FOR LAWYERS AT THE CUTTING EDGEIssue 1 • 2015

Good counsel • Manifesto for change • Sales force • Flex • Law sans frontières

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02 INTRODUCTION03 INBRIEF06 FIVETHINGS09 EXPARTE10 GOODCOUNSEL General counsel are demanding clients. This is how you can make them happy.16 MANIFESTOFORCHANGE When it comes to diversity it’s time for actions to speak louder than words.22 SALESFORCE The competition is tough and client loyalty is critical, so can you make it rain?28 FLEX In the modern world, lawyers and their clients have to adapt to flexible working – or face failure. 32 LAWSANSFRONTIÈRES The world is getting smaller, and lawyers can work from anywhere. But should they?36 x2 Bonella Ramsay talks biotech, business and bonding with her client, Mary Skelly.40 RISINGSTAR42 TOPTEN:SUCCESSIONPLANNING45 EXPERTWITNESS46 BIGIDEA48 BYSTANDER

Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. Established in 1954, the School is a provider of management education and is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top business schools.

LexisNexis combines a deep understanding of the legal and tax profession with technology innovation to help practitioners work more productively, advise with confidence and better manage their organisations in a changing legal environment.

The opinions expressed in FLUX are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of CJBS, LexisNexis or YBM.Produced for CJBS and LexisNexis by YBM (www.ybm.co.uk).If you have any comments or would like any more information, please contact Sarah Lyons at s.lyons@jbs.cam.ac.uk.

Editor: Mira KatbamnaCommissioning editor: Steve McGrathArt director: Zoe BatherFor CJBS: Sarah LyonsFor LexisNexis: Mark Smith/Edward Bird

Cover: Illustration by Jason Ford

A MAGAZINE FOR LAWYERS AT THE CUTTING EDGEIssue 1 • 2015

Powering your success:everything smart lawyersneed to stay ahead.

lexisnexis.co.uk/wayahead

Research & Guidance . Drafting . News & Media . Training & Development . Business Management

Women in Law - Emergency Artwork.indd 2 9/14/15 11:45 PM

Introduction

Law and lawyers are on the move. From nomadic lawyering to outsourcing, and from northshoring to the much anticipated demise of billable hours, the next ten years

will see huge change – and opportunity – for firms and practitioners. This is a sector in flux, and out of flux can come interesting, innovative thinking.

What does this mean for lawyers at the cutting edge? Uncertainty, maybe. Disruption – of business models, and accepted norms – certainly. But we also have within our grasp a unique opportunity to interrogate every aspect of how law is practised. Is London the only place to be a legal superstar? What is the right balance between working face-to-face and working virtually? How do we give clients value? And how do we ensure they feel that they have got value? How do we compete with the accountants? Or in other jurisdictions? Those who find the most innovative, effective solutions will secure the future success of their firms. And in an environment that can only get more competitive, those who don’t embrace change must fall away. We live in exciting times.

Meanwhile, the Law Society predicts that the number of female practising certificate holders will outnumber men within the next 24 months. Diversity in the name of meritocratic fairness is an unassailable argument, but perhaps more compelling for the sceptics is the well-founded proposal that diversity improves margins, productivity and creativity. In other words, diverse teams can be more agile and responsive. They are likely to be better able to grasp the new and varied opportunities that the next decade presents.

And that is why I believe the most successful firms in 2030 will be those who have enthusiastically and systematically ensured they have recruited and promoted women to the very top of their organisations. They will be the firms who, in 2015, decide to take a long, hard look at their culture and working practices – and make radical change. Who recognise that letting brilliant women leave just because they become mothers does not make financial sense. Who realise that mentoring, networks and coaching are just the start. Who are seriously monitoring their pipeline of stellar lawyers.

We know that men, as well as women, want to work differently – and that many of the best practitioners will go to firms where they can do that. Legal services are in flux, but the future is ours for the taking.

Sandra Dawson teaches on the Women in Law Programme at Cambridge Judge Business School.

“Diverse teams can be more agile and responsive. They are likely to be better able to grasp the new and varied opportunities that the next decade presents.”

A WORLD IN FLUXIn Brief

The state-of-the-art court complex in London may soon become a more streamlined and specialist court for high value financial cases.

A NE W ROLE F OR ROL L S ?

The first speech given by Michael Gove (as Justice Secretary and Lord

Chancellor) at the Legatum Institute in London in June suggested that he has plans to unleash a legal flux of his own.

“There are two nations in our justice system at present,” he said. “On the one hand, the wealthy international class who can, for example, choose

to settle cases in London with the gold standard of British justice. And then everyone else, who has to put up with a creaking, outdated system to see justice done in their own lives.”

The Lord Chancellor is seeking a £700m investment in the courts to make better use of technology and speed up trial procedures.

O N E N A T I O N U N D E R A G O V E 70%of female millennials

want international careers

20%of current international

assignees are female

The Female Millennial:A New Era of Talent, PwC

Houses the combined High Court business,

property and commercial capability of the

Chancery Division (including Bankruptcy

and Insolvency), the Admiralty and

Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court

Has 31 court rooms, including three ‘super

courts’ to handle the very largest international

and national high value disputes and four courts

for multi-party cases

Is the largest specialist centre for the resolution of financial, business and property litigation anywhere in the world

Full WiFi connectivity throughout the building

In-court facilities for parties to use their own IT, including electronic

presentation of evidence and cabled broadband

Chancery Division

Admiralty & Commercial Court

Technology & Construction Court

Dame Sandra Dawson, Professor Emeritus of Management Studies at the University of Cambridgeillustration by ben kirchner

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The chairman of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission,

Alan Milburn, has accused the professions of imposing a “poshness test” that effectively excludes bright working-class kids from the best jobs.

The Commission’s latest study of 13 top law, accountancy and financial services firms revealed “a relatively dramatic decline” in the number of lawyers employed within these firms who were the first generation in their family to go to university. More than four out of ten trainees (41 per cent) appointed by leading law firms were educated at private schools. To put that in context, only seven per cent of the population is currently educated privately.

The Commission’s research found that some seven out of every ten job offers made last year to graduates went to those who had been to fee-paying schools or selective state schools. “Inevitably that ends up excluding youngsters who have the right sort of grades

The chief cause of stress in the legal profession is having too much work and too little time to do it in, a survey

conducted by The Lawyer has found. Two-thirds of respondents in the paper’s 2015 Salary Survey reported suffering from overwork (in contrast, only 13 per cent cited “not enough work” as a problem).

Although a distance behind, the second-most common cause of stress, cited by just over a third of respondents, was work “affecting personal life”. Other sources of stress included “overly demanding clients”, “poor management” and a “lack of resources”.

Overall, men and women reported very similar causes of stress – with a few significant exceptions. Men reported more stress relating to “red tape or bureaucracy” (a cause of stress for 19.9 per cent of men and 15.7 per cent

and abilities but whose parents do not have the right sort of bank balances,” said Milburn.

In the 2014 report, titled Elitist Britain, the Commission found that more than seven out of ten senior judges were educated at fee-paying schools and a similar proportion had studied at Oxford or Cambridge.

