Why commercial law is not a life sentence

In this special guest post, leading commercial lawyer Peter Goodman reflects on recent press coverage on the working life of commercial lawyers and argues that the practice of commercial law isn’t half as bad as we are given to believe…

Commercial Law gets a very bad press amongst lawyers mainly, I suggest, because of its link to the working practices of some City law firms.

Having qualified in 1973 I’m of that generation that had the realistic possibility to do many different kinds of law. I don’t mean by being an all rounder but specialising in one branch of law, then another and so forth. By no means have all lawyers of my generation done this. I started as a criminal lawyer and it astonishes me, when I consider all that has happened to me in the intervening 40 years, that some of my colleagues from the early 70’s are still doing exactly the same job.

Perhaps that’s the depressing part of being a trainee and newly qualified today. It’s not just the hard work you have to put in, it’s the fact that it’s a working life sentence without parole. You invest so much, you work so hard to qualify as a lawyer and immediately you’re in a rut and you’ve got only two realistic choices. You submit to your life sentence in an admittedly fur lined cell, or you stop being a lawyer and waste all of that time and money.

There is an alternative, or there was a few years ago. I enjoyed fifteen years (including my trainee period) as a criminal lawyer. Masses of drama and publicity starting with an infamous mass murderer and ending with several big international drug smuggling cases. I then had a three year foray into divorce law, in the main helping women out of difficult marriages. However after three beatings by angry husbands, an office burglary and threats to my children I decided that enough was enough.

At this point I discovered commercial law and loved it immediately. No more destructive litigation. Now I was helping clients to create wealth and employment. So much to learn about commerce, engineering, computing, intellectual property, advertising and marketing. I know it’s hard for young lawyers locked in a room working for clients they may never meet and on deals they know only part of, but working in commercial law is a very rewarding experience, and I don’t just mean the money.

Now it’s true that my introduction to commercial law was a bit unusual. I became the lawyer for the Williams Formula One team. This was the golden age of that team. I either wrote or negotiated the contracts for seven F1 champions, ground breaking sponsorship agreements and image rights agreements that football lawyers thought they had invented fifteen years later. This involved a lot of international travel and for a brief period I ceased being a lawyer and morphed into a sports manager, or agent as it is sometimes called. Much like the time as a divorce lawyer it was really exciting but it wasn’t for me, so I returned to commercial law.

Now I still have motorsports clients but many other commercial clients and I find them all fascinating. So much ingenuity, they find so many ways to make money and it is the role of the commercial lawyer to be part of the lubrication for that process. A typical commercial deal isn’t a £100 million acquisition, it’s a £50,000 manufacturing agreement or a £200,000 IP licence agreement.

It’s all so very rewarding and it saddens me when I read articles saying that commercial lawyers have a terrible future in front of them.

City lawyers and the meaning of life

I read with interest the recent article in Legal Week “Hard work without meaning is a prison – does City law pass the Gladwell test?” which examined why commercial lawyers might be unfulfilled personally and intellectually.

The article is very welcome, not least because it dares to say what many lawyers think but are afraid to admit.  Practising law in the City can be hell.  There are many commercial lawyers out there working over 12 hour days and weekends, desperately trying to meet increasingly tough billing targets but deep down wondering what on earth they are doing it for.

Many decide to leave the profession before they burn out; some are not so lucky.  As the article’s author says, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard commercial law called a vocation” and yet commercial lawyers devote most of their waking hours to chargeable work, often at the expense of their personal relationships and families. 

This is not an exaggeration.  Women lawyers in the City admit confidentially that either they have sacrificed having a partner or family completely for a career in the City, or where they have managed to fit in having kids, they have little or no meaningful relationship with them.  Male lawyers are not immune from the effects of the working culture, with divorce and separation rates higher amongst lawyers, likewise the instances of stress-related illness, alcoholism and drug misuse.

There is a culture in the City however of survival of the fittest.  Lawyers, being largely Type A personalities, are resistant to giving in.  To walk away from the City is to admit defeat.  It is to wave a white flag and become a “failed” City lawyer. 

