Course

Business law

Managing and Leading an Effective In-House Legal Department

Course overview

Two-days to understand current best practice and creative value-added solutions to your management challenges

Why you should attend this programme?

A legal department has no right to exist. It needs to justify its existence and develop clarity and consensus about what it focuses on and how it is resourced. This has to be done in the context of how the organisation manages legal risk and uses legal services. Overwhelming volume of activity, demanding response time and shortage of resource seem to be the fate of many legal departments.

Some heads of legal departments have no appetite for managing others, but find themselves in that position due to seniority. The temptation to concentrate on matter rather than people management can be great.

This seminar enables you to take a step back from the overloaded in-box and explore the options open to you. It includes discussion on issues and solutions, with concurrent workshops, as well as the evaluation of sample materials.

The presenters from Lawyers in Business have experience of supporting in-house legal departments internationally, as well as managing them.

Concurrent practical workshops

The programme features concurrent workshop sessions that addresses the key challenges faced by all organisations when trying to refocus resource to meet the demands of the business. The workshop is split by interest depending on whether you have a multi jurisdictional team or are based in one location.

Who should attend?

Heads of legal teams or those aspiring to manage other lawyers
Legal affairs directors and managers
Private practice lawyers contemplating a move to a senior in-house role

Please note that this seminar is relevant to whatever jurisdiction you are practicing in. It is relevant to those working in one in-house team in one location as well as those working in dispersed in-house teams covering several jurisdiction.

What are the objectives of this programme?

Over the course of two intensive days training you will learn how to:

Establish the role and strategy of the in-house legal function
Demonstrate the value of the legal function
Respond to cost-cutting pressures
Manage and develop the in-house legal team
Understand the different roles and purposes of the legal team
Develop a useful legal risk management strategy
Assess current trends in the use of outside counsel
Manage the long-term relationship with outside counsel including partnering

PLUS: As well as receiving full background notes and documentation, delegates will also receive a copy of the recently published Thorogood publication, Managing In-House Legal Services.

The timetable

Registration will take place on day one from 9.00-9.30.
Day one: 9.00-17.00 • Day two: 9.00-17.00

The course consists of two full days of interactive training with time allowed in the schedule for group and individual learning and coaching. Each day will have refreshment breaks and one hour scheduled for lunch.

Programme - Day 1

The challenges confronting in-house lawyers

Pressures on the organisation and the legal team
Career perspectives
Attitudes to management

The need and demands for legal services

Building the full picture
Supporting business development and preservation
Assessing future needs
Risk appetite and corporate culture
Compliance roles

Resourcing legal services- in-house

Resource options
In-house capability decisions
- Specialists or generalists
- Qualified or unqualified
- Permanent or contract
Cost allocation options
Developing a blueprint

Resourcing legal services – external providers

Remit
Selection methods
Business involvement in:
- Selection
- Remit
- Review

Concurrent Workshops

Refocusing legal department resource

Workshop 1 In-house team in one location covering one jurisdiction

Workshop 2 Dispersed in-house team covering several jurisdictions

Expectations of the legal team

Client care
Aligning legal strategy to organisational strategy
Reporting lines
Client discipline
Setting expectation
Supporting the commercial objectives

Developing the in-house team

Competency profiles
Skills development training
Performance management
Coaching

Programme - Day 2

Legal awareness for non-lawyers

Getting management buy-in
The case for legal awareness
Developing an awareness programme
Proven techniques

Business acumen for in-house lawyers

Management processes
Useful tools and jargon
Bottom line impact of legal activity
Increasing commercial awareness

Orchestrating the cost effective contribution of external providers

Scoping effort
Remuneration options
Securing added value
Cultural nuances

Maximising resources within budget constraints

Optimising portfolios
Quality assurance
Information management
Support staff
Work environment

Influencing skills

Why do we need to influence?
What is influence?
How can we go about developing influence?
How this can make a difference in practice?

Concurrent Workshops

Leadership and performance management challenges

Workshop 1 Functional responsibility without authority

Workshop 2 High-performer with adversarial or non co-operative attitude

Developing yourself

Honest-self-assessment
Continuous improvement
Staying up-to-date and engaged
Networking

A year in the life of a head of a legal team

Planning your effort
Reconciling your efforts

The expert faculty

The training faculty

The presenters from Lawyers in Business have experience of supporting in-house legal departments internationally, as well as managing them.

MARK PREBBLE During his 21 years as an employed in-house lawyer, Mark worked for ICI and The BOC Group plc in the UK, and Biogen and SGS in Switzerland. He held the positions of General Counsel at SGS and Group Legal Adviser at The BOC Group plc. Since 1998 when he established Lawyers in Business, Mark has worked with in-house legal departments, providing coaching and support for in-house lawyers, wherever located, on management issues, legal department performance and projects involving raising legal awareness. Mark runs workshops for in-house lawyers in Europe and Asia. He also undertakes project management work for businesses, which have no legal department and interim management of legal departments.

RICHARD NORMAN As an international business lawyer, Richard has worked in Europe, Asia and America for four multinational companies. Most recently he held the position of Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs for Dell Inc. from 1993 to 2006, where he built up and managed the 40-strong European legal team from inception as well as establishing the Asia Pacific Legal Department. He was a key member of Dell’s European Management Team and played a significant role in the multi-billion dollar growth of the EMEA business. He was a member of General Counsel’s executive staff and also managed Government Relations issues in individual countries and with the EU in Brussels. Richard joined Dell from Tektronix, Inc. where he was European Legal Counsel based in Switzerland. Previously he worked for Hoover Plc and Grand Metropolitan Plc in London.