Becoming an Employment Neutral: The Joy of the Journey

By Kristin Rizzo
Rizzo Resolution

Fifteen years after passing the bar and becoming an attorney, I find myself with an exciting practice as a full-time neutral, specializing in employment mediation and dispute resolution. I am thrilled to serve our legal community as a mediator and assist lawyers and their clients, individuals, and businesses resolve disputes, but I share with you that I did not start my legal journey planning for this career or this path, specifically. It was after a joyous journey of lawyering and service to our legal community, including serving as President of the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA), that I discovered that this is my calling. I encourage you to find your calling by following your passions, lawyering with purpose, seeking out mentors, and accepting challenges, such that your journey is equally joyful.

As a new attorney, I became involved with leadership and service to the legal community. I was encouraged by my employer to join SDCBA’s New Lawyer Division (NLD) and I served on the NLD’s Executive Committee. This is where my leadership path in the legal community began and where I made many long-standing connections and friendships with other new lawyers. I eventually served as the NLD President, which deepened my service to the legal community and strengthened connections with my peers. These connections and friendships would provide me with support and happiness through the various stages of my practice, from sticking together through the challenges of being a new lawyer, as a source of referrals when I had my own litigation firm, and now as clients who call on me for mediation services.

I moved through my career as a litigation attorney making calculated decisions based on my passions. I worked at a small law firm, then a large law firm, before opening my own practice specializing in employment law. The change in law firms gave me the opportunity to work on both plaintiff and defense matters and in many different areas of the law. Ultimately, I decided to specialize in employment law, an ever-changing area of the law that impacts almost everyone at one point or another. One day, with the advice and mentorship of a senior employment attorney, I took a big risk and opened my own employment litigation practice, where I represented plaintiffs and defendants, performed impartial workplace investigations, and established my reputation as an employment attorney. Soon thereafter, I took another leadership role as the SDCBA Labor & Employment section Chair, which also helped to establish my reputation and develop significant connections in the employment law community. I had my litigation practice for about ten years and I greatly enjoyed the professional and business aspects of owning my own firm. My lawyering path was part purposeful and part risky; I did not always know where I would end up in the end, but I took each step with careful consideration. 

My next leadership roles were some of the greatest privileges in my legal career; they inspired my calling for dispute resolution. Serving on the SDCBA Board of Directors and then as the President taught me leadership, communication, and negotiation skills. These leadership roles were educational and joyous, and they further enabled me to develop my reputation as a trusted leader and to make vast connections within our legal community. These connections evolved into referral sources and peer groups as a large network of clientele supporting my mediation practice. With my new skills and my passion ignited, I decided it was time to accept another challenging career path and become a full-time neutral. 

My path was not walked alone. I was given confidence that I was ready to take the next step in my journey based on careful preparations and considerations. Before starting my own practice, I had received an extensive amount of training from the preceding law firm work I had done as a litigation attorney. Before starting my employment neutral practice, I relied on the breadth of knowledge and perspective I gained throughout my litigation career, the various mediator trainings I took, and the opportunities I had to develop my skills while working as a volunteer mediator, shadowing others and learning on the job. Equally important, however, I relied upon the invaluable mentorship I received from mentors who helped prepare me for the next step in my career path. This guidance and inspiration allowed me to stand on the shoulders of these giants to reach places in my career and in my life that I never thought possible. So, when planning your next steps, reach out and seek the wisdom from those around you whom you respect and admire. “With careful guidance and mentorship, you will reach your highest self.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

With each step on this joyful journey, my career path toward becoming a neutral and a dispute resolver revealed itself to me. While taking one step to the next, my path was full of twists and turns, required risks and offered rewards, and ultimately, led me to an amazing place. Whether your career path is leadership-based, firm-based, industry-based, community-based, a mixture, or something truly your own, I challenge you to forge your own unique journey, keeping some of these tips in mind: develop your skills to become knowledgeable and a source of information, earn the respect of your colleagues in a unique way, accept challenges, build connections to create your network and generate business, seek guidance and mentorship to reach the heights of your potential, and even if you don’t know exactly where you want to end up, take each step with purpose and confidence. I hope you find the joy of the journey!