Managing and Leading an Effective In-House Legal Department

Introduction from the Course Presenters

Course overview

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

Why you should attend this programme?

Overwhelming volumes of activity, demanding response time and shortage of resource seem to be the fate of many legal departments. 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.

This programme 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.

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.

This programme will explain how to:

ENSURE that legal risk and the need for legal services are managed coherently to reduce exposure
DEAL with budgetary issues and manage resources to stay cost-effective
EFFECTIVELY select and manage external lawyers to secure valuable service delivery
INFLUENCE and persuade colleagues to ensure all parts of the organisation recognise and manage their legal risk
TAKE a strategic role in the organisation to make a useful contribution to growth and success
ENCOURAGE members of the legal team to contribute more than legal advice to highlight the added value of your department
UNDERSTAND the challenges and risks of managing cross-jurisdictional teams to deliver more effective solutions

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.

Programme - Day 1

The challenges confronting in-house lawyers

The need and demands for legal services and in-house resourcing options

Building the full picture
Supporting business development and preservation
Assessing future needs
Risk appetite and corporate culture
Compliance roles and challenges
Pressures on the organisation and the legal team

*Risk appetite, corporate culture and compliance challenges

Resourcing legal services – selecting 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

Business acumen for in-house lawyers

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

Maximising resources within budget constraints

Optimising portfolios
Quality assurance
Information management
Support staff
Work environment

Programme - Day 2

Legal awareness for non-lawyers

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

Orchestrating the cost effective contribution of external providers

Scoping effort
Remuneration options
Securing added value
Cultural nuances

Influencing others

Scenarios
Tips

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

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

Presenters

Mark Prebble

Mark Prebble, during his 21 years as an employed in-house lawyer, has 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.

Anthony Inglese

Anthony Inglese was the top lawyer in five government departments before his retirement. His last legal department won two awards in 2013 for Best In-House Public Sector Legal Team. He is the leading trainer of lawyers within the Government Legal Service on professionalism and ethics, having trained over 2,500 lawyers during the last 25 years.

Richard Norman

Richard Norman is as an international business lawyer. He has worked in Europe, Asia and America for four multinational companies. 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. In addition to working as a consultant for Lawyers in Business, Richard acts as an adviser to a Zurich law firm and leads further education course for lawyers at the Universities of Zurich and Luzern in Switzerland.