Reimagine Law

In this episode, Kerry and Simon discuss the balance between being authentic to yourself, and purposefully creating the right impact.  What do you want people to say about you when you are not in the room? In an increasingly consumer-oriented society, authenticity is important – and you need to get the balance right between raising your profile and not ‘over-selling’! So look deep and let your values lead how you structure your personal brand.  The team give some helpful examples of authentic and non-authentic behaviour they have seen from individuals when interviewing for a new job or promotion.

Useful resources
 Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/goldiechan/2018/11/08/10-golden-rules-personal-branding/?sh=71e9c7a458a7
Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2011/03/reinventing-your-personal-brand

In this episode, Nigel and Simon discuss what emotional intelligence is and how you can use this skill to build self-awareness.  They share tips and tricks about how these capabilities can help you to develop your career, increasing your impact in key situations and building strong networks.   

Useful resources
     
Daniel Goleman (psychologist – 5 core elements of emotional intelligence)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m9eNoB3NU
       
Five ways to develop emotional intelligence, Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2018/05/29/5-ways-to-develop-your-emotional-intelligence/?sh=31371e986976

Nigel, Simon and Fran from the ReImagine Law team discuss the interconnectedness of resilience and agility, as well as giving some key tips to listeners to help them develop these skills.

Most of us learn most from when we fail at something, so one key to building resilience is to try something different where you’ll find it a stretch.  Keep a curious, mind-set, and have ‘fail fast and learn fast’ as one motto to build resilience, with ‘FAIL’ as a ‘First Attempt In Learning!  We often talk about the ability to bounce back.  If you try something new the advantage is that you will bounce back in a slightly different direction ‘because if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got’! 

How can connecting with different people help you build resilience? This episodes encourages listeners to embrace failure, jump in the deep end and think about stretching their boundaries to ensure they have opportunities to develop, and develop at speed!

Useful resources

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/resilience.htm

https://www.ted.com/talks/raphael_rose_how_failure_cultivates_resilience

Law firms and chambers often list project management as a key competency, but what does it actually mean and how can you develop this skill? In this episode Simon and Kerry demystify what project management is and help listeners identify where it exists for all of us in our daily lives.  They discuss the ‘nuts and bolts’ of managing a process of activities to reach an outcome, with simple, yet powerful approaches to use to use such as ‘What needs to be achieved’, ‘by when’ and ‘by who’ and ‘who needs to be involved?’, this episode also discusses mile stones, inter-dependencies and of course the joy of ‘keeping it simple'

Useful resources
https://lawahead.ie.edu/the-rise-and-future-of-legal-project-management/
https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-management-skills

This episode discusses how to develop your creative mind-set in ways you might not have considered. Nigel and Kerry discuss the fact that creativity includes; having an open mind, experimenting and thinking ‘what if we did X’. They give practical ways to increase creativity as you work towards a wider goal.   See how far you can go with a creative mind-set, and be persistent, continuing to explore – perhaps part of the original idea will stick and become a great new way of doing things!  

Useful resources

• Tim Harford: A powerful way to unleash your natural creativity | TED Talk
• Building a Culture of Innovation with Dr. David Ricketts: Part 1 | IGNIUM (igniumconsult.com)
• Linda Hill: How to manage for collective creativity | TED Talk
• Adam Grant: The surprising habits of original thinkers | TED Talk

Is anyone actually a ‘self-made’ person? The team deconstruct what collaboration actually means and give suggestions of how to get into a collaborative mind-set.  Nigel and Simon stress the benefits of diversity of thought, openness and saying “yes and” rather than “yes but”!  If one plus one equals three, can you think of all the less obvious times you have collaborated? 

Useful resources

https://hbr.org/2016/06/the-secrets-of-great-teamwork 

https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/case-for-smart-collaboration/

Clinical legal education is a type of experience-based learning which mixes the theory and practice of law.  This episode explores the different types of clinical work that students can get involved with and how it can be beneficial to your future career. 

The ReImagine Law team are joined by Professor Elaine Hall from Northumbria University and Lauren Fisher (a graduate from the Student Law Office at Northumbria University).  They discuss the unique benefits of student law clinics in giving students practical (often client facing) experience within a supporting and supervised environment.  Elaine and Lauren highlight especially how clinical legal education allows students to build skills in client relationship management: gaining experience in how to support clients, often during times of great personal stress, by showing empathy, good listening, and asking good questions.

Elaine highlights some interesting research which demonstrates how law students engaging in clinical legal education can simultaneously improve their academic outcomes.   Lauren also outlines how her experiences assisted her in developing skills and confidence, and in applying for roles. 

We always encourage listeners to undertake practical actions after listening to the episode. 

• The charity LawWorks have recently published a study into the work of student law clinics around the country.  Read this report and particularly the viewpoints of students who engage in clinics. 
• If you are not at university or your university does not have a student law clinic you might find opportunities to get involved at Citizens Advice.  Visit their website and see what volunteering opportunities exist in your area to see if you can get involved.

Useful resources

• The Clinical Legal Education Organisation is a charity which supports student law clinics. Their website gives a great overview of clinical work: https://www.cleo-uk.org/. 
• Have a look at the Law Society page on clinical legal education  
• The International Journal of Clinical Legal Education is a free online journal.  There are lots of good articles about student law clinics.  You can look through the archives to see if any of the articles interest you.