What this means is scores of unhappy and therefore unproductive lawyers who slog it out, purely because they cannot see any alternative.  The truth is there are now plenty of other options available for talented lawyers, which provide a lucrative and satisfying career without the unnecessary sacrifices.  As more lawyers realise that the demands of the City are not sustainable, and as more courageous lawyers are able to say that there is more to life than due diligence and late nights, firms will lose their most innovative and talented employees.  These lawyers are already turning to alternative ways of working such as virtual law firms, where they can enjoy high quality work, earn just as much, and still have a life.

Individual lawyers are increasingly discovering coaching and other ways of helping themselves to find their real “vocation”.  Law firms meanwhile are missing a trick. We have seen reports recently of many City firms introducing draconian measures to track billing, such as publishing individual billing figures or introducing coloured screens which light up in red if you are behind target.  Such initiatives are simply going to exacerbate the problem.  What law firms need to do is to better engage lawyers in their work by ensuring that they are fulfilled, by introducing more creative ways to restore a work/life balance, and by allowing lawyers to feel they have a voice and a stake in the success of the business as a whole.  Employee engagement is a concept being embraced in other industries and is showing results, yet many commercial law firms are comparatively moving backwards.

City lawyers usually start out as intelligent, confident, energetic and driven newly qualifieds.  The idea must be to develop and capitalise on these qualities in a much more sustainable and productive way.

Lawcoach provides specialist individual coaching to City lawyers.

Who the heck hires a law coach?

So many lawyers are out there battling all sorts of disadvantages – stress, low confidence, poor self-management, lack of direction to name but a few.  And yet lawyers seem not to know about how a coach or mentor can help.  Ironic really, considering so many lawyers could benefit enormously.  So if you haven’t come across coaching before, or you can’t see how coaching might help, here’s a quick snapshot of who hires a law coach:

1. Unhappy-at-work lawyers

You know that you are not happy doing what you’re doing but you don’t quite know why and you’re not sure what else you would do anyway. You need some help to figure out what you should be doing with your life and your career but you don’t know where to start.

2. Career-change lawyers

You know what you want to do – it might be a different law job, or it might be a total career change. You just can’t see how to get from A to B.

3. Taking-the-plunge lawyers

Fed up with the constraints of being employed or being a partner in a firm, or perhaps excited to take advantage of the changes afoot in the profession and explore your entrepreneurial side, you are making the jump to becoming self-employed.  It’s just a little bit daunting.

4. Mother-to-be lawyers

You are thinking of starting a family, or are on your way there already and are overwhelmed by the prospect of balancing family and a legal career.  You might need help handling motherhood along with your current career, you might want to return to a more family friendly legal role after having your baby, or you might want something completely different.  You might just need help adjusting to this new phase of life.

5. Work-life-balance lawyers

You know you spend too much time working but you just can’t help yourself. You need help to get on top of things.

6. Partnership-candidate lawyers

You’re aiming for partnership but don’t seem to be making it. You might be frustrated with your career progression, or just want to move things along a bit more quickly.

So if you’ve ever wondered who the heck hires a law coach – plenty of very successful lawyers do, that’s who.

To find out if coaching is right for you, give us a call for a free consultation.

How hiring a mentor takes the pressure off

Much is written about the need for lawyers to improve their management skills.  It is broadly acknowledged that management is not one of the skills which come most naturally to lawyers.  We receive little training in it and spending time “mentoring” a junior member of the team can sometimes feel forced or difficult.

It would be wrong to suggest that management training is futile or that lawyers shouldn’t invest time in learning how to better manage their staff.  We should also remember that there are some exceptional partners out there who are great managers.  However, perhaps we should acknowledge that for some partners, management and mentoring are things they are just not that great at and that they just don’t really enjoy.

There is an expectation that lawyers should now be everything to everybody.  Not only must we have the legal expertise, but we must be salespeople, PR gurus, networking trailblazers and practice leaders. With the demands on a lawyer’s time far exceeding hours in the day, little wonder that there isn’t much time or energy left for staff development. It simply isn’t a priority. But let’s not chastise ourselves for this. Let’s accept the fact that we can’t do everything. For those of us who are better at other things, how can we motivate and develop staff in a different way?

Here is where an external mentor can make a world of difference. An experienced lawyer who has proven skills can offer important training, guidance and motivation to fee earners, helping them be more focused and to develop as professionals. Without having to worry about fee earning or client management themselves, a mentor is free to concentrate entirely on their lawyer “mentee”, enabling dramatic results.