Recent research by the recruiters Laurence Simons revealed the extent to which top City firms relied on just two universities for recruiting their lawyers. More than four out of ten partners in City firms (43 per cent) attended Oxford or Cambridge and eight out of ten partners at Magic and Silver Circle firms (78 per cent) attended a Russell Group university (including Oxbridge). Nearly half of all new entrants to the Bar went to one of the two universities (45 per cent), according to the Bar Standards Board.

of women). In contrast, women reported more stress in relation to “difficult or unpleasant superiors” (a cause of stress to 23 per cent of women, compared to 18.4 per cent of men) and stress in relation to “poor top-level management” (28.9 per cent of women, compared to 24 per cent of men)

Finally women reported more stress in relation to a “lack of support or pastoral supervision” – a cause of stress to 18.7 per cent of women compared to just 13.7 per cent of men.

While reported stress levels remain high, the study also found that there are signs some firms are starting to take action. Around one-third of respondents said their firm had introduced stress policies and initiatives; although a further third said they were not aware of a policy, and a final third reported their firm had no policy.

Legal profession accused of being elitist.Overworked and too little time? You’re not alone.

A RE YOU POSH ENOUGH?

S A L A RY SURV E Y RE V E A L S C AUSE S OF S T RE S S

In BriefIn Brief

A lack of flexibility is discouraging female lawyers from going for partnership. Data collected by legal recruiters Douglas Scott found that

37 per cent of all female lawyers had no partner-level ambition. Thirty eight per cent of this group cited a lack of flexibility and work-life balance, while a further 31 per cent cited the stress associated with partnership as the main reason they would not be looking to climb the ladder.

The data also suggests that employers could be doing more to retain ambitious female legal professionals. Only 21 per cent of those who aspired to partnership were confident this could

be achieved that with their current firm. The glass ceiling, however, seemed to be less relevant – only five per cent of women lawyers in the survey cited this as the main reason they thought they would not make partnership.

Kathryn Riley, managing director of Douglas Scott, commented: “Two thirds of female lawyers who have turned their back on the prospect of partnership have done so because of the stress and lack of flexibility at the top level of the legal profession. It’s not an issue that is unique to the legal sector, but the bottom line is that a lot of talented people are slipping through the net.”

T I M E T O F L E X

More than 25 per cent of the top fifty law firms are now using LexisNexis’s

digital proofreading technology LexisDraft. According to LexisNexis’s Mark Smith: “Firms are really embracing technology as a way of improving the quality and consistency of their documents, which is critical to meeting clients’ increasing expectations.”

D I G I H E L P

The second cohort of leading lawyers have joined CJBS’s Women in Law Leadership

Programme. The programme brings together leading business academics from the University of Cambridge and top professionals with a wealth of experience in providing strategic and leadership advice, blending academic and practically based sessions.

O N T H E U P

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CREATING A WORLD WITHOUT POVERTY At the beginning of the economic crisis, in 2008, I read this book, Creating a World Without Poverty, by the Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus – and I still dip into it on a regular basis. Bangladeshi by origin, Yunus focuses on the importance of microcredit in allowing people to start their own businesses. His work inspired me to join forces with Christine Lagarde (now head of the IMF) to draft a law in France that allowed individuals at certain income thresholds to become self-employed; in only a few years more than a million people benefitted from this law. The book has helped me to continue to do my job and at the same encourage others to create their own opportunities, which is very important to me.

LINDT CHOCOLATEThere is also always a treat on my desk in the shape of a bar of Lindt dark chocolate with fleur de sel (fine sea salt). Ever since childhood I have adored chocolate, but now it must be this particular type, which I discovered about five years ago. I don’t smoke, but I think it is an addiction just as much as cigarettes. I can share my bar easily, but subject to certain conditions – including that there must always be a square (or two) left for me.

SWIMMING GOGGLESWhenever I am having a difficult time I head off to the pool, so I always have my swimming goggles with me. The physical exercise is good, but what I really like is that in the water I am completely cut off from the rest of the world. For 45 minutes there is no BlackBerry, telephone or tablet, and I only need to communicate with myself, and this is my “digital detox”. Of course, I love to swim outdoors and in Paris in winter and summer I went to a pool in the Bois de Boulogne – heated of course! That’s more difficult to find in London, but I still swim two or three times a week – usually in the evening when I really need to clear my head.

VITAMIN C TABLETSIt may sound boring, but my bottle of vitamin C tablets, in among all my gadgets, is vital to me. The boost they give me is an essential part of my survival plan, to give me energy for my job and the constant travel. I use them to help with changes in time zone, instead of drinking a lot of coffee. It may be psychological, but I am convinced the tablets help – I am always in good health and so far have never had to take a day off sick.

LAVENDER SCENTBefore I go to sleep at night I spray lavender scent on my pillow. Even if it’s a wet and cold night in London, the scent transports me to a sunny warm place, so I dream of, perhaps, Provence. It’s a way to travel without actually having to do so, and I carry my spray with me wherever I go – though sometimes I don’t need it and can just throw open the window.

What gets you through the day? Frédérique Dupuis-Toubol shares the five treasured items that she just can’t do without.illustration by holly wales

Frédérique Dupuis-Toubol is executive director of Bird & Bird in London and founder of its Paris office. She specialises in communications and IT law, and has experience in digital networks and technology.

FIVE THINGS

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[ A D V E R T ]

The legal sector is facing distinct challenges – not least, changing technology, increasing

commoditisation and new entrants to the market. And as managing partner, I have been looking at what that means for my firm and for the marketplace.

I think a lot of people can draft a legal agreement. Where a firm differentiates itself is the commercial and solution-focused advice it can give. You need to have a real understanding of your client’s business and sector and where it’s going – know what the up and coming issues are and how the client should be adapting or organising themselves to address them. And we need people who can listen and empathise with clients to understand what they need and develop relationships.

One good example is the education sector: it’s a constantly changing landscape and the law is adapting – there are pressures, for instance, in terms of the effects of immigration legislation, or the increasing consumerism of students. Increasingly education clients are operating in a more commercial space and not only need specialist legal advice but also many of the tools large businesses need as well.

These changes make for interesting, challenging work. We’ve recently helped the Institute of Education merge with University College London, and we’ve helped 18 colleges of Cambridge University create a first-of-its-kind finance deal, raising £150m worth of finance from institutional investors.

That was really innovative work, and we’ve also been busy in our other key sectors as well. Our lawyers enjoy sharing knowledge and spark ideas off each other.

We are routinely looking beyond our borders. More and more of our clients are operating globally and about 20 per cent of our business is international. We want to develop these networks further; it is another area of growth and opportunity for us. We form close alliances with firms when we really understand each other, and where we feel confident enough to do joint pitches and marketing.

I feel I’ve got to where I am now with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work; my main challenge is keeping all the plates spinning. I enjoy the legal work so it hasn’t felt a struggle. I’m determined to give myself time to think strategically; I make sure I keep my head up from the desk, to see what’s going on around me in the legal profession, but also continue to talk to clients and contacts about what’s going on in their businesses. I will continue to do some client-facing work – it’s important to remain connected.

