Michelle Comella

I am an attorney and Professional Certified Coach (PCC) who has been working within AmLaw 25 firms since June 2019: first at Kirkland & Ellis as a CareerLink Coach and now at McDermott Will & Schulte (formerly McDermott, Will & Emery) as the Global Director of Career Coaching & Services. Since August 2020, the Career Coaching & Services program I designed, launched, and continue to develop at McDermott has served over 1200 people, including not only the Firm’s current attorneys as they look to accelerate their careers but also those of our attorney-alumni and select friends of the Firm who may be looking to make a career transition. In my role at McDermott, I provide support to our current attorneys as they pursue their professional (and often personal) goals. In that capacity, I create a safe space to think out loud, to be seen and to be heard, as they consider what they may want and need in the moment as well as in the future. I also identify and escalate themes that bubble up in coaching conversations and collaborate with my peers in Alumni Relations, Business Development, Human Resources, and Professional Development to address any perceived needs arising from those themes. A life-long learner who attended Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Law while working full-time in the financial services industry as a compliance officer, I opted to participate in iPEC’s coach training program while serving as the GC and CCO for a financial services firm with approximately $3B AUM. What started off as a quest to learn more about myself and in turn how I interact with the world around me led to my current career. I am in some ways a case study on not only career transitions but also personal transformations. Regardless of the environment in which I may be, I try to bring a degree of curiosity, open-mindedness, and optimism with me. I have found that mindset helps foster connection and often opens up a world of possibilities I might not otherwise have seen. I encour