Does this affect a partner’s relationship with their team? Why should it? Just because they are not providing mentoring personally doesn’t mean they can’t still have a productive and motivating working relationship. If anything, the relationship will be improved because the lawyer will feel supported whilst the partner is relieved of a weighty obligation.

We couldn’t leave the topic without mentioning the all important ROI. At Lawcoach we have seen mentoring, and coaching for that matter, help lawyers to become more efficient and productive resulting in a sharp increase in billing and therefore profitability. Usually a Lawcoach mentor’s fees will be roughly equivalent to a lawyer’s hourly charging rate, and with only one or two sessions a month as the standard involvement, you end up with a very meaningful return on investment.  Surely a win-win all round?

Lawyers of the future…it’s ok to have vision

So it seems that the national brand Quality Solicitors is growing fast with the front page of yesterday’s Law Society Gazette reporting that QS has opened 100 new branches showing that it is likely to become a major market presence in the not too distant future.

I was interested to read this article by Quality Solicitors’ Craig Holt on @legalfutures’ (AKA Neil Rose’s) website  in which the Chief Executive draws parallels with what Specsavers did for optometry.  An interesting comparison between two professions moving from independently owned practices to national brands.

An appropriate comparison not least because to introduce such radical changes in a profession such as law takes real vision.  Let’s face it, doing things differently is not something lawyers have traditionally been very comfortable with. This has always struck me as odd given that one of our key skills should surely be thinking outside the box.

What’s this got to do with individual lawyers? If you’re a solicitor or associate beavering away with your head down, why worry about the changing landscape of law? Where there’s work, there’s a career and people or businesses will always need lawyers whatever vehicle that service happens to be offered through.

All well and good, but with the Legal Services Act there comes an opportunity. For lawyers with an entrepreneurial streak who are not content with climbing the legal ladder regardless of which wall it happens to be leaning against, now is the time to look at what your career has in store.  Put on your metaphorical specs and take a long hard look at what the future holds for you. Is there a way to carve your own path? There are plenty of lawyers out there who are already setting up niche practices, or going it alone in affiliations with virtual law firms.  There has never been a better time to find a way of practicing law which is absolutely right for you.

Why risk falling amongst the herd of short-sighted lawyers who will be looking back in 10 years time thinking “Should have gone to Specsavers”?  Grasp the nettle.  Shape your own future – all you have to do is see it.

Mind maps, argument mapping and what else we should teach lawyers

If you haven’t read this great blog post by @legaleagleMHM then now is the time.  I am a fan of @legaleagleMHM’s blog because she has no problem whatsoever in admitting to doing things differently - radical and refreshing.

In that post she writes about the usefulness of mind maps, and it caught my attention because I use them all the time – for planning out books, writing presentations, as case plans… in a legal setting their uses are endless.  You can now get software for mind mapping on your PC (such as mindjet) – great for any sort of project management.

But there is more, whilst extolling the virtues of mind maps on twitter @Baby_Barrister introduced me to argument mapping which I had to admit was a new one on me.  It’s a visual way of plotting out an argument commonly taught in critical thinking.  Useful for lawyers too, you would think.

But do we teach any of these types of organisational tools to lawyers?  Apparently not. Lawyers have to find them out for themselves. Why? Why should our continuing professional learning be limited to legislative developments and case law updates? And shouldn’t we be introducing concepts for self-management and tools for excellence in practice as early as possible?

I have also been following with interest the discussion between @legalbizzle, @legalbrat and @UKlegaleagle (all essential bloggers to follow if you are a lawyer or lawyer-to-be) about, amongst other things, how bad private practice lawyers can be at client care.  It’s generally accepted that some lawyers (and there are of course notable exceptions) are just not great at building client relationships and rapport.  There is a debate to be had perhaps about how much of this is inherent in one’s personality and how much can be learned, but is this not a skill we should develop as far as possible?  Are we as lawyers asking ourselves how we can provide training which addresses the deficiency?

Perhaps the onus is on partners or practice managers to shift the emphasis away from technical learning to skills- based training.  It’s surely a much more efficient use of CPD points. I must declare an interest because this is precisely the type of training I’ll be helping to launch soon, but first we need partners, and HR or L&D departments in larger firms, to see that it is far more useful to spend your training budget, not on divesting technical knowledge which is readily available online or in a textbook, but on equipping lawyers with practical tools and better professional skills.

