LawCare held its inaugural conference, Building a Better Life in the Law, at the end of September. Speakers and panellists from across the profession gave their thoughts on how to make the law a happier place to work. Here are my key takeaways.
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October 13, 2022
Building a Better Life in the Law: key takeaways
REUTERS | Pedestrian cross the new diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus in London November 2, 2009. The design of the new £5 million ($8.2 million) pound crossing was inspired by the Shibuya crossing in Tokyo and allows pedestrians to cross diagonally. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN TRANSPORT CITYSCAPE SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY)
October 12, 2022
Industry Q&As on restructuring and insolvency
The first half of this year saw a rising number of company insolvencies in England and Wales, which reached their highest quarterly level since 2009 between April and June.
Businesses are facing significant volatility as they negotiate mounting energy costs, interest rate hikes, supply chain strains and the withdrawal of pandemic-related government support. Continue reading
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The strong headwinds currently facing the UK economy are being felt by us all. With double digit inflation forecast to continue into 2023, we will all be feeling a squeeze on our living standards. Further pressure on household budgets is also now being seen in higher mortgage and rental costs. This tightening of belts has already had significant impacts on consumer confidence which in turn is playing out in the real economy in the form of reduced consumer spending. Continue reading
REUTERS | Navesh Chitrakar
October 7, 2022
Managing up and sideways
The Centre for Legal Leadership is hosting a webinar, in collaboration with Joanna Gaudoin, on managing up and sideways at 10:00 on 17 October 2022.
The most challenging work relationships are often with peers or more senior people. It is essential to be able to work positively and effectively with both these groups to achieve what you need to further your career. This session will look at the benefits of great relationships with these people, what to consider to help you build them and how to navigate specific challenges that arise.
Please register for the webinar on The Centre for Legal Leadership website.
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Practical Law In-house is excited to have launched the Future Forum, a new layer of its Consultation Board designed to capture the perspective of early-career lawyers and act as a focus point for feedback between the different layers of the profession.
The Forum is led by a Steering Committee of lawyers working in different sectors, at different stages of their in-house careers and who have followed a variety of routes into law – but who share a passion for the law and for improving the experience of working in the legal profession.
REUTERS | Ajay Verma
September 30, 2022
My journey to my first non-executive director position
Earlier this year, Practical Law published my article, Non-executive directors: my journey to my first NED position. It includes some background on my career and provides tips on what I learned when I was working towards my first NED role. For example:
- Join a NED support organisation to help you on the journey.
- Prepare your NED CV.
- It takes time to apply.
- NED roles vary by complexity and remuneration but are all competitive.
- Persevere through the rejections.
- Look for roles where your skills match.
- Follow your passions.
- Prepare for the interview.
- Do your organisation and sector due diligence.
REUTERS | Dominic Ebenbichler
September 26, 2022
What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in October 2022?
This month, in-house lawyers will be assessing the impact of the announcements made in the government’s “Growth Plan 2022”. They should also take note of the publication of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, and two reports by the FRC Lab.
REUTERS | Aly Song
September 23, 2022
The Hearing podcast: ep.101, Mindful lawyering: reducing stress, avoiding burnout & re-humanising the profession
Episode 101 of the Hearing is now available.
This episode examines the high prevalence of stress and burnout among lawyers, and what can be done to reduce it. Yasmin talks to Legatics CEO Anthony Seale and Lucy Shurwood from Pinsent Masons, one of the founding members of the Mindful Business Charter.
The trio discuss what burnout is, some common causes and what we can learn from the pandemic. Now that wellbeing conversations have come to the fore, firms are having to take an honest look at their corporate culture. But as well as focusing internally, it’s clear there are some brave conversations to be had about being equally as mindful to those we work with externally.
REUTERS | Tulips are pictured in a public park in Vienna, Austria, April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
September 21, 2022
Ensuring diverse representation to sustain legal innovation and change an industry
In the highly regulated and competitive biopharmaceutical industry, legal innovation is a critical driver of business success, guiding research and development (R&D), and matters of intellectual property (IP). Innovation in IP law is especially vital for a company like AbbVie, which has been at the forefront of R&D since its inception in 2013, investing almost $50 billion to advance and deliver new medicines.
To best serve our patients, researchers and partners, we have assembled a team of outside counsel from the top global law firms to help us navigate the legal complexities of developing solutions for the world’s toughest health challenges.
REUTERS | Bees are seen on the frame of a hive in a village of Ripanj near Belgrade, Serbia, April 9, 2019. Picture taken April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Marko Djurica - RC1799744470
September 14, 2022
Are you sacrificing effectiveness for the sake of efficiency?
Today’s legal departments are tasked with accomplishing and contributing more than ever before. Not only do they need to provide legal advice and oversee compliance, they must also anticipate threats, collaborate across teams, contribute towards shaping the strategic direction of their organisations, and more.
Still, most legal departments are measured against just a fraction of what their job really entails. Because, while most legal teams are using metrics-driven approaches to manage their departments, most are only reporting on external spend, turnaround and response times, and quality of work. In fact, this year 90% of departments reported that they used some form of metrics in 2021, compared to just 75% in 2015 (Thomson Reuters Institute 2022 State of Corporate Law Departments Report).