In this section we have collated all the previously published articles and blogs written by Paul Gilbert, Jonathan Smith and guests.
This is a resource for you to browse and is free to view. The first articles were published in the early 2000’s, but retain a relevance that is still valid and informative today. The later pieces reflect the changing face of the legal profession and the threat/opportunity for the role of lawyers in business and in our society.
We hope you will find that their opinions add to the debates of the day and inform, challenge and occasionally provoke. Please also join them in that debate on Twitter and follow Jonathan @jdsofislip and Paul @LBCWiseCounsel.
What the Chief Legal Officer wants from external counsel – a guest post by Ian White
A group of CLOs has shared for the last three years thoughts on what the in-house team wants from external lawyers. This is my brief summary on these perspectives: Understand my business. If you are to be any use to me you must understand my business. And that does not mean, if I manufacture widgets,… More
Working with MyCompany PLC – a charter for external counsel
This guide is not a replacement for our retainer letter. It does not form part of our legal relationship. Instead it sets out guidance on what I think characterises good external counsel so that our working relationship can be as successful as possible. Time, cost, quality. These three characteristics of a project, (originally time, cost,… More
Leadership lessons from a hopeless candidate
On 24 January 2015 I was selected by members of the Cheltenham Labour Party to be their candidate in the General Election. It was not what I expected to happen. I expected to lose. Part of me hoped to lose, but the following 104 days of campaigning up to election night on 7 May have… More
What are you looking for?
Lawyer recruitment, like probably too many other professions, has been bent out of shape by the language and practices of the recruitment industry. We have allowed the recruitment consultancies to dictate the rules of the game. Conformity replaces imagination and sameness is safe. It is as if “relevant sector experience” was a holy grail, when… More
Vote for you
What difference does one vote make? A solitary cross among tens of millions; a tiny pebble on a long beach; the smallest ripple on a pond? Surely the difference one vote makes is but nothing? A singular irrelevance. A waste of time, of ink and of paper. Please let me explain why it matters, why… More