So in 2016, I will be pushing the firm on and up. I think there are opportunities around the sectors where we have particular expertise: education, health, private wealth and insurance. We’ll continue to offer clients what they want in terms of deep knowledge of their sectors. But I think we’ll want to be a little speedier to grab opportunities, respond and adapt to change.

“A lot of people can draft a legal agreement. We need people who empathise and understand what clients need.”

O N A N D U PE X P A R T E

Claire Clarke is managing partner of Mills & Reeve. Her vision for 2016 is to

“take things up a gear”. illustration by ben kirchner

When you educate girls in Africa, this is what change looks like

My name is Fiona Mavhinga. 12 years ago, I was a newly qualified lawyer in Harare, working in a practice with one other woman, among 13 men. 12 years before that, I was a little girl in rural Zimbabwe, waking up at 4 a.m. every morning with my grandmother to sell vegetables on the market, trying to get enough money to pay for the food, stationery, books, and uniform that would keep me in school. My mother traded dried fish for maize, which she sold to try and cover my school fees. Many times we went without food. So many times my hope for an education was almost lost.

In spite of this hardship, I was determined because of the sacrifices my family was making. I remember once I told my grandmother that I found Math hard. She replied, ‘You don’t say that. You say you are going to excel.’ And I did. I got the best results in my school, and in the province. I came to know Camfed – the Campaign for Female Education – through two girls who shared my background of poverty, and who were receiving bursaries from Camfed. Camfed in turn supported me, and I went on to university to study law.

My story – of a girl struggling to maintain her grip on education – is the story of millions of girls around the world. So many of my friends in my rural village lost that grip due to poverty, and their lives are so drastically different from mine today because of one thing: an education.

As you read this, 30 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa are out of school. But there is hope: Camfed’s model of investment in girls’ education is creating young women leaders who are breaking down the barriers girls face. Together we are transforming our communities, working with families, schools, local chiefs, district governments, and global partners. I am among 33,111 young activists in Camfed’s unique pan-African alumni network, CAMA. Today I am leading on the development of CAMA as we shape the future of Africa by supporting THIS generation of vulnerable children through school and into a life of independence, leadership and advocacy.

Please join us by pledging your support to Camfed and CAMA today. The time for change is now.

To invest in girls’ education, and to find out more about Fiona, the young womenof CAMA, and what makes Camfed different, join us at: camfed.org/flux

When you educate a girl...everything changes

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GOOD

Claire Carless (General counsel, Siemens): “Our lawyers are close to the businesses they support, which underpins the need to really understand the business model and our products and projects.”

COUNSEL

General counsel are demanding clients. FLUX speaks to GCs at some of the

largest companies to find out how you can make them happy.

words by catherine baksi photography by julian anderson

She hires your firm, but she could just as easily move on to someone else. And in the interim – while

she is focused on her main job of fundamentally transforming how in-house legal teams support the business – she will decide how much she wants to pay you. Want to be a success? Work out how to make your general counsel happy – and keep her that way.

Of course, keeping a client happy starts with understanding their world. And Claire Carless, general counsel at Siemens, says that the key is to recognise that the general counsel role is undergoing huge change. “The change is driven by greater regulation, business demand for increased speed to market, a constant drive for efficiency and continuous improvement, and the need

Roche, points out. “General counsel are developing additional competencies such as strategic agility, commercial awareness and pragmatism,” she says.

“I am constantly challenged to find new ways for both me and my team to develop and demonstrate these skills. And we have increased the value we add by becoming more visible – through our communication, networking and successful business partnering – and that has meant that we are involved in projects much earlier and are then able to shape the outcome from the outset.

“As a legal team, we are uniquely placed with a helicopter view of the company and have been able to capitalise on this, enhancing the quality of the advice that we provide.”

The real value general counsel bring to companies is not, as many believe,

for more understanding of the business to support better decision making,” she says. “But it is right that we should be doing these things and constantly adapting the general counsel role and the role of the legal function to move with the external market and our own organisations.”

At Siemens, this means that lawyers are very close to the businesses they support, often sitting on management teams and encouraged to give a view rather than sit on the fence. “This is really valued by the organisation and underpins the need to really understand the business model and our products and projects.”

Another major shift is the move away from relying purely on strong technical ability, as Funke Abimbola, managing counsel at pharmaceutical company

primarily about troubleshooting, says Denise Nurse, chief executive officer and co-founder of Halebury. “Their real value is helping the business shape strategies in the first place. That means they have to be brought in early, and that can only happen if they have the confidence of the business.”

Nurse points out that a general counsel’s legal knowledge is a given, and that the role is now all about strategy, leadership and communication. “They are in a privileged position and work across the departments. If they are good at their job, they listen and see what goes on in the business, so that they can give good guidance and counsel and are valued by the business. The reality is that general counsel now have to do more for less – they have to be smarter, and delivery is at the top if the agenda.”

Funke Abimbola(Managing counsel, Roche): “Our general counsel have become more visible, meaning we are involved in projects much earlier and are then able to shape the outcome from the outset.”

Joanna Day(Director of legal services, Santander): “We are always happy to provide knowledge of our business, but in return we want sound, pragmatic advice and no sitting on the fence.”

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Denise Nurse(Co-founder, Halebury): “The reality is that general counsel now have to do more for less – they have to be smarter, and delivery is at the top of the agenda.”

But what does all this mean when it comes to the general counsel’s relationship with external law firms? “Ideally, your relationship with any external supplier should be a partnership, since both have common objectives,” says Nurse. “It is important that the firm understands the business objectives and is aligned with them.

“Good communication is vital, but perhaps the biggest issue is transparency, particularly in terms of the fee structure. Hourly rate, fixed fees, volume deals – whatever method you use, there should be no surprises. You need to have regular conversations about it and have a clear idea of what your legal spend is and why.”

As Abimbola puts it, the external law firm should be “an extension of my own in-house legal team” with a keen awareness of the internal pressures and dynamics that it has to contend with. But, she adds, this requires clear two-way communication, with general counsel themselves playing a pivotal role in relaying information to law firms.

Relationship managementWhile some firms are good at understanding what in-house teams want and delivering it with appropriate extras, others fall short. Those missing the mark, says Carless, operate “as if they are entitled to get work from us, and are extremely inefficient and arrogant in both the service they provide and the way they try and charge for it. There is a long way to make law firms really customer-centric organisations.”

For Joanna Day, director of legal services for Santander Corporate Banking, external firms have to be willing to invest in a meaningful relationship with the business that instructs them. “We are always happy to provide knowledge of our business,”

problems. There is definitely something to the view that women are good at multi-tasking, and in the fast-pace business environment we currently work in, that is of huge value,” she adds.

Carless agrees. “General counsel should always attend executive and board meetings, whether as company secretary, director or general counsel. Whether they should also be a director is less relevant in my view,” she says. “In a formal sense, being a director gives a clear remit and responsibility to engage on all topics, but it may also create a limitation on the lawyer’s ability to act as an adviser. It may also bring with it a responsibility some may not want. Having said that, I think that general counsel and other senior lawyers should take on more non-executive roles

she says, “but in return we want sound, pragmatic advice and no sitting on the fence.”