Where life and work merge…

Guest post by Julian Summerhayes writing on Excellence in Professional Practice.

It is perhaps overstating the position, but I firmly believe that our work is our life or, certainly, a very large part of it. And that is not just because it takes up such an inordinate amount of time but we get so much from it – or at least we should. It should inspire us, fill us with joy and make us feel special. Too often I hear people moan about their job and they make it sound as if the world is about to end: “I can’t stand it any more.”

I know how hard it is to be inspired when you don’t feel appreciated and rewarded; but work is too important, in the scheme of things, to simply dismiss as something that you get done every day.

The thing is, as  a species, without work we would be lost in our own thoughts. Even if you were fortunate enough to enjoy the privilege of not having to work for money, you would still need a sense of purpose and that is unlikely to come from basking in free leisure time.

Your career, your life and your family should not be left to chance. If something is not working you need to change it. But more than that you need to go to work on your work, rather than working in it and being carried along on the tide – wherever that is headed.

Lots of material exists to create a whole new life – goal setting programmes, wellness and meditation – but the truth of it is that you must want to do it for yourself. You can have the most sophisticated and developed programme but if you are not willing to go through a period of change and likely discomfort then maybe you should accept that you need to make the most of what you have and stop dreaming about the “What if …”.

I have been inspired by many things and many people in my life. I have been blessed over the past 20+ years to work with some outstanding leaders and one thing that that has shown me is no one got great if they didn’t have a clear idea of where they were going and how they were going to get there.

If you are stuck in a job that you hate you need to start planning not just for the Exit door when the market picks up but also looking at your profile and marketability, and to ask yourself if you are the best of everything that you can be. If you think that there are areas that you need to work on, then start now. Don’t delay. Have a plan which includes your mission statement and start working and moving things toward closing the gap on where you need to be every single day.

Yes you will have ups and downs but if you know the direction you are headed it will be a heck of a lot easier to withstand the inevitable battering once you commit to your new direction.

 

Opportunity in redundancy

The numbers of lawyers facing redundancy is continuing to rise and as the profession undergoes fundamental changes over coming months and years more and more lawyers will find themselves in the midst of restructuring. Redundancy is an incredibly stressful time and when the job market is quiet you can find yourself in a state of panic, desperately applying for any job so that you can return to the security of paid employment.

But maybe this is precisely the time to pause for thought? Of course, your financial situation may not allow you to take a fully fledged career break, but it is always possible to look for temporary roles – perhaps even something completely different to law – while you take stock.

Now is the time to look – really look – at how fulfilled you were in your last job. How did you feel getting up in the morning? Did you spring out of bed eager for the working day to begin, or did you dread the alarm clock? Did your work make you feel energised or exhausted? Did you genuinely feel this was your calling, or did you avoid the question?

So many lawyers find themselves trapped in their career unable to see any way of escaping. The amount of time and money it took to train, family expectations, the status of being a lawyer, a comfortable salary, maintaining a certain type of lifestyle – these are all things which can prevent you from contemplating a new vocation.

When you look back on your career in 10, 20 or even 40 years time, what do you want to have achieved? Now is the time to examine this. If anything was possible, what would you do?

A number of books have been written on what you can do with a legal background if you want a career change. You may find that it’s time to leave the law entirely, perhaps retrain? Maybe you love being a lawyer but need to find a different type of firm or different way of working? Have you considered moving from private practice to an in-house role or vice versa? Have you thought of becoming a self-employed lawyer to give you more flexibility?

The possibilities are genuinely endless. So before you leap into another job which immediately swallow up your time and energy, take some time to reflect so that you make sure your next step is in the direction in which you truly want your life to go.

Lawcoach puts lawyers in touch with coaches who can help with career transition. To find out more about coaching, contact us on 07767 204558.

Dealing with stress is easier than you think

I wasn’t surprised to read in The Lawyer the results of another survey concluding that lawyers are affected by stress at work.  The latest findings by Michael Page conclude that lawyers’ stress peaks on Tuesdays but if responses on twitter are anything to go by, the other days of the week are no party either.  The survey follows figures recently released by Lawcare and reported in the Gazette showing that the charity providing helplines for distressed lawyers has had its busiest year yet.

