Legal 500 researcher William Farrington speaks to senior female lawyers about partnership, diversity, and recruitment in India’s legal market
A hot-button topic across the legal profession globally, diversity is one one of the key talking points for researchers at The Legal 500 when conducting interviews. During my recent stint as a researcher into the Indian legal scene, I raised the issue in a (virtual) all-female roundtable discussion with several senior lawyers at Samvad Partners, …
Continue reading “Some clients don’t like negotiating with women”
The Big Issue: Leadership
Ted Blum, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Atlanta office and chair of the firm’s Atlanta Corporate Practice, outlines five ways to foster a culture of empowerment within your organisation
Most companies recognise that employee empowerment is a critical component of an organisation’s long-term success. Giving employees a certain degree of autonomy often leads to new ideas and innovation and, simply put, trying out new things is always a worthwhile experiment. Yet, developing a culture that supports empowerment is often easier said than done. This …
Continue reading “How to empower and encourage your employees”
Leadership
Patrick J. McKenna, internationally recognised author and advisor to the leaders of premier legal businesses, outlines eight truths of leadership arising from his extensive work with past and present law firm leaders
The very concept of leadership is elusive and tricky. Every business-book author coins a new ‘type’ which is then sold as the latest elixir to problems. We see these everywhere: authentic leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, etc. It is hard to define leadership in a way that is satisfactory to everyone, although most professionals tell …
Continue reading “The firm leadership truths we don’t talk about”
The Big Issue: Leadership
Philippa Ward, solicitor and founding member of the Spark Board, explains her firm’s new initiative and how it will bring a new perspective to strategic decision-making at Pinsent Masons
In the summer of 2018 I heard Richard Foley, our senior partner, speak about how diversity of thought improves the quality of decision making. Perhaps somewhat bravely, I approached him and asked, ‘how can we better embrace this value at Pinsent Masons?’ I suggested what I then thought to be the solution: a junior board. …
Continue reading “Sparking a new movement?”
The Big Issue: Leadership
Law firms must better connect with clients and deliver up to their high standards based on best international practices, says Demarest’s Andoni Hernandez Bengoa
I admit that when I first discussed the opportunity of joining Demarest, I was surprised by their approach and by the interest from one of the leading local – and most traditional – Brazilian law firms in bringing on board a foreign lawyer with an international career. It is true that I had been in …
Continue reading “The real value of cultural diversity”
Leadership
EMEA editor Ella Marshall talks to Dentons’ new Europe chief mindfulness officer, Karina Furga-Dabrowska, on the modern pressures faced by lawyers and how law firms can better combat poor mental health and wellbeing among their workforces
Karina, you’ve been a lawyer for 20 years, how has the profession changed in terms of the pressure placed on lawyers? Lawyers today operate under a heightened sense of urgency, which creates more stress. Clients want answers immediately (yesterday was too late!) and they demand lower fees so we are constantly striving to be faster, …
Continue reading “Good wellbeing starts with good leadership”
Leadership
Sarah Nelson Smith is the Regional General Counsel for WeWork, an international company that transforms buildings into collaborative workspaces and communities. While in her previous role as Chief Legal Officer of Kentucky Fried Chicken, she helped to steer the company successfully through the #chickencrisis of 2018, when a distribution failure led to the closure of the majority of the KFC restaurants in the UK. In an exclusive extract from her new book You Didn’t Mention The Piranhas, Sarah writes candidly about how it feels to be in the middle of a PR crisis
In the second week of the crisis, the snow came. It had toyed with us for several days, threatening a festive dusting, but then changed tack and engulfed the country in a thick white blanket, mocking the valiant efforts to get trucks loaded and onto the roads by rendering many of them impassable. I needed …
Continue reading “The importance of supportive leadership”
Diversity and inclusion
Women lawyers don’t need fixing to become leaders, its law firm structures and systems that are holding us back, writes former Orrick partner Patricia K. Gillette
Dorothy. For most of us that name immediately evokes images of a young woman, a hurricane, and a wicked witch. Yes, The Wizard of Oz. But one image Dorothy never conjures up is that of a female leader. And yet, isn’t that exactly what Dorothy is? She takes the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly …
Continue reading “Women are ready. Is the legal industry?”
Leadership
The co-chairs of Latham & Watkins’ Chicago litigation and trial department, Terra Reynolds and Eric R. Swibel, talk about their route to practice management, law firm culture, and some best practice advice on making partnership
To give some background, please give us an overview of your career trajectories to this point? Terra Reynolds: I started out in government and served for more than a decade as an assistant US attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, eventually becoming deputy chief. In that role, I tried more than a dozen federal …
Continue reading “Gracefully tooting your own horn to partnership”
Leadership
Raising awareness, engaging with your people, and changing behaviours can help improve your environmental performance, explains Dr Georgios Zampas, senior citizenship executive at Herbert Smith Freehills
At Herbert Smith Freehills, we recognise that everyone has a part to play in balancing our growth as a business with reducing our impact on the environment. We have a responsibility to align our approach to sustainability across all of the offices in our network and our intention is to create – and be part …
Continue reading “Reasons to go green”
