Fed up of the free training farago…
I’may seem a bit ranty on this, but frankly this is a subject long overdue for a good kicking. Law firms offer free training to clients and contacts. The way this works is that typically clients rock up for a breakfast or an evening session for a croissant or a canapé and an hour or… More
A little lesson about a bag…
…Sometimes I just sit; sometimes I just sit and watch. A few days back I was able to observe a small moment in someone’s life. They were holding a bag of shopping, not a “bag-for-life” but the flimsiest of plastic carrier bags. It was bulging with probably too many things and sure enough the bag… More
Knowledge and wisdom
I know something you don’t know; if I share it with you, I will ask you to pay for it. I am guessing this doesn’t sound like a compelling proposition; indeed you might tell me where to put “it” and I am also guessing it might be somewhere where the sun don’t shine. …Even if… More
In-house lawyers – A strategic role for the profession
In-house lawyers in the UK are the best in the world. No other sector of the legal profession delivers more value to business, more consistently and more innovatively than in-house lawyers and the General Counsel who lead the in-house teams are some of the most entrepreneurial and thoughtful leaders of lawyers in the world. The… More
2011 Skills Symposium
Under a swirling sky swathed in shades of the most vivid purples and golds and heavy with the threat of an imminent storm, delegates assembled at Kloofzicht near Johannesburg on Sunday 30 October 2011 for a unique legal conference that aimed to challenge, delight and inspire. As the conference began, the lightning and thunder now… More
I predict a riot…
For a few nights in August 2011 some streets in London, Manchester and Birmingham were temporarily taken over by, predominantly, young people who systematically and violently smashed, grabbed, looted and burned their way through the night…they acted, it seems, without fear, without a thought to the consequences of their behaviour and with reckless disregard for… More
The “what”, the “so what” and the “now what”
One of my colleagues uses a line regularly when we are assessing how to turn a nice warm, fluffy idea into something that has some colder edges and a little more recognisable reality about it… He will say: “We know what the ‘what’ is…But does it pass the ‘so what’ test and, if it does,… More
Specialisation – benefit or burden?
…Almost from the moment a lawyer hatches from the chrysalis of their training contract they will specialise. A butterfly is born, but one that feeds on a very narrow diet. I have often wondered if this is a burden or a benefit… I suppose on the one hand it means that the “Big Law” law… More
What makes a great lawyer?
…The essence of becoming a great lawyer is realising that it isn’t about you. This is hard…after all, after the law degree, law school, training, qualifying, trying to make your way, putting up with partners behaving like four-year-olds and working your socks off…of course it should be about you! …But it isn’t. It’s not really… More
To influence…Is this the greatest skill of all?
If you were to ask lawyers what their ultimate client compliment would be then many will say that it is to be considered a “trusted advisor”. It doesn’t matter if these lawyers work in-house or in law firms the phrase “trusted advisor” seems to have a very special resonance which goes to the essence of… More