An essential part of that, states Day, is relationship management. “We don’t want to pay for additional partners to attend meetings on projects simply because they are the relationship manager and we pay for them. Relationship management is an art and the relationship manager needs to know all that is happening within his firm for that particular client – not just within their speciality – and be co-ordinated with client contact. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing many different partners on relationship management from the same firm at different times.”

And if a traditional set-up doesn’t deliver? The real threat may well come from firms able to offer a completely different level of flexibility. “In-sourcing companies – such as Axiom, Lawyers on Demand and Eversheds Agile – have an increasing role to play in the market,” says Carless. “With increased pressure on internal resources (both people and budgets), having access to flexible resources to meet peaks in demand will, I believe, increasingly become the norm.”

On boardIs the next logical step a seat on the board? General counsel themselves do not see it as essential, and much hangs on the organisation concerned. “If a general counsel is regarded as a trusted adviser, they will be included in discussions around business strategy and they do not need a place on the board in order to have a profile,” says Day. “If an adviser truly gives sound, pragmatic advice then the profile will follow.

“Women, in particular, bring a different voice and experience,” she says, “and have a different and more practical way of looking at things and solving

– they generally have a great skill set and a lot to add to a board.”

Traditionally, general counsel and in-house lawyering has been seen as a good option for women – and the culture of in-house law continues to have a much better record on diversity than law as a whole. So how important is diversity to general counsel?

Carless is clear: “If organisations don’t value and support their female employees, they are closing off what is already a limited talent pool by 50 per cent, and not getting the benefit of richer discussion and stronger decision-making,” she says. “It’s great that there is now much more conversation and focus on diversity and inclusion, but we need to translate that into real change. Diversity is a business imperative.”

“Thereisalongwaytogotomakelawfirmsreally

customer-centric.”

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Why are there so few women at the top of the legal profession? Just one in five partners in top-20 firms

is a woman, and just eight hold senior management roles in the top 50 firms, despite the fact that more women enter the profession than men. FLUX asked four senior lawyers for their take on the challenges and solutions.

JanetLegrandPartner, DLA PiperJanet Legrand was the first woman to be elected to the DLA Piper board, as well as the first woman in any leadership position in the global firm. She was senior partner and chairman of the firm’s board from 2009-12.

The lightbulb moment for me was, as a senior partner at the firm, reading the McKinsey Women Matter research in 2007. The basic thesis was that companies that have two or more women on their board or at senior executive level were empirically more successful. It also observed that if you put the same job description to a man and a woman equally well-qualified for a role, the chances are the woman would look at it and think: ‘I don’t know if I can do that.’ Whereas a man would be thinking: ‘I can do that, but the money isn’t good enough.’

One would have thought that by the time we reached 2015 things would be rather different – but they are not. We have now reached a stage where women have recognised that this is not where they want to be. The way that firms are organised was established a long time ago, and the status quo works for a large chunk of people. It takes effort to intervene through structural changes to try and change the way things have always been.

But taking control of your own career is important. When you’re at a school, you work very hard, you get good results and people tell you you’re doing very well. There is cause and effect. In the

world of work there can be a tendency to work hard, keep your head down, and expect somebody to notice and promote you. But the reality is that people do not necessarily notice you unless you engage.

If you have ambition for leadership then engage with your line manager. Men are better at flagging up those issues; they tend to be better at engaging, and maybe that is because the bulk of leadership in law firms is male.

I was encouraged by my managing partner to stand for election [to the DLA board in 1999]. I had a very clear game plan – I wanted to do it, but just not then. The timing was terrible. I had two small children, one was only 18 months, and my mother had just had a heart attack. However once the idea was put in my mind I decided to go for it. You have to seize the day.

When I had my first child, I turned to the partnership deed to look for the maternity provisions and there weren’t any. I was the first equity partner to have children. My husband gave up work and became the primary carer. It is striking the number of women in my generation where that is the case.

That has helped me succeed because you can automatically put 120 per cent into the work, but it is not an approach that is sustainable, fair or appropriate for everyone. What firms are struggling with now is a generation where both partners in a relationship have a career that they want to continue and where they want to have a more equal involvement in childcare.”

MANIFESTO FOR

CHANGEThe business case for diversity is

unassailable, but now is the time for actions to speak louder than words.

words by william ham bevan

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LindaJonesHead of employment law, Pinsent MasonsLinda Jones leads Project Sky, a programme established to deliver a better gender balance in the partnership and leadership team, with a target of 30 per cent female partners and a first milestone of 25 per cent by 1 May 2018.

There are a number of factors inhibiting women’s progress to the top. We spend a lot of time talking to our clients about gender diversity and when you look across the entire spectrum we see similar issues. In addition, some of our clients find it difficult to attract female talent in the first place – for example, in the infrastructure and energy sectors – which is a problem law firms don’t have.

And for me, diversity is a pressing talent issue. Our intake was 50-50 men and women when I joined the firm back in 1992, so there is nothing new about having lots of women in the law. But now, 23 years later, we still don’t have anything like parity at senior levels. That is why we need to make interventions.

One issue about the legal profession which is probably more of a problem [than it is for other areas of business] is “presenteesism”, the “long hours” culture and the perceived need to be available for clients 24 hours a day.

Relationship partners could probably do a lot more – talking to clients about what they actually want, rather than making assumptions. It might well be that in some types of work there is a need for somebody to be there all the time; but we need to challenge the assumption

of technology is that you can work seamlessly from home.

I have a two year-old and a four year-old, and I’m lucky that my husband works from home. I think it is becoming more common for men to do at least half of the family support rather than the old traditional way. He is more able to juggle his work than I am. He will be the first line of call if anything was to happen – for example, if a child is ill.

That means I have to really invest in any other time I have with my children. For instance, the other day I was taking my four year-old son to school in a taxi. The cab driver, a woman, was listening to our conversation and said that my son was very lucky to have a mother like me. I thanked her but had to point out that that was my only “quality time” for the two of us that day.

that that is always the case. And actually when we talk to clients, they tell us that they like agile working.

So it’s important that we stop making assumptions about what clients want and actually ask them: the answer might be surprising. We shouldn’t assume that they think presence in the office equates to work being done, and we need to start thinking that it might be possible for people to work in a more agile way and for people to be more productive than if they are stuck in front of a desk.

Project Sky started in 2013 when 19.5 per cent of our partners were women. We have got to the position where it’s 22 per cent of partners, and have set ourselves a target of 25 per cent by May 2018. When you have a firm of more than 300 partners, that is quite a challenge.

Of 29 new partners [in the latest round of appointments], 38 per cent were female and that’s the largest proportion to date. It is the result of a sustained campaign to raise this as a business issue. We have many talented women and we need to create an environment where they can progress.

ElizabethLangPartner, Bird & BirdElizabeth Lang is a partner in Bird & Bird’s international employment group. She is the firm’s diversity partner and involved in its social mobility programmes including Pioneer and PRIME.

Some lawyers see partnership as an “all or nothing” situation. So they think if you are going to be a partner, it means giving up all your time. Ironically, from personal experience, I would say being a partner gives you more flexibility. It is demanding but you do have the autonomy because you’re running your own practice.

