Leadership Skills Development

Key issues for most firms are succession and recruitment and retention of key people, especially people who may be future partners and leaders.

Much of our work has traditionally been in this area, however we have also worked with a number of firms developing in-house management skills programmes.   These are typically designed for senior associates and junior partners and are intended to introduce them to the key areas of law firm management, to open their eyes as to what may be possible, and to identify future stars.

They concentrate on three core areas that people at this level have often not previously encountered: finance; managing and motivating people; and developing and implementing strategy.

The typical programme format of a 12 month course would include:

• six bi-monthly modules, 10.00am – 4.00pm
• pre-reading before each module
• assignments after each module
• small group
• highly interactive
• the fee includes core reading books.

This type of programme works very well in-house:

• the programme can be adapted to suit the needs of the firm
• the financial and strategy modules will be based around your own figures and plans
• key members of the management team, such as the CEO and finance director, would contribute to modules
• the final module would include the results of assignments the participants will have undertaken relating to key issues facing the firm – to be presented to the Management Board
• the participants learn as a group
• participants develop a better understanding of people they may spend the rest of their careers working with
• it is a great way of identifying future partners.

“We set up our management training programme because we wanted to ensure that our younger solicitors learned the skills that we think are required to manage a modern law firm, and to enable us to identify potential future partners not only based on their legal ability but also based on their ability to manage their own team and potentially the firm itself. The programme has been a massive success as the people who went through it are thoroughly engaged with the business, several have been promoted (including three to junior partner level) and the next generation of solicitors are very, very keen to be included on the programme when we run it again.”