Today’s lawyers are required to be professional by their regulator both in their chosen disciplines and in a range of people and commercial skills that they may not have foreseen as students or trainees.

 

Partners and senior associates are expected to fulfil leadership, project management and business development roles that require skills and mindsets different from, and complementary to, their technical abilities. Their firm’s ability to differentiate increasingly depends on such abilities and firms which invest in them can gain significant competitive advantage over those who do not. 

 

Beyond a superficial appeal, traditional business schools can struggle to engage students meaningfully and to generate practical learning. Training companies impart one-size-fits-all tools and tips that lack substance and relevance. One-off experiential learnings create short-term openings that may not translate into new habits. Coaching, even when effective, may be used only for remedial purposes. And experienced or retired lawyers, who may command initial respect may "lecture" their juniors and focus on the details of “how they did it” rather than distilling and bringing alive the underlying principles that remain useful, relevant and valid.

 

This is not our way.