We run a “buddy” scheme at Bird & Bird which started in Sweden (introduced by the Stockholm managing partner and board member Katarina Åhlberg) in recognition that there are times in one’s professional career when both men and women have family commitments. It is a way of lawyers teaming up on a formal basis with more junior associates to provide continuity to ensure that the client gets what they need, on time, and to enable you, the lawyer, to keep high-quality work alongside having a family.

We also have a very advanced state of agile working. There is absolutely no issue when people want to work from home. We think that the younger generation of lawyers expect that flexibility now.

We do have a high percentage of women in management roles: 30 per cent of our international board; 20 per cent of our non-executive board; and 24 per cent of our heads of country

HelenBurtonPartner, AshurstHelen Burton joined Ashurst as a partner in 2001, helped set up the firm’s diversity committee in 2005 and its women’s network in 2008. She has two young children.

I’m not sure that the law is any worse than any other profession. I am a banking lawyer, and looking at the banking industry, maybe we are in a better place than they are.

Nonetheless, there are not enough women at the senior end of law firms – about 18 per cent of Ashurst partners are women.

We merged with an Australian firm about 18 months ago and their senior partner, Mary Padbury, is now our deputy chair for the global firm. Having someone in such a senior position as a champion for women really helps. A key issue for women in law firms is the importance of role models.

In areas where there are a lot of senior women – in other words, more than just one or two token women – [the increasing representation of women] tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And, likewise, in areas where there aren’t a lot of senior women, other women may be tempted to think: “I am just going to leave.”

The long hours culture is less prevalent today, but there is still an element of it. There are still some people who think that if you aren’t in the office, you aren’t working. I tend to go home at least once or twice a week to put my children to bed. Then I will work from home. One of the great benefits

are women. However, 54 per cent of our trainees are female, so there is a reduction as people get into more senior positions.

We’ve just had our first application from a male senior associate who is taking shared parental leave. An increasing number of very competent and ambitious associates want to be able to balance their working and family lives, both men and women.

But we need more role models. Female associates want to see that you can be a parent and [a partner] in a law firm. My youngest child is now 12 years-old. I worked part time for 10 years and tried different combinations of part-time working but always managed to do good-quality work and maintain client relationships. I didn’t feel there was any barrier for my career.

“Firms need to be aware of being more representative of society, not just promoting in their own image. A richer range of perspectives makes for better decision-making.”Janet Legrand

“Ultimately we are a service industry and we have to deliver a service to our clients, but I am sure there is scope for working together to change things and to be bolder.”Helen Burton

“Stop making assumptions about what clients want and actually ask them; don’t assume that they think presence in the office equates to work being done.”Linda Jones

“There is an incentive on the law firms to work efficiently and to get the work done profitably. That is good for women and good for lawyers – if you get your costings right.”Elizabeth Lang

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The competition has never been tougher, and client

loyalty is business-critical. So, can you make it rain?

words by grania langdon-downillustration by olivier kugler

S A L E S F O R C E

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Milliken has been focussing on the idea that everyone at Macfarlanes has an important role to play in client service. One project that she has been working on is a series of partner-led, discussion-based workshops covering all aspects of client service delivery, and which have deliberately included not just fee-earners but also secretaries, professional support lawyers and the business services teams.

“It’s about building relationships where there is a good fit, not being a pushy sales person,” says Amanda Grace, head of client development at Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. “It’s a drive to put the client first and understand what they want.” But while that sounds straightforward, Grace stresses it can be a long game. “It may be that the potential client is perfectly happy with

their existing provider. We are not going to upset that relationship or over-invest in trying to shake the incumbent off. But a good rainmaker will stay in touch with the prospect’s business, so when they are looking to review their panel or want a fresh pair of eyes, we are front of mind. That is real rainmaker territory and the stuff on which we build solid client bases.”

Grace’s personal mantra is to be in direct touch with clients every week. She puts ideas on service delivery in front of a client panel and has developed an in-house lawyer network called ThinkHouse. The network includes a range of practical services and resources with the promise “you name it and we’ll cover it”.

A recent session run in London and Birmingham, for instance, picked up on the 2014

Katherine Milliken, head of client service at Macfarlanes, has seen rainmakers in action from both sides of the fence, starting her legal career at a magic circle firm before spending 10 years in-house at Inchcape, latterly as general counsel. When she joined Macfarlanes in 2013 as its first head of client service, she brought with her frontline experience of what worked, and what didn’t.

Some lawyers would stick too obviously to the training manual when talking to you, she says. “Others would meet up for lunch and there would be an awkward pause at the point they made their pitch before they felt they could then relax and chat. One of the best ways to market yourself is not to be too overtly in ‘sell’ mode but to be committed, proactive and attentive – and deliver what you promise.”

nce upon a time, in a land far away, lawyers did not think about marketing. They did not concern themselves with social media.

And they rarely considered the impact of business development. But those days have gone. In 2015, the rainmaker is queen. So what does it take to sell yourself – and your firm – convincingly?

“When I started, our business development campaigns were mainly implemented by our partner group but that was about it,” says Julie Mortimer, marketing and business development director at Mills & Reeve. “But there is such value in our trainees and junior lawyers. They network in a different way and are very savvy about social media. As soon as they have been to an event they will be sending out LinkedIn invites and we do see work being won as a result.”

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work and deepen their relationships with existing clients. Encouraged by the positive feedback from the initial roll-out to 20 per cent of the firm’s key clients, the next stage is to offer it to more clients.

“We are doing this for two reasons,” she says. “We want clients to view us as insightful, innovative and influential. But it is also absolutely on message with what clients need and goes beyond traditional law firm offerings by helping our clients become business leaders.”

“At an individual level, social media – if used correctly – can be your most powerful marketing tool,” says Wheeler, whose firm’s Supporting Innovation campaign, involving dozens of partners in multiple countries was awarded Most Innovative Use of Social Media at this year’s MPF Awards for Management Excellence. “Our social media channels are the biggest drivers of traffic towards our website, and a core part of the firm’s social media strategy is encouraging lawyers to be active with their personal profiles on these platforms,” she says.

Keeping LinkedIn and Twitter feeds and blogs updated alongside a busy day job means a lot of plate spinning and there is a risk of getting it wrong, acknowledges Mortimer. Mills & Reeve has a social media policy that everyone is expected to read, “and then we police it,” she says. “We constantly monitor any mention of the firm and are very clear about how our staff should use Facebook, for instance, which we don’t use as a business tool. But I wouldn’t want to be without LinkedIn or Twitter – that is what our clients are using and we have to reflect that.”

Perhaps that is the key: whatever the tool, rainmakers put their clients at the centre of strategy. As Milliken says: “The big gestures are important but you also have to make sure you don’t forget the human touch.”

Grania Langdon-Down is a freelance legal journalist

report Transforming Government’s Contract Management, where the National Audit Office reported that a high proportion of contract management was weak with, in some cases, a material risk of overbilling. It gave public service providers and commissioners an overview of the key phases of the contract lifecycle, identified practical steps and contractual steps to minimise risks. “Any session we run is based on what clients tell us they want to hear about, and we do video snippets for those who cannot attend,” Grace explains.

