Gavin Howe
Creating a law team from scratch is no easy feat, but it can be done. The first step is to define the type of legal department you want to lead and the culture you want to create. This involves considering the specific needs of your business, the skills you have, and any gaps in your current setup. You should also think about the type of behaviours you want to foster in your team, such as creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork. Once you have a vision, you can start building your team with the right people, structures, and processes in place. This may include a mix of senior associates, junior lawyers, and even external legal solutions providers. To foster a cohesive team, consistent communication, career development opportunities, and a foundation of trust and respect are key.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Prioritisation | To-do lists for the week, month and quarter |
| Cross-functional | Lawyers working across the business |
| Culture | Transparency, development opportunities, team bonding |
| Structure | Regular meetings, intranet site, newsletters, career development opportunities |
| Communication | Consistent and regular |
| Trust and respect | Loyalty and having each other's backs |
| Work ethic | Going the extra mile |
| Creative problem-solving | Encouraging brainstorming |
| Risk-taking | Encouraging and managing risk |
| Collaboration | Recognising teamwork |
| Leadership | Defining the type of legal department |
| Skills | Technical and soft skills |
| Development | Nurturing junior talent |
| Delegation | Safely empowering tools and clients |
| Analysis | Work volume, client expectations, team experience |
| Strategy | Understanding the business |
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What You'll Learn
- Foster a team culture where lawyers can play in other parts of the business
- Encourage creative problem-solving, teamwork and risk-taking
- Create a structure by understanding the organisation's strategy, risks and risk appetite
- Prioritise listening to and meeting the needs of senior management and their clients
- Develop a team of intelligent, self-thinking individuals who can go the extra mile
Foster a team culture where lawyers can play in other parts of the business
A positive culture in a law firm is essential for its success. It creates a supportive and motivating environment for everyone in the firm, from senior partners to support staff. It is important to note that every law firm has a culture, whether it is intentional or not. A positive culture boosts employee satisfaction, enhances client experience, and drives long-term success.
To foster a team culture where lawyers can play in other parts of the business, it is crucial to recognize that lawyers bring a diverse set of skills and interests beyond their legal expertise. This is where the concept of T-shaped lawyers comes into play. A T-shaped lawyer combines their legal knowledge with interests and skills from outside the law, such as a passion for technology or marketing. By harnessing these cross-disciplinary strengths, lawyers can provide added value to the organization.
To create a culture that embraces this diversity of skills, leaders must align the team's behaviours with the desired culture. For example, if creativity and risk-taking are valued, meetings should be structured to encourage brainstorming and risk assessment. Leaders should also provide opportunities for lawyers to engage with other parts of the business. This could mean working closely with the IT team to address compliance issues or collaborating with the marketing team to ensure legal compliance of promotional materials.
Additionally, it is important to prioritize transparency and structure within the team. Lawyers should have a clear understanding of their roles and the overall goals of the legal team. This foundation enables lawyers to feel empowered to contribute beyond their traditional legal duties.
Finally, fostering a collaborative environment is key. Encouraging teamwork over competition will help lawyers feel supported and valued, which will extend to their interactions with clients. Creating a culture that promotes collaboration may involve offering team-building activities, establishing clear communication channels, and implementing a compensation system that rewards desired behaviours, such as collaboration and mentorship.
By following these principles, a law firm can cultivate a culture that enables lawyers to utilize their diverse skills and interests, contributing to the growth and success of the organization as a whole.
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Encourage creative problem-solving, teamwork and risk-taking
To encourage creative problem-solving, teamwork, and risk-taking in your law team, it is essential to foster a culture that promotes these behaviours and values. Here are some strategies to achieve this:
Foster a Collaborative Environment
Create a culture that values collaboration and teamwork. Encourage open communication, cross-functional teamwork, and the sharing of diverse perspectives. This can lead to fresh insights, innovative solutions, and a stronger team dynamic.
Embrace Innovation
Promote a culture of innovation by embracing new ideas, challenging assumptions, and experimenting with different approaches. Encourage your team to think outside the box and recognise their creative achievements. This can help nurture creativity and fuel business growth.
Provide Structure and Transparency
Establish clear processes and provide transparency in roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This creates a foundation for your team to thrive and promotes efficiency in their daily tasks.
Encourage Cross-Disciplinary Strengths
Harness the diverse skills and interests of your team members. Encourage them to apply their unique strengths and passions to their legal work. For example, a lawyer with a passion for technology could work closely with the IT team, adding value and gaining insights into compliance and regulatory issues.
Foster Creative Problem-Solving
Encourage creative problem-solving by providing a safe and supportive environment. Celebrate unique ideas, recognise creative achievements, and ensure your team feels psychologically safe to express their thoughts without fear of judgement.
Promote Risk-Taking
Incorporate risk-taking activities into your team-building exercises. For example, divide your team into groups and give them time-sensitive challenges that require innovative solutions. This will help them step out of their comfort zones and develop their risk-taking skills.
By implementing these strategies, you can effectively encourage creative problem-solving, foster teamwork, and promote a culture of risk-taking within your law team.
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Create a structure by understanding the organisation's strategy, risks and risk appetite
Creating a structure for a law team requires a deep understanding of the organisation's strategy, risks, and risk appetite. This involves aligning the legal team's skills and interests with the business's needs, fostering a collaborative culture, and integrating the team into the wider organisation.
