NAPABA’s Leadership Advancement Program is a year-long experiential program that empowers rising attorneys to develop and harness their leadership style and foster genuine relationships and lasting connections with peers in the
profession, especially between in-house counsel (IHC) and law firm attorneys. Attorneys in the program will:
- Spend time assessing strengths and weaknesses
- Make improvements to your leadership style in ways that are noticeable to both themselves and others
- Practice taking on greater challenges
- Help view themselves as leaders in any environment
- Become better, more effective communicators and listeners
- Become better at anticipating the oppositions faced in a challenge
- Leave with a cohort of 24 advisors and friends ready to support them through any challenge ahead
Questions?
Contact programs@napaba.org.
Participant Qualifications
The program is designed for mid-career NAPABA attorney members who are seeking to develop their leadership skills. Enrollment in the program is limited to 24 participants, with an even balance between IHC and law firm attorneys. All
NAPABA members are encouraged to apply, although the selection committee will focus on the following criteria this year:
- Law firm candidates: preference for candidates with between six and 10 years of experience
- In-house candidates: preference for a minimum of three to four years of IHC experience, with six to 10 years of overall practice experience
All applicants must be NAPABA members. For more information about how to join please, visit the membership page.
Costs and Fees
NAPABA will provide the trainers, program materials, venue, and in-program meals. If accepted, attendees will be expected to commit a program fee and provide their own travel and accommodations, if required.
Program fees:
- Law firm candidates: $500
- In-house candidates: $350
Facilitator
Rudhir Krishtel
Rudhir Krishtel
is a certified Co-Active Coach and facilitator focusing on workplace wellness and intensity. Many lawyers struggle with stress and lack of purpose in their practice. As a former lawyer, Rudhir coaches clients and hosts workshops
to identify the issues that hold lawyers back from advancing in their career with clarity and fulfillment.
Prior to becoming an executive coach and consultant, Rudhir practiced law for 15 years as a federal clerk, patent
litigation partner at Fish & Richardson, and then as senior patent counsel at Apple.
His lawyer days led him to train as a teacher for yoga (Baptiste Institute) and mindfulness meditation (Warrior One), and as a Professional Certified Coach (Coaches Training Institute & International Coaching Federation), to serve
as much-needed support for the legal community.
Program Chair
Dawn Yamane Hewett
Dawn Yamane Hewett is a
partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan, where she assists clients with transnational disputes and government investigations. She specializes in investment treaty arbitration, where she represents investors and sovereign
states in multi-million and multi-billion dollar foreign investment disputes. She also assists companies of all sizes with inquiries and investigations by US government agencies, including the Department of Justice, Federal Trade
Commission, and Department of Commerce. Dawn speaks Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and her cases often require the use of one or more of her languages.
Before Quinn Emanuel, Dawn was Deputy General Counsel
for Strategic Initiatives at the US Department of Commerce, practiced at another global law firm, and was a law clerk on the Ninth Circuit. Prior to her legal career, she worked at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra
Leone and an international human rights NGO in Ireland, and conducted field research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, Brazil, Cambodia, and Japan. Dawn holds advanced degrees from Yale Law School, Princeton University
School of Public and International Affairs, and Trinity College Dublin, and two bachelor degrees from the University of Washington.
Dawn is active in the legal community, having served as a President of the Asian Pacific
American Bar Association of Greater Washington, DC Region and on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. She also coaches her daughter’s elementary school running team through the Girls on the Run program,
which teaches empowerment and self-confidence for young girls.
Schedule
Please note: If accepted into the program, you are making a commitment to attend all sessions.
Workshop One
July 10-11, 2025 | San Francisco, CA
The program will commence with a two day program. The workshop will include:
- Team building exercises
- Assessments and overview of leadership and communication style
- Grounding your career vision
- Goal setting and planning exercises
Workshop Two
November 6, 2025 | Denver, CO
The second workshop is held in conjunction with the 2025 NAPABA Convention. The workshop will include:
- Using active listening as a leader
- Hearing from other leaders in the field
- Launching a cohort driven coaching program to push cohort members to pursue leadership goals
Workshop Three
February 19-20, 2026 | Chicago, Il
The program will culminate with a weekend gathering. Workshop activities include:
- Exercises to deepen your understanding of your leadership skills and values
- Steps to overcome leadership challenges
- How to overcome imposter syndrome
- Exploring your evolving your leadership style