Joanne Wheeler, a partner at Bird & Bird and one of the leading practitioners in the cutting-edge field of satellite law, says that demonstrating your interest and understanding of your client and their sector is key. “Expertise shows itself by being proactive – not just reactive to instructions. One needs to be involved and be interested, if not passionate, about the subject,” she says. “As an industry develops, and the range of applications begins to be understood, it is important to understand the implications, the business potential, and the laws and regulations which may be relevant. This can be a wide remit. One needs to be at industry and regulators’ meetings and workshops – be ‘within the tent’.”

Jo Witham, head of client relationship management at Olswang, agrees, and says presenting your firm positively is all about finding ways to stand in your clients’ shoes. One of her first projects after joining Olswang three years ago (from Clifford Chance, where she was global head of client focus) was to talk to general counsel about what they wanted from the firm. She then used that feedback to craft a client relationship campaign, which she branded Instinctive Understanding.

It is a “toolkit” of relationship investment, she explains, which provides strategy development, personal networks and training. A year on, she has trained 80 per cent of Olswang’s partners in how they can use the kit when they pitch for new

“It’sallaboutfindingwaysto

standinyourclient’sshoes.”

Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme is Britain’s leading best-practice employers’ forum for sexual orientation and gender identity equality, diversity and inclusion. We currently work with 750 members across public, private and third sectors to help them create inclusive and accepting environments for almost a quarter of the UK workforce.

To become a Diversity Champion or for more information, contact James Haq-Myles at james.haq-myles@stonewall.org.uk or call on 020 7593 3487.

people perform better when they can be themselves

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F L E XSome new firms are finding ways to

ensure that a lawyer’s professional life leaves

room for their personal life. But Jon Robins

finds out how lawyers, and their clients, have

to adapt to flexible working.

photography bymarcus ginns

A few years back, Washington-based lawyer Maria Simon was watching her two-year old son playing. “Jack

was in the corner just fooling around by himself. I asked him why he wasn’t playing with his friends and he said: ‘Mom, I have to finish these emails’. I realised he was mimicking my behaviour – which just wasn’t what I wanted.”

Simon is a partner at the six woman strong Geller Law Group which is built upon “a near-evangelical determination”, as she puts it, to show that parents can “nurture their professional ambitions while being fully present in their children’s lives”.

Flexibility is key to the approach of a legal practice that was set up by co-partner Rebecca Geller. The firm does not have a physical office and so, if their lawyers need space, then a room is hired by the hour. “We want to be able to do interesting legal work but we want to do that on our own terms,” says Simon.

Simon and Geller describe themselves as “militantly against” the traditional law firm model where, as Simon puts it, “you must be in the office and there must be ‘face time’ with senior partners”.

“People are tethered to their iPhones and BlackBerries these days,” she

both sides of the Atlantic. In 2013 women accounted for 16.5 per cent of law partners in US firms (the National Association for Law Placement).

When Halebury launched in the UK in 2007 it was instantly labelled an “alternative” law firm. Founding partner Janvi Patel and business partner Denise Nurse, who both started their legal careers at City firm Charles Russell, drew on their experience as in-house counsel, to focus on what clients’ valued.

Halebury do not have a physical office – instead the firm’s lawyers, who tend to be very experienced (on average

continues. “But that same technology has also allowed us to expand and have a really flexible working environment. You don’t necessarily need to be in the office every day.”

Despite the liberating potential of technological innovation, a stubborn culture of “presenteeism” is one of the main factors contributing to the dearth of women in senior management positions in law firms. More women than men are entering the legal profession but fewer than one in five of partners in the top 20 firms are women (19 per cent, according to The Lawyer’s Top 200). It is the same story

15 years post-qualification), are often based at the offices of their corporate clients, enabling them to build highly effective relationships.

“I don’t want our team to sit with me,” says Patel. “I want them to sit with the client, because that is where they will add the most value and collect information most effectively.” She also points out that the flexible approach is also a much more cost-effective way to work – another factor guaranteed to please clients.

And at Halebury, this client-centric focus has a further impact: it enables lawyers to design ways of working – and living – that suit them, as Patel herself

demonstrates. While the firm’s business is largely in the UK, Patel – the firm’s chairwoman – lives in Los Angeles. “I wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning to try and hit London hours and fly back every four or five weeks and do a week in London,” she says.

However, flexibility – by definition – can never be a one-size-fits-all solution. Alison Dennis leads Fieldfisher’s life sciences practice and is on the firm’s executive committee. She argues that there are limits as to how much you can change the practices of City lawyers. “As soon as you start doing deals and handling litigation – in other words,

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primarily what commercial law firms do, as distinct from the advisory work – then there are transactions that [need to be completed] and deadlines that have to be hit. However, the combination of connectivity and technology offers opportunities for firms to think creatively about how people can be brought together to meet those deadlines.”

It is a point echoed by Simon. “The demands of a litigation-based practice are much more stringent and rigid. There are always court deadlines. It’s the nature of the beast,” she says.

She joined Geller Law from such a firm. “I really did love my last job – but it was an entirely federal court practice. So I had a lot of West Coast cases, with a time difference and a small baby. I remember having a hearing starting at 4pm in Los Angeles – that is 7pm on the East Coast, and if you have a small child you’re missing bedtime.” But she adds: “That is the beauty of technology – you can be on the phone in Washington and in court in LA.”

Apart from the increasing demand to clock up billable hours, one of the big barriers for lawyers with family

as effective as possible with the tools we have, and social media is a large part of our marketing and business development work.”

The firm has a strong and lively presence on social networking sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. “I have probably attended two events in the year, other than the ones I am speaking at. The bulk of our business has been created and marketed via technology,” she adds.

The challenges for working families are evident. “If you look at what most fee earners have to do in private practice

commitments to making significant progress in City firms is the need to network and bring in new clients. Can flexible firms be as effective? Patel, who has a six year-old and four year-old twins, concedes that networking and client acquisition is traditionally about face-to-face networking.

“There is something of a traditional approach to networking: drinks, events in the evenings etc,” she says. “I just do not have the bandwidth for that.

“For a start I live in LA, but also childcare finishes at 6 or 7pm,” continues Patel. “So we try and be

to reach partner level – six or seven billable hours a day, plus all the business development, marketing, training and administration – you quickly run out of time before you have to go home and pick up the kids,” says Patel. “Women in the industry need to think of different, more efficient ways of operating, and social media is great.”

Sometimes flexibility means setting limits. Simon recalls a defining moment at her old firm when the other side’s counsel pointed out she was emailing while in labour. “It is so easy to be constantly on your phone,” she says.

“If we do not set those limits for ourselves in the technological environment that we’re raising our children in, it is very easy to let them think that being in front of the screen all the time is completely normal.”

Dennis agrees. “Every Apple device that comes out is expected to be smaller, smarter and faster. People expect that from their lawyers as well. Law firms can try and rethink the way that they provide advice, but there are situations in which firms’ options for providing flexible working solutions are limited by client needs.”

“Wetryandbeaseffectiveas

possiblewiththetoolswehave.”

“Womenneedtothinkofdifferent,

moreefficientwaysofoperating.”

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Law is undergoing the greatest geographic shift in perhaps the last 30 years. Business that used to be

conducted in London or New York now takes place anywhere around the globe: across borders and across timezones. Anywhere, in fact, as long as clients feel they are getting a good service.