Firstly, it is essential to recognise the strengths and interests of individual lawyers and harness their cross-disciplinary capabilities. For instance, a lawyer with a passion for technology solutions could work closely with the IT team, contributing to technological advancements while gaining insight into compliance, regulatory, or privacy issues. Similarly, a lawyer with a flair for marketing and communications could get involved in campaigns, ensuring the legal team is proactive in mitigating potential external risks. This approach enhances the value delivered by the legal team to the organisation.
Secondly, fostering a collaborative culture is vital. Leaders should encourage behaviours that align with the desired culture, such as creative problem-solving and teamwork. Rewarding systems should be structured to promote these behaviours. For instance, if collaboration is a key value, recognising and rewarding collaborative efforts over individual performances is essential. Creating opportunities for team bonding and celebrating successes together also contributes to a cohesive team culture.
Thirdly, integrating the legal team into the wider organisation is crucial. This involves understanding the company's strategy, goals, and direction to ensure the legal team's priorities are aligned. The legal team should listen to and meet the needs of senior management and clients, adapting their goals and targets accordingly. This integration ensures the legal team works proactively and maintains fruitful relationships with other business units.
Finally, understanding the organisation's risks and risk appetite is essential for the legal team's strategic alignment. Clear roles and accountabilities should be established, with the risk team engaging closely with the business to develop a risk appetite that reflects the strategic and operational nature of the organisation. This involves determining the principal risk categories that could impact the business's strategy and operations and aligning risk appetite statements with these risks. By involving relevant stakeholders in the development and endorsement of risk appetite statements, the organisation ensures buy-in from employees at all levels, encouraging a culture of thoughtful risk-taking.
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Prioritise listening to and meeting the needs of senior management and their clients
To create a successful law team, it is essential to prioritise listening to and meeting the needs of senior management and their clients. Here are some strategies to achieve this:
Firstly, understand the specific needs and objectives of senior management. This involves actively seeking their input and feedback on a regular basis. Senior management should be encouraged to communicate their current and future needs, satisfaction levels, and ideas for short-term and long-term goals. This open line of communication ensures that the law team is aligned with their priorities.
Secondly, foster a culture of collaboration and cross-functionality within the law team. Encourage lawyers to utilise their cross-disciplinary strengths and interests outside of the legal field. For example, a lawyer with a passion for technology could work closely with the IT team, adding value and gaining insight into compliance and regulatory issues. This approach enhances the team's ability to meet the needs of senior management by providing diverse skill sets and innovative solutions.
Additionally, it is crucial to establish clear and consistent communication channels with senior management and their clients. Ensure that the law team understands the overall industry trends and specific business objectives of the organisation. Adapt to their changing needs by prioritising flexibility and a proactive approach. Offer solutions that extend beyond traditional legal counsel, demonstrating a commitment to their success.
Moreover, when building a law team, it is important to focus on developing strong leadership skills. Effective leaders can guide the team towards achieving the goals set by senior management. This includes encouraging behaviours that align with the desired team culture, such as creativity, collaboration, and risk-taking. Leaders should also emphasise the importance of meeting the needs of senior management and their clients, ensuring that it remains a key priority for the law team.
By implementing these strategies, the law team will be well-positioned to effectively listen to and meet the needs of senior management and their clients, ultimately contributing to the success and growth of the organisation.
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Develop a team of intelligent, self-thinking individuals who can go the extra mile
To create a team of intelligent, self-thinking individuals who can go the extra mile, it is important to foster a culture that promotes the behaviours and values that you want to see in your team. This involves creating an environment where team members feel comfortable taking initiative, thinking creatively, and sharing ideas.
One way to achieve this is by encouraging emotional intelligence among your team members. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage emotions, both in oneself and others. Emotionally intelligent individuals are self-aware, adaptable, and able to communicate and empathise effectively. They can also think analytically and quickly adapt to change. By developing emotional intelligence in your team, you will foster better collaboration, innovation, and productivity.
To encourage emotional intelligence, it is important to create a flat hierarchy where leaders share credit, decisions, and responsibility. This helps to build self-awareness and accountability among team members. Additionally, get to know your team members personally and understand their strengths and interests outside of their formal job descriptions. This will allow you to utilise their unique skills and create a more laterally integrated team.
Another way to develop a team of self-thinking individuals is to promote a culture of creative problem-solving and risk-taking. Encourage brainstorming and the sharing of ideas, and ensure that team members feel comfortable expressing their opinions and taking calculated risks. By doing so, you will foster a collaborative and innovative environment where team members feel empowered to think independently and find creative solutions.
Finally, it is essential to align the behaviours and values of your team members with the goals and culture of your organisation. Understand the individual motivations of your team and frame your mission and culture in a way that resonates with their values. This will enhance their engagement and commitment to the team's success. By focusing on developing emotionally intelligent, collaborative, and innovative individuals, you will create a high-performing team that can go above and beyond.
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Frequently asked questions
An in-house legal team can be more laterally integrated with the organisation, which in turn means more efficient, proactive legal solutions.
A high-performance legal team is based on trust and respect, with each member having each other's backs. It is also important to foster a culture of creative problem-solving, teamwork and risk-taking.
It is important to define the type of legal department you want to lead and create a culture that promotes the behaviours you want to see. Encourage collaboration and teamwork, and ensure that metrics are aligned with these desired behaviours.
It is crucial to hire intelligent, self-thinking individuals who are willing to go the extra mile. Track junior talent within your firm and nurture them, as they can become invaluable senior associates in the future.
Regularly review your team structure and consider the specific needs of your business. Ensure consistent communication through regularly scheduled meetings, newsletters, and recognition of significant events. Provide career development opportunities and promote from within.