 With the profession, and therefore individual lawyers now being squeezed from all angles this is a situation which looks unlikely to remedy itself any time soon.  But in the meantime there is plenty lawyers can do to help themselves. Stress is not an external force. It is a state of being. And believe it or not, there is a way to change your stressed-out state which is easier than you think. Much of the advice out there about dealing with stress tells you to take more exercise, eat better, sleep more, get a work life balance, or generally “do less” – hardly realistic advice for a lawyer under pressure who is working all hours to meet deadlines.

The good news is that instead of changing your behaviour, you can alleviate stress by changing the way you think. What’s more, you do this by using analysis and deconstruction – some of the very skills which as a lawyer will come most naturally to you.

I’m sharing with you one of the key concepts in Effective Stress Management Techniques for Lawyers which shows you how stress comes from your reaction to an event and the way you process that reaction mentally.  For example, if you are feeling stressed because you are overworked, it isn’t the number of files on your desk which is causing you the stress, it is the fact that you will be thinking “I must get all of this done by 6pm and that is impossible” or “If I don’t get all this finished today I’m a terrible lawyer”.

By deconstructing these thoughts, you can instantly dilute your stress reaction.  Does all of this really need to be done today? Does it all need to be done by you personally? Can you delegate anything? Is there anything which doesn’t need doing at all? Which files can wait until tomorrow or next week?  You might then conclude “OK, I don’t actually need to get all of this done today. Some of it can wait. I can take care of the priorities and the rest will get done tomorrow.”

What’s great about this approach is that it uses those skills which lawyers can access instantly and it delivers immediate results. In a way, you’re cross-examining yourself and the effects can be dramatic. It puts you back in control of your state of mind.

It’s true that for some, stress will already have taken hold to an extent that professional help is needed and if you are struggling in this way Lawcare is a wonderful source of information and help. Meanwhile, for those of you who are in the earlier stages of stress, realising that you can take control is the first step to a healthier, more productive working life.

Catrin Mills is the author of Effective Stress Management Techniques for Lawyers available from Ark Publishing.

Lawyers online. Now, it’s personal

Today I am inspired by the latest post from @LegaleagleMHM  http://legaleaglemhm.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/top-tips-from-the-law-society-of-scotland/mentioning a debate amongst Scottish law students about lawyers’ use of social media and whether a solicitor’s personal life should affect their professional reputation.

I would have liked to hear the debate because this is a question which has occupied me almost constantly since I discovered the world of twitter and social networking. It is a consideration which must be relevant to all professionals in fact, or anyone whose occupation depends on honesty, integrity and personal trust.

So ingrained in lawyers is the importance of professional integrity and of not bringing ourselves or the profession into disrepute, many lawyers feel uncomfortable combining their legal and non-legal personas.  Even I still have two twitter accounts for example.  That is not to say of course that in life outside the office we have any less integrity than when we have on our solicitor’s hat (at least I hope not) but many lawyers, myself included, find it difficult to shake off our anxiety about any personal chinks in our professional armour.

Just as many lawyers operate under a constant worry about making technical errors, many feel introverted or insecure about being “out there”, online and open to criticism. We are trained to expect the worst and spot the pitfalls in any situation.  When it is so easy for engagement in social media to backfire horribly, it’s hardly surprising that lawyers see it as a very risky business.

So I wonder, is it a good thing to maintain a separate public and personal life? Or is this divergence adding to lawyers’ stress and making them less effective?  Is our indigenous caution or anxiety over what could go wrong stopping lawyers from fully selling themselves and putting themselves “out there”?

Surely this is what causes much discontentment amongst lawyers – they have a professional and personal life and never the twain shall meet. It is unheard of to bring one’s personal life into the office, just as to advertise one’s personal likes, dislikes, views or opinions online seems alien.  Is the lack of any “personal” element in our professional existence the very thing which makes the public see lawyers as inaccessible or inhuman?

What I have found most interesting about my own journey through social media is that it inevitably makes you think about your own brand, image and even how you spend your time…and that can be a very good thing.  Just filling out a status update on twitter, Facebook or anywhere else really makes you face the reality of what you are doing with your life.  On a basic level, if you haven’t anything interesting to say, what on earth have you done with your day?!  Most importantly, if you can reconcile your personal and professional life – whether or not you choose to share it with others online – isn’t that the recipe for complete fulfilment?