It makes sense. Global firms want to cut costs, operate more efficiently across international time zones and provide tip-top client service. Consequently, the focus has shifted to how, rather than where, the best work is done. Elia Montorio, a corporate partner at DLA Piper, attributes that shift to the greater connectivity enabled by an increasingly online world.

“While law firms have continued to grow both locally and globally, technology has made the business world a smaller place,” she says. And that smaller world, she points out, provides greater opportunities for lawyers to work as part of international teams, and enables firms to offer more flexibility in terms of resourcing and pricing to their clients.

According to Alexandrine Armstrong-Cerfontaine, head of the Luxembourg office at King & Wood Mallesons, working without borders and across international jurisdictions is possible not just because of technology but also because the “key principles of the mechanics” of deals and associated documents have become standardised.

“There are local differences of course, but the main concepts are universally agreed, so it has become less important that you remain in a particular jurisdiction to practice,” she says.

The world is getting smaller. Lawyers today can work from almost anywhere. But should they? And what are the implications for clients? Catherine Baksi investigates.illustration byallan sanders

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“As a result, it’s really not that unusual for clients in one jurisdiction to never actually meet their lawyers who are operating in another.”

But while jurisdictional boundaries may be of declining importance, the firm believes in exposing its lawyers to various worldwide locations through cultural and transfer programmes. “This gives our lawyers added value – understanding a market means you have to be in that market for a time,” says Armstrong-Cerfontaine. “It’s a real asset.”

Most of the lawyers in Armstrong-Cerfontaine’s office speak at least three languages, and it offers language lessons to all lawyers, including Mandarin for the boss at 7.30 in the morning. “Practising in a more virtual, cross-border world requires a change in mindset and greater flexibility on the part of lawyers,” she says. “But the effect on them is generally thought to be positive and leaves the lawyers’ sense of self undiminished and even bolstered.”

The rise of nearshoringIt is clear that the looser geographical way of working alters the organisation of firms. Montorio, who is based in Manchester, explains that her firm “markets its services by sector, not geography or practice group”, with its UK offices “seamlessly operating as a single team from which the lawyers with the most appropriate skills for each matter are selected.

“There are some specific situations where a deal needs to be led out of London, but that is increasingly unusual these days,” she says, stressing that big deals no longer have to be done in the main global financial centres such as London or New York, and citing a recent €7.2bn deal for Vodafone that the firm acted on which was led from its office in Madrid. “For someone like

me, based outside of London, the firm’s approach has a really positive effect,” she says. “You recognise yourself as being part of a global law firm, providing first-rate service to multi-national clients wherever in the world they happen to be based, not just focused on your immediate local area.”

Of course this greater “relocationism” is nothing new. The reduction of geographical restrictions resulted first of all in offshoring, farming out back-office services and routine, as well as commoditised work, to foreign shores, led by the likes of the City firms Lovells (now Hogan Lovells), Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy. Work was outsourced or offshored to countries as far afield as India, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Africa, either to legal outsourcing providers or firms’ own offshore centres.

After that came “near” or “north” shoring – either bringing work and services back from overseas to the UK or shifting it out of the expensive capital and south-east to northern cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Northern Ireland’s Belfast – or, in the case of top-50 national firm Mills & Reeve, Norwich.

Kicking off the nearshoring trend were Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Allen & Overy, who both opened offices in Belfast in 2011. According to Libby Jackson, global head of alternative legal services at HSF, nearshore has proved a great way to demonstrate to clients that they think creatively about their needs. “By unpacking the legal work and the processes involved using the nearshore model, we can ensure that the right work is done in the right place, with the right combination of legal experience and skills – together delivering a high quality service at the right price.”

Jackson believes that globalisation is the next step in the evolution of this part of the legal market. “Thinking globally in this space is now inevitable. This is driven by the need to ensure the legal products and services that we offer are relevant to all the markets around the world that our clients operate in.”

Beware the virtual worldHowever, while firms – and lawyers – see the benefits of cutting the ties of geography, many caution against descending into a purely virtual world, where lawyers interact with others only by means of various technological wizardry. “There has definitely been a shift in how law is practised, but I wouldn’t want it to go further than it has done already,” says Bridget Barker, head of the investment management team at Macfarlanes.

Strong teams have long been at the heart of outstanding law, and beyond a certain size, collaboration across virtual teams is notoriously hard to manage. “It would be disastrous if people just spent all their time staring at a computer screen and never got to see colleagues or clients,” Barker says.

It is not simply a management issue. Barker says that a virtual world may hinder the development of people skills; vital in a good lawyer.

“One of the sad things about how law is practised now is the large number of conference calls and volume of email traffic, instead of face-to-face chats and meetings,” she says. “Email is quite a blunt instrument – you can pick up an awful lot through body language and facial expression. It is important to have a core at the office and have the opportunity to talk to each other and relate to each other – to exchange ideas and discuss issues that may be common to everyone.”

But what do clients think of all this? Lawyers generally agree that so long as the work is done to the same high quality and that clients are able to get hold of the lawyers and receive a swift response from them, the lawyer’s location is unimportant.

As Montorio puts it: “For clients, expertise and cost are king, and in my experience they are not overly concerned about where their lawyers are based. Of far greater importance is that they are provided with high quality advice that is completed on time, done well and is cost effective.”

Power toolsfor lawyers.

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X2

The best lawyers know that special relationships

aren’t just for nation states. Bonella Ramsay and Mary Skelly talk to

Kate Hilpern about biotech, business and bonding.

photography by alun callender

Then there’s the fact that both women are skilled, empathising types who “click”, says Ramsay, adding that her focus on personally supporting Skelly – “whether that means getting a quick answer about something on jurisdiction or speaking to a colleague just to get their understanding on this or that” – is significant. “I challenge her on things regularly,” adds Ramsay. “I think that’s important.”

“That inquisitive, challenging relationship can be incredibly helpful in giving me a fresh perspective. I think it also helps that probably my biggest strength is that I know what I don’t know. And I also know I desperately need people who do know.”

The two women, who chat with the ease, reflection and humour of lifelong friends, originally met in 2008, when Microbide was in its infancy and under all the usual financial pressures that entails. Both women admit to having been blown away by the pace of the sector since then.

“The speed at which success can be achieved in this industry really stunned me,” remarks Ramsay, who – since leading the Life Sciences Sector – has adopted a number of innovative best practices to ensure and maintain the high levels of trust and quality that underpin successful cross-border and business development. One example is a financial tool for the sector, which is now being adopted by the firm for other global sectors.

Not surprisingly, the fast pace of change led to some hairy moments along the way. “IP is king in this industry, so like many other companies in this sector, we’ve had to navigate our way through some particularly tricky times.”

Acknowledging that it’s very much “a team sport every step of the way”, Ramsay points out that she welcomes calls with good news as well as bad news, although she notes that may be quite rare.

As Skelly adds: “I really, really believe that when interacting with your principal attorney in this industry, you have to keep them abreast of the positives and not always just bring them a problem.”

There’s nothing new about biotech as a specialist area for lawyers, points out Ramsay, but because it has grown so quickly, it is drawing in a bigger volume of lawyers than ever and the kind of expertise required is changing more rapidly than ever too.

