REUTERS | Jorge Adorno
September 30, 2019

The power of touch in dealing with stress and promoting wellbeing in the legal workplace

Two recent surveys have highlighted the prevalence of stress in the legal workplace. Insurance firm, Protectivity, has surveyed 1,000 British workers and found that, after those in human resources, lawyers are the most stressed professionals in the country: 63% of respondents active in the legal industry reported stress on a daily basis (https://www.protectivity.com/stress-in-the-uk/).  In addition, the latest findings of the Law Society Junior Lawyers Division’s  annual resilience and wellbeing report reveal that one in 15 junior lawyers have experienced suicidal thoughts. Of more than 1,800 respondents, 48% said they had experienced mental ill-health in the last month, up from 38% last year.   93% of respondents said they experienced stress in their role and a quarter of those experienced severe or extreme levels of stress.

In this context, I spoke with experienced executive coach Katie Rowland, of Rowland & Associates Ltd, about Havening Techniques, a relatively new psycho-sensory approach, and how it can be used in the legal profession to alleviate stress, strengthen resilience and promote wellbeing.

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REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
September 26, 2019

MOSAIC: mentoring and wellbeing

MOSAIC stands for Mentoring Opportunities Amongst In-house Counsel and is the global mentoring programme for in-house legal professionals. Our fourth and final post on mentoring looks at mental wellbeing in the legal profession and considers how having a mentor, or being one, can help emotional health and mental wellbeing.

MOSAIC tackles mental wellbeing in the in-house legal profession head on. To understand what we mean by this please watch our short video. We show this video wherever we go to talk about MOSAIC and the benefits of mentoring because it speaks for itself. The video resonates with most viewers, either because they have been there themselves or know a colleague or friend who has been there.

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REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
September 23, 2019

What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in October 2019?

With the UK due to leave the EU on 31 October 2019, Brexit planning remains top of the agenda for in-house lawyers this month. Other developments of note concern the supply of statutory audit services and Good Work Plan proposals to help working parents.

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REUTERS | Vasily Fedosenko
September 9, 2019

Practical Law training survey: one month left to share your views

Practical Law’s compliance training survey is still open [survey now closed]. Enter by 8 October 2019 to benchmark your organisation’s own approach and (for UK residents) the opportunity to enter a prize draw for a chance to win one of ten £25 Amazon vouchers (subject to terms and conditions).

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REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
September 2, 2019

Privacy and cybersecurity: Autumn agenda 2019

Since our last quarterly horizon scan, attention for in-house lawyers is inevitably returning to Brexit and those focused on privacy and cybersecurity will now need to be gearing up seriously for a no-deal outcome. As many will not need reminding, following the agreement to extend the Article 50 period, if the withdrawal agreement is not ratified by 31 October, the Article 50 period will end at 11pm on that date and the UK will leave the EU with no deal unless a further extension is agreed or the Article 50 notice is revoked. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Navesh Chitrakar
August 29, 2019

MOSAIC: the mentee

MOSAIC stands for Mentoring Opportunities Amongst In-house Counsel  and is the global mentoring programme for in-house legal professionals. The third in our series of posts looks at the importance of getting a mentor, why mentoring shouldn’t be reserved for the select few and how to make the most of a mentoring relationship.

The concept of having a mentor is usually reserved for the upper echelons of senior management. Built into MBAs and executive leadership programmes, mentoring is an absolute right of passage and an essential tool in professional development. However, if it’s that important to senior executives and the next generations of leaders, why don’t we start mentoring much earlier? And why is there an even more notable absence of mentoring in the in-house legal profession? Here are a few thoughts that might answer the question.

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REUTERS | Jason Lee
August 27, 2019

Why your organisation needs a climate crisis committee: using language to effect radical business change

How is your organisation discussing and describing the current climate situation?  Is it a climate change or a climate crisis?  Are you even discussing it at all?  Over the last year there has been a radical shift in public opinion on climate crisis. Extreme weather events, the rise of the school climate strike movement, Extinction Rebellion and yet another devastating David Attenborough television programme – ‘Climate Change – the facts’ have all contributed to this shift.  The facts have not changed, but public opinion has.  It is likely that legislation will swiftly follow – is your company ready for the shift?  How do we take corporate action on such a large and complex issue?

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REUTERS | Amr Abdallah Dalsh
August 23, 2019

What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in September 2019?

Despite the Parliamentary recess, Brexit still dominates the agenda as the new Prime Minister grapples with his role and sets out his strategy. The deadline of 31 October 2019 is fast approaching, with many analysts indicating that a no deal is now more likely than ever. As such, no deal planning remains the key risk for in-house lawyers in September. Other news of note this month includes the release of a new version of the Incoterms® by the International Chamber of Commerce.

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REUTERS |
August 7, 2019

Just a bit of box ticking: complete the Practical Law training survey and benchmark your organisation’s compliance programme

The In-house blog has published numerous items on aspects of whistleblowing over the past few years, but whistleblowing’s geekier cousin, training, has received less attention.

Training is like rewiring your house when you move in: it costs a lot of money and, when it’s done properly, nobody really notices. It doesn’t generate the headlines that compliance breaches do, but it’s a crucial way of reducing the likelihood of those costly events. Continue reading →