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.
So you think you want to be a lawyer…
There are many careers that are worthwhile. All jobs should be important to the people who do them. And all roles have their elements of drudgery, anxiety and exasperation. This is true of being a lawyer as well, so if you think you want to be a lawyer can I offer you anything worthwhile? I… More
Products in Development
We spend a long time at work, and longer still if we include the time we spend thinking about work and our role in it, including what role or job we might seek next. But the amount of time we spend considering what skills or know-how we need to acquire or develop in order to… More
Are we failing to prepare in-house lawyers to be commercial and ethical?
In my article “Stop being proactive…” about in-house lawyers and some lazy/clichéd thinking, I said that being “commercial” was borderline unethical. (http://www.lbcwisecounsel.com/resources/articles/article/stop-being-proactive-stop-being-commercial-stop-being-nice/#.U-Uut_ldWuk). I didn’t try to justify the comment in any detail, but because it is a statement that sounds ridiculous I want to develop the idea a little more… Once upon a time I… More
Stop being proactive, stop being commercial, stop being nice
I made a mistake. It was in 1989. I went in-house and found I was good at my job. It was the first time in my life I truly felt I was good at something. Until then I had found everything hard. Exam results were never adorned with flying colours and my CV, such as… More
“Stockholm Syndrome” in legal services
A caricature may reveal a truth… “Why, if there is all the talk of change, is change so slow?” One might be forgiven for thinking that there is rather too much talk of change in the legal profession and perhaps rather less evidence of it happening. It is not easy to see the wood from… More