Innovative pricing and shredded ambition
When in-house legal teams run their appointment processes to select law firms to act for them on their so called panels, there are a small number of words in every tender document that result in a visceral shudder for partners and bid teams in law firms. “Please give examples of innovative pricing models”. It’s as… More
For the leader, manager and expert that we all have to be…
Most days, at some level, we perform in our roles as leaders, managers and experts. Whatever our grade, status, job title or purpose we will operate across all three roles. Sometimes one or two of the roles are more to the fore, sometimes all three, but each role is very different and requires very different… More
…Do you think you will be in your current job until you retire?
My respectful view is that unless you are within a year of retirement (and if you are WELL PLAYED!) you are more likely than not to move from your current role into another. So when we contemplate the near certainty of a change in our role, how well prepared will we be for that transition?… More
Human Rights? …yeah right
…In the UK at the moment there is much talk of Human Rights as the Conservative Party publish their proposed reforms to correct perceived adverse consequences of rulings in the European Court of Human Rights. It is a highly political move which seems to be a surprise to some critics of the proposals. Although surely… More
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
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
#LawFest 2014 – it happened because you came
We kept our promise… It definitely was “not a conference”, but a place to connect, share, engage, and enjoy. It was about a commitment to serious and genuine personal development, not tired format CPD. It was about challenge, not a tick box. A place where students and law firm partners, professors and trainees, in-house and judges… More
Thank you LawWorks
My note To Chairman of LawWorks Paul Newdick CBE following my last Trustee Board meeting on 16 July 2014. Dear Paul, Thank you for your kind and generous words at the Trustee Board meeting last evening. They are not deserved, but they are appreciated. I have been a trustee for ten years and consider my… More