The Skills of a High Achieving In-House Lawyer
Course overview
What this programme is about
Going in-house can be a great career move, however it’s a very different environment to work within and you need to understand the commercial drivers of the business. Your success will hinge not only on how you behave in terms of the way you work and the relationships you build, but also on the way you interact with colleagues and the support you get from your manager(s).
This course enables you to take a step back from the overloaded in-box and consider what solutions are open to you. It includes practical discussion on issues and tried and tested solutions to your key challenges.
This programme has been specifically designed to focus and boost the essential skills you need to grow and develop as a high achieving in-house lawyer within a commercial environment. Just one-day of very intensive training will supercharge your business skills in line with your legal expertise.
What are the key objectives:
To enable participants to:
- Explore techniques for effective portfolio management
- Boost your client care techniques to have a greater influence on colleagues
- Integrate with business colleagues whilst maintaining professional independence
- Use available resources to best effect
- Adopt successful techniques for raising legal awareness
- Apply a business wide risk management strategy
- Identify initiatives for personal development
Who should attend?
• Any in-house lawyer who wants to develop their business skills to enhance overall performance
• Any who are about to move or have recently moved to an in-house role, whatever their level of experience
You will benefit from this course whatever jurisdiction you operate in. Although cultural nuances exist, many of the challenges and solutions for in-house lawyers are universal. The presenters can testify!
Delivery style
This programme has been designed to be highly interactive and experiential. The expert presenters will use a balanced blend of learning styles including group exercises and discussions and will draw from their immense experience from over 40 years working as in-house lawyers. Participants will be invited to discuss their own challenges with the trainers and other participants to highlight key learning points from a diverse set of experiences, industries and organisations.
Programme
Programme
Welcome and introductions
Developing yourself
- Honest assessment and continuous improvement
- Legal know how
- Behaviour and competencies
- Complementary management skills
- Career development options
- The unwritten rules
Making the most of being in a legal team
- Intelligent information sharing
- Ensuring communication and consistency
- Getting the best out of shared support staff
- Supporting and getting support from colleagues
- Reporting and managing upwards
- Setting expectation
Communication skills
- Verbal and written clarity
- Techniques for distilling complex information
- Executive summaries and elevator pitches
- Self promotion through effective influencing skills
Managing upwards
- Transparency and accountability
- Delivering solutions to problems
- Reconciling your aspirations with the department’s needs
- Getting more from appraisals
Understanding your clients needs to deliver effective legal support
- Knowledge of the business and business acumen
- Concentrating on what matters
- Building relationships while maintaining credibility
- Matrix reporting issues
- Client surveys
Influencing your clients to ensure legal compliance
- How they use you
- How they manage legal risk
- How they follow your recommendations
- Effective positioning and access to key clients
Raising legal awareness across the organisation
- Ensuring management support
- Defining the scope
- Proven techniques to raise Legal’s profile
- Measurement and management
- Gaining mutual respect
The expert faculty
Presenters
Mark Prebble during his 21 years as an employed in-house lawyer, 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. He also undertakes project management work for businesses, which have no legal department and interim management of legal departments. He has written Managing In-House Legal Services published by Thorogood Publishing and Right in It – where in-house lawyers should be.
Richard Norman is 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. He is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, with both Masters and Bachelor of Law degrees from University College, London.
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There are no dates confirmed for this course yet. Please contact us for further information.
Customised training
We can customise this course to meet the requirements of your organisation.
