It is often said that we only really contemplate change when there is a “burning platform”; in other words when the motivation for change is so pressing that we are…
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…
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;…
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…
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…
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…
…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.…
…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…
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…
Alarming though the headline may be I do not mean that I have started to make the sound made by small birds; I’mean I am now participating in the social-media…
I am not one for polemic exaggeration or self-serving controversy, so please believe me when I say I would like to write about what I consider to be the biggest…
What do you imagine are the most important things that the world’s major law firms are grappling with at the moment? The profession, we know, faces very many challenges: the…
We always caution ourselves against stereotyping, but sometimes we just cannot help ourselves. The first time I ventured into London as a tyro lawyer to consult with the barrister my…
Way back in the mists of time, being a lawyer was reassuringly monopolistic, client service was met merely by opening a file and clients, of course, knew and accepted that…
Those who write are sometimes self-deluded into believing they have something worthwhile to write about. The fact that one can write however is not the same as having something worthwhile…
It was a group of journalists in the United States Washington press corps who were first to ask the question (of their new President):- “What are your plans for the…
I am sorry; using a word like “democratisation” is not the best way to start any article. I suspect I’may have lost some of you already. The alternative however seemed…
I have had a long and very close relationship with LawWorks, the leading national pro bono charity for solicitors in the UK. It is an organisation I am proud to…
It is clear that we are working through an extraordinary time for the legal profession; there are so many factors in play that it can feel almost impossible to discern…
The “bridge” as metaphor has become a familiar part of the communicator’s lexicon. We are forever “building bridges” between interest groups and factions and when we note that this is…
It is too early for history to judge, but judgements are still being made. Despite the noise and clamour of the moment with commentators and experts at every twist and…
A very good friend of mine was somewhat nonplussed by an announcement a few years back; he had heard that the Law Society in England & Wales had set up…
It is said that what doesn’t kill us provides a learning experience; but deciding what we learn in our professional lives is not always easy to discern. The pace of…
Even in the best of times some support functions in many law firms suffer from a downplaying of their value by their lawyer colleagues simply because their teams are not…
Speaking with one general counsel the other day, I was asked a not untypical question: “What can you tell me that I could implement today that will help me and…
To read some lawyers’ contributions to the legal blogs you might be forgiven for thinking that becoming a lawyer today was not the shrewdest career choice one could make. It…
The difference between what is a “leader” and what is a “manager” and what is “leadership” and “management” is the stuff of consulting heaven! It is a debate that has…
There is a phenomenon in the world of systems development and software that might just have the most enormous impact on the future of legal services. As we all know…
The last few months have been awful… Whatever your political leaning, whatever your own perspective on how things should have been and how they should be, we are all clearly…
Some very notable minds down the ages have suggested that “the only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history”…At this time particularly this seems…
There is much talk around the world of consolidation in legal services; the globalisation strategies of some high profile law firms is mimicked by firms in individual countries and across…
“Change” is more than a business school process. We must shape the discussion, influence, challenge, adhere to values and inspire. Walk around any bookstore and sooner or later you will…
We ran a networking event recently in a regional centre far, far away from the capital city…we thought lawyers would be pleased to have an opportunity to meet friends and…
Have you ever filled in a customer satisfaction survey? The ones where you tick the box that best describes the service or value received. They come with a promise that…
I received an innocuous little message the other day… “Can you please tell us what you do in less than one hundred words?” It was for a law firm’s newsletter…
No New Year is complete without a thought to introducing some change into our lives… it might be personal (I will try to lose the weight I lost once before…
Talking to one City law firm partner the other day I was left a little nonplussed by an assertion of economic hardship? ?You would not believe? he said ?how hard…
If you are not into marketing then the notion of rebranding can seem like a vacuous and pointless expense. As the old (adapted) joke goes: ?How do you make a…
I was having a coffee the other day with an in-house lawyer new into her first role; she was interesting and thoughtful and her conversation was engaging and full of…
Is it me? Or will there come a time in everyone’s life when ranting at the television becomes normal behaviour? Almost every day now I find myself becoming agitated at…
General Counsel must ensure that their preferred law firms provide value for money and that relationships are developed to their full potential. In doing so, some General Counsel look to…
?I ache all over? said the old badger. ?I ache so much, it hurts to breathe? ?Oh dear? said the young fox ?whatever have you done?? ?He has done nothing…
Seeing into the future therefore for legal services and the legal profession is similarly constraining? We can all have a vague, speculative thought about legal services becoming ?quicker, easier, cheaper??…
Cue the Ambassador?s residence, a dinner party for glamorous and sophisticated people, soft lights, romantic music, and a beautiful young woman approaches her impossibly handsome host ?Ahh Mr Ambassador you…
In business we are constantly told that change is inevitable, ?adapt or die? slogans are bandied around and there is a whole industry of publishers, presenters and consultants with clever…
There is an old line about the inexact science of marketing? The apocryphal Marketing Director declares that at least half of the money spent on marketing is fantastically successful ?…
In the olden days it was all so straightforward. The young tyro worked hard at law school, secured a good training contract, worked like a pit pony for a few…
?We live in such a fast paced competitive world. We have to earn every pound we invoice – sometimes more than every pound – and client loyalty is barely a…
Law firms lose people too easily. Trainees come and go like fallible components in a greedy machine and qualified lawyers move on so readily that they seem not so much…
The inconvenience caused to our daily lives is managed ? it would be churlish to grumble after all, but the sense of fear is palpable and I resent that very…
Speak to any General Counsel today and ask them what keeps them awake at night and two things are typically mentioned: ? The company?s businesses decisions are made today on…
If you speak to any General Counsel working in-house today or any senior partner in a law firm, two recurring themes will emerge that concern them greatly: ? The performance…
