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Fitting in with a firm’s strategy

What sorts of things are on your wish list for your dream job? The work you want to do, the reputation of the firm, salary, benefits, career prospects, location, likeable people and a good environment? I would agree with all of those. However, there is one element that is often not given the consideration it warrants, if indeed it is thought about at all.

The question is: Do you fit in with what the firm is trying to achieve in a strategic sense? Do you even know what that is? Don’t depend on your prospective employer deciding on the answer, as they may have given little thought to it themselves. If this is the case, then you should start to hear alarm bells. A firm that has no clear vision of where it wants to go (or has not devised a plan for getting there) is an outfit that is likely to drift on at best and lurch from one crisis to another at worst.

Paralegal Conferences

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Becoming a Paralegal

Legal Secretaries wishing to move up the career ladder can undertake relevant legal training in order to become paralegals - often the path chosen by law graduates with no specific contracts in place. Paralegals - a member of staff who has some form of official qualification in the law but who is not a solicitor or legal executive lawyer - carry out varying tasks, but some people are more suited to the position than others.

The National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP) suggests that certain characteristics are important when considering potential effectiveness in such a role. Firstly, it states that honesty and integrity are paramount and that people within the industry need to ensure they are putting the client's needs first. Secondly, it emphasises a level of competence among employees, decreeing that those that are not able to do their jobs very often lead uncomfortable and stressful lives. Taking responsibility for the work that has to be done is also of importance to the institute as those who tend to leave problems unresolved rarely succeed in the profession.
 

How the BabyBarista came into being

Tim Kevan is barrister-turned-novelist and creator of the infamous BabyBarista. Totallylegal editor Natalie Harris asks him about how he came to write a novel for Harry Potter’s publisher, Bloomsbury.


Back in early 2007, I had been practising as a barrister at 1 Temple Gardens for some nine years and was enjoying the life of a common law practitioner based in London. But I’d always dreamt of living by the sea and the surf, and maybe even of writing a novel. I just couldn’t quite see how it could be done.

Lawyers: How to adapt to the changing face of law firms

Andrew Woolley of the niche successful virtual Family law, Woolley & Co, recently observed on his firms’s ezine:

“In 20 years' time, the landscape for law firms will look very different. There could be as many as two thirds fewer law firms and large providers – people like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – will be offering off-the-shelf legal services that currently require the specific expertise of a law firm.

“During the recession, large numbers of lawyers have been made redundant. This is highly unusual as firms normally do what they can to hold on to their talent. So those making changes in staffing must be looking to industry changes in the future.

The Borneo Dilemma

I previously wrote about how Advocates for International Development (A4ID) had launched their Newly Qualified Lawyers' Programme, as one way in which firms show their Corporate Social Responsibility.

As Michael Smyth of Clifford Chance said in a feature I wrote for In-House Lawyer, “it is considered as part of the metrics for bonuses, and certainly it is a factor in determining the ‘A’ list for partnership”.

Smyth, (then), was concerned in case “the glamorous end of the work in terms of international pro bono supplants community based activity which is more attractive to the younger lawyer”.

There are those, like him, who feel that many lawyers doing voluntary work within the confines of their firm’s CSR policy can do good work at home; others, like A4ID, feel they should offer lawyers the chance to use their professional skills.