When I have had conversations with myself or other lawyers about retirement, an image of a swirling vortex comes to mind. It has a hollow centre with lines that move around its midpoint. It is circling rapidly, but sometimes it slows down a bit. I suppose this image comes to mind because retirement is a […]
The Retirement Vortex Read More »
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even lawyers. A mistake could be caused by lack of knowldge, or bad judgement. “Mistake is not intentional – the lawyers decision to act or not may be intentional, but the poor outcome is unintentional,” says Catherine Gage O’Grady from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law, in
Making Mistakes (Emily Morrow Interview) Read More »
I recently attended a memorably good board meeting. It began on time, it ended a bit early, we covered more material than we had anticipated and the board chair masterfully facilitated the discussion. However, the success of the meeting had to do with more than that. In fact, what made the meeting so successful was
Ground rules for great meetings Read More »
‘Mission driven’ learning & development: beyond technical skills Mary wears many hats at the fictitious law firm of Smith & Same, a mid-sized law firm located in the mid-sized city of Anywhere, New Zealand. She’s been at the firm for 15 years doing administration, HR and organising learning and development programmes for the lawyers. Bill
‘Mission driven’ learning & development Read More »
Someone asked me recently why I write articles and I responded “Because I like to write and am interested in the dissemination of good ideas, whether they are mine or someone else’s”. Ideas about high trust teams particularly interest me because team functioning is central to the success of any venture involving more than one
Lawyers, teams and the speed of trust Read More »
Culture is like air; it’s everywhere and nowhere. Most of the time we are unaware of it but sometimes we become exquisitely aware of it. Recall, for example, the extraordinary level of air pollution in Beijing in January, 2014. !e air in Beijing became almost opaque, unusually toxic and a worldwide headline story. Culture is
Law office culture – what it is and why it matters Read More »
The business development ‘anatomy’ of a typical law firm often look a bit like this:
How to Attract, Train and Keep the Best Business developers Read More »
Succession planning is a compelling issue for the New Zealand legal community as many ‘baby boomer’ lawyers are, or soon will be, retiring. This is good and bad news. The good news is that there is likely to be opportunities for younger lawyers to become partners. The bad news is the could be insufficient lawyers
Equity vs non equity partners Read More »
Phil, a senior partner at the fictitious law firm of Smith & Same, located in Anywhere, New Zealand, works closely with his younger partner Sue. Recently, Phil sent me an unexpected email. It was unexpected (if not startling) because he presents as a relaxed, genial and unflappable person who remains calm in the eye of
The anatomy of a difficult conversation Read More »
When a group of lawyers practise together, they form a human system. This is true whether they are partners in a law firm, barristers in a chambers or an in-house legal team. Although each human system of lawyers is unique, there are some common characteristics in terms of how the participants interact with each other.
A practical guide to the delicate matter of lawyer peer reviews Read More »
