Lawyers as Leaders - Leading Women Lawyers

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Becoming a “Champion” Lawyer

“Being a lawyer is not about knowing everything - it is about knowing where to look”

It is also about developing a 6th sense or feeling when you know intuitively that something is wrong, but you can’t put your finger on it immediately, or you know that you have read something on the point, you just have to locate it in the filing pile!

However the sad fact of life is that whilst you might be highly intuitive (as many women lawyers are), the legal world operates on hard facts and evidence. Masking your intuition and converting it to hard facts and evidence takes effort. Is it any wonder that lawyers feel stressed?

Your added value as a lawyer is in your ability to manage your talent and keep abreast of legal developments - not always easy in a rapidly changing legal landscape. Sometimes with a complete change in law, it is almost an advantage to start with a clean piece of paper rather than have to switch between old and the new to recognise what has changed.

So do you know how you learn best? Is it by sitting quietly by yourself and reading through guidance or is attending a seminar? Or is it talking through with colleagues and proactively discussing case studies?

What is often forgotten is the wealth of experience that exists within a law office. As a past Training Manager with the Crown Prosecution Service, the bulk of their training was delivered by in-house experts or champions who I helped train. Whilst it saved on cost, the added bonus was that the lawyer / trainers were able to inject real-life examples and experiences, which helped the training to come alive for their audience.

The danger (as you well know) is that lawyers may be great at their job but not so great at presenting, explaining or teaching it.

Becoming a good trainer does take time and effort; however, it is one way to demonstrate your added value to your firm or organisation and gain recognition as the subject expert. It also means that you have an added incentive for keeping up to date with legal developments etc. It also adds another string to your bow and is another way to reach out to potential clients and contacts and establish your credibility.

Does the prospect appear daunting? Then the secret is to choose a niche area and specialise in that. Start small. Why not volunteer to prepare and deliver a 15 –30 minute briefing for clients and colleagues? Follow up after the event for feedback and also to strengthen working relationships. A well-informed client makes your life easier and should also hopefully ensure that they will consult you at an early stage, rather than when they hit major problems.

To help grow Leading Women Lawyers please forward this Leading Women Lawyers newsletter to as many friends and colleagues as you can. Your friends can sign up to receive this newsletter at www.leadingwomenlawyers.co.uk. Leading Women Lawyers is for everyone interested in developing their talent.

Until next time and best wishes

Jane Wintringham

Leading Women Lawyers, Develop4choice, 20 Thornfield Road, West Park, Leeds LS16 5AR, United Kingdom
Tel 0113 305 3604 | Email: info@leadingwomenlawyers.co.uk