Since launch of the In-house Future Forum last year, its members have discussed a variety of topics affecting the legal profession from the perspective of those in the early stages of their careers (see Practical Law In-house Future Forum: shaping the direction of the legal profession).
Meetings to date have focused on:
- Hybrid working – and how individuals and their managers can mitigate its potential impact on career progression.
- Networking – including advice on how to adopt a structured approach to making connections and build your confidence as a less experienced networker.
- Mentoring – discussing how to find a formal mentor, and recognising mentoring elements in existing relationships that can give you what you need.
- Career development and common sticking points, including imposter syndrome, work/life “balance” and identifying and filling gaps in your skillset.
We have gathered together Practical Law’s materials capturing key takeaways from the Future Forum meetings in the Practical Law In-house Future Forum toolkit, which can be accessed through the In-house Resource Centre.
In addition to insights from our Steering Committee members, several expert contributors have given their time to presenting, and answered audience questions. Thanks again to:
- Andre Brown, then Senior Commissioning Editor at Practical Law and now Manager, Product Strategy and Partnerships at Thomson Reuters.
- Justine Campbell, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at National Grid plc and Co-Lead for the GC100 Legal Profession of the Future workstream.
- Alisa Grafton, author of Great Networking: The Art and Practice of Building Authentic Professional Relationships.
- Sarah Lawrence of SL coach, business and executive coach and formerly a senior financial services product manager.
- Jonathan Macfarlane of The Professional Career Partnership; formerly a partner at Macfarlanes.
The toolkit will be updated periodically with new Future Forum materials. Subscribers can enable the alert function on the toolkit so that they receive emails notifying them of updates.
If there are any topics you would like to suggest as subjects for a future meeting, you can get in touch through the Feedback option at the bottom of the Practical Law homepage, connect with us on LinkedIn, or comment on this blog post.