In a changing legal landscape where transactions or litigation cases are increasingly complex, and often cross-border, clients (and therefore employers) expect more from their lawyers; they require practitioners with a flexibility of approach and thinking, and an international mind-set. This episode discusses how international educational experiences can build exciting careers for the lawyers of tomorrow. 

The ReImagine Law team are joined by Eileen Murphy (3rd year student on Queen Mary University of London’s dual qualification degree in England and France), and Chris Jorgenson (Director of Institutional Partnerships at Barbri Global) who is qualified in both the USA and the UK. Together, they discuss themes ranging from the contrasting approaches of different global legal systems to the challenges of studying in different languages – and the range of career paths which international studies can open up. 

Lessons from them include, ‘Think Big’ and make yourself relevant by building a broad skill-set.  And be ambitious to apply for international opportunities even when there might be only a few places available – after all, someone will be successful! 

We always encourage listeners to undertake practical actions after listening to the episode. 

• Think about difference: what differences might there be between working in your native country and a different jurisdiction? How can you benefit from this difference?  Find someone in your network who might have this experience, and ask them!
• Research ten different international career options.  It might be helpful to start by looking at the following; Government Legal Services, the United Nations, a global law firm, and the judicial appointments commission.  

Useful resources:

• Here are some tips and tricks from Chris.
• Read about the double degree that Eileen undertakes. 
• Look at recruitment pages to see what types of opportunities exist.

The legal sector is vast and has so many career options.  The legal system and private practice involves a lot of talented, professional individuals who do not work as lawyers earning fees from clients. This episode shines a light of the various roles in human resources, information technology, business development, marketing, and learning and development.

The Re-Imagine Law team meet Abena Poku, Head of Marketing and Business Development for Africa at Hogan Lovells and Deborah McCormack, Head of Early Talent at Pinsent Masons. They explain their roles, the departments they work in and how they support the business of law firms. 

In this episode we hear about Abena’s journey into the legal world, what attracted her to marketing, her journey with big corporates and smaller firms and how she ended up in the legal sector; as well as what is involved in her role. For Debs, she will share why she chose to stop working as a corporate lawyer, and how so many of the skills she learned stood her in good stead for a role not directing practicing law; how she followed her values to then work in early talent with the support of a colleague she had always admired.  Our guests highlight the transferable skills generated through legal studies and career, and how these can lead to a world of rarely considered and too often overlooked, opportunities. 

And as with so many of our episodes key themes shine through whoever we talk to, and from this one…if you really want to find a career and role where you will be happy and grow you need to match your values to the right culture & environment of the company you work with.  

We always encourage listeners to undertake practical actions after listening to the episode. 

1. Visit 3 large law firm websites and look at the different careers which are advertised (other than as a lawyer).

• https://www.hoganlovells.com/en/global-careers/careers-in-birmingham/career-categories/business-services-professionals-pa-support
• https://www.pinsentmasons.com/about-us#3 

2.  Reflect on the pandemic period.  What have you learnt about yourself and what you enjoy during this time? For example interacting with people and so does this rule out some roles? How have you adapted to the changes that Covid19 has brought to us? Does this impact your career choice?

Useful resources:

• What is business development? https://www.indeed.co.uk/career-advice/career-development/business-development-skills 
• Learning and Development in Law Firms – a benchmark: https://www.thelawyer.com/reports/learning-development-benchmarking-2020/ 
• Explore the world of marketing at Marketing Week: https://www.marketingweek.com/ 

In this episode of ReImagineLaw we speak with David Halliwell, Partner for Client Solutions at law firm Pinsent Masons to consider how the legal services landscape is changing and what that means for those developing their careers.  What career paths and skill sets will be key in the future?

The discussion begins by exploring the impact that changes in regulation have had on the types of businesses providing legal services in the UK.  We discuss how law firms and other service providers such as the Big 4 offer a much wider range of legal services, and the importance of seeing the service provision through the client’s eyes.  What will add value for the client?  What is important to them now?  Also, what is the business problem they are trying to solve and on which they need support from their law firm?  The importance of connecting with clients on a ‘values’ level is highlighted, for example on ‘Environmental, Social, Governance’ (ESG) issues which are top of many Board agendas now.

We also consider the importance of these changes on career paths and skill sets.  The importance of being curious and being open to changing one’s career path is highlighted (as David explains he did himself).  Also we highlight how there are different models of employment now in the legal sector and the option of being employed on a ‘project’ type arrangement for those seeking greater flexibility.

We always encourage listeners to undertake practical actions after listening to the episode. 

1. Read widely to understand the context of the services you might be providing as a lawyer, pick 2 articles from a publication such as The Economist. 
2. Talk to someone in your network who is currently working in a firm, or ask to be introduced to someone by a friend. Ask them “What tools and approaches is the firm using to prepare for the future?”

Useful resources:

• The future of legal services:

https://www.collectivecampus.io/blog/7-leaders-share-their-thoughts-on-the-future-of-legal-services 

https://thestudentlawyer.com/2020/08/09/future-of-legal-profession/

• New services firms offer, and new ways of working:

https://www.globallegalpost.com/big-stories/pinsent-masons-boosts-professional-services-offering-with-vario-expansion-13381819/