“In the early days, it was mostly about scrambling for funding and patent prosecution, then later it was also about being bought. Now, however, as more companies get close to market, there’s a wider expertise that’s required to deal with complex law issues, and I’m seeing more and more lawyers say, ‘Hey, this is an industry we need to be focusing on.’”

But to shine, she believes, these lawyers need more than just specialist legal knowledge of biotech. “It’s an understanding of the whole industry that I think is so vital. As biotech moves along its trajectory – it takes a long time to get these products to market – you need a lawyer to understand the players and what specific issues your client is facing and to be able to empathise

with that and provide support on a long-term basis. So, yes, it’s very much about specialisation, but it’s also about understanding the wider industry. The working relationship Mary and I have really demonstrates that.”

Biotech, agrees Skelly, is like an amoeba. “It’s always evolving, reshaping and growing and the attorneys have to be able to tack, grow and encourage along with the company.”

In Ramsay and Skelly’s case, there have been cultural divides to overcome too. “Bonnie is English and I’m Irish and that’s powerful in itself because it means that in order for this to work, we have to overcome distance and culture – although we actually have a rather good time at it,” she smiles.

“How can one not fall in love with the Irish?” laughs Ramsay. “There’s this incredible stamina. And being able to take a knock and carry on is relevant here because as much as I support her, she supports me too. I go to her with questions and value her input.”

The sense of equality is clear, as is the loyalty. “Microbide has kept DLA Piper at the very heart of our growth and maturation, developing and morphing as we grow, and that remains the same,” says Skelly.

A lot of smaller companies look at DLA Piper and assume they’re out of reach, acknowledges Ramsay. “They think they can’t go there. But, being a full service firm, most things are just one call away.”

“Ours is by no means a typical attorney-client relationship,” says Mary Skelly, chief executive

officer of Microbide Limited, about her lawyer Bonella Ramsay. Few in the biotech sector are, points out Ramsay, who is global co-chair of DLA Piper’s Global Life Sciences Sector, although she agrees that this one has evolved into a particularly close working relationship that both women say remains key to their business success today.

“The client relationship is critical when it comes to anticipating client needs in the biotech sector because, as a lawyer, you’re involved in helping to shape their whole strategy – a strategy that has global vision, aspiration and reach, even among small companies like Microbide,” explains Ramsay.

Skelly explains that she lets Ramsay know everything that’s going on, both within the company and with her as a chief executive – the stresses, the joys, the new learnings, and how they all transform and impact not only on Microbide, but the markets they work in. “We work so seamlessly, in fact, that it has evolved into a deep understanding and friendship and I believe that is essential to our success.”

Ramsay agrees. “All this means I understand what the problems are and can think quickly to solve them. I also think it’s relevant that we share such a deep passion for the industry. I’m not a scientist – I’m a philosophy graduate and a transactional lawyer by background – but I’m fascinated by the sector. It’s a privilege to work with clients whose work might change people’s lives, and our environment.”

“I think it’s relevant that we share such a deep passion for the industry. I’m a transactional lawyer, not a scientist, but I’m fascinated by the sector.”

(Above left) Mary Skelly (CEO, Microbide): As the company’s “chef, cook and bottle washer” Mary welcomes the chance to share her experiences with her principal international attorney. (Above right) Bonella Ramsay (Co-chair, Global Life Sciences , DLA Piper): Revenues in DLA’s life sciences sector have grown to more than £100m duing the seven years Bonella has been in charge.

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R I S I N GS T A R

Laura Scaife is a digital native – and an expert on the interface between law and social media. Sarah Woodward meets a practitioner working

on the cutting edge of tech law.photography by marcus ginns

From her CV, it’s hard to believe that Laura Scaife, self-labelled “data privacy, cyber and social media

specialist”, is only 28. Author of the Handbook of Social Media and the Law, her LinkedIn profile is positively frightening, stuffed as it is with publications, TV appearances and media interviews on top of her day job as an associate at international law firm Addleshaw Goddard.

How does she find the time to be so prolific? “I don’t see it as work – I am fascinated by the interaction between the law and society. I studied Aristotle and was particularly struck by the phrase ‘law is reason free from passion’. It seemed to me that as technology was developing, increasingly passionate views were forming part of the legal debate that could potentially inform the law.”

Laura regards her youth as a positive advantage, for she came of age alongside Facebook and then Twitter. While she was at Durham University, studying on an academic scholarship, she watched both gathering pace and realised that their increasingly widespread use among her peers was raising legal questions that – at that point – had no answers.

“The first case where I became aware of the potential of social media in the courts was one of car fraud,” she says. “The accused was shown not to have been around as there was a picture of him on Facebook on holiday patting a dolphin. There was some regulation, but little or no guidance as to how the legal system could address the increasing prevalence of social media in cases.”

Scaife’s interest was sparked. Today, as well as writing extensively on the subject for the specialist and mainstream press, she has been called to produce recommendations for the policy-making sector.

In the future she wants to be more involved with defining the legal regulation of modern technology, as well as to be recognised internationally as a leader in her field.

“I am a product of social media myself. Through Twitter and LinkedIn I was able to reach out to people across the world, which is incredible,” she says. “My father always told me that if I wanted to know something I should go out there and find it out. I feel very fortunate to be writing at a time when the internet has made that much easier, which has given me such fantastic research resources.”

Amidst all this whirl of activity, Laura is careful to remind herself “it’s good sometimes to be a part of the audience rather than being on the stage”. She takes time out to just spend time with her friends (“and yes we do meet, we’re careful not to let the technology takeover”), plays tennis, runs around Windsor Park, goes rollerblading and paints both oils and watercolours.

A keen appreciator of art and fashion whenever she gets the chance, she goes to the National Gallery, V&A or the Courtauld Institute. “I could look at Two Dancers on the Stage by Degas for hours,” she says. “I’ve always really admired former Vogue editor and curator Diana Vreeland, too. She was a real trailblazer – we can learn a lot from Diana’s strength and tenacity.” Her favourite book is Mindfulness: 25 Ways To Live In The Moment Through Art by Christophe André. “It’s a really beautiful book and I was drawn to it because everything is so immediate, so ‘right now’ – it’s important to step back from time to time.”

But only from time to time it seems. Having approached a publisher herself for her first book, she is now working on two more, one of which, very topically, is on social media and terrorism.

State educated and from a small town near Liverpool, Laura believes firmly that everyone should be encouraged to find their voice regardless of background, wealth, age or gender. “I tell everyone you can achieve anything you want if you have passion and determination. Diversity is, after all, the art of thinking independently together!”

“You can achieve anything you want if you have passion and determination. Diversity is the art of thinking independently together.”

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CHOOSETHERIGHTSUCCESSORMonica Burch (MB): Keep a track of your staff’s successes and how they achieved them, but also note their failures and how they responded to and learned from them. Take them out of their comfort zone – that way you learn in plenty of time if they really are the right person to take over.

KEEPITGOINGCJ: Succession planning is a rolling discipline – it’s not just a one-off plan to prepare for one individual’s departure, it’s about developing a constant level of preparation. Regular meetings, reviews, appraisals and communication all prevent shocks.

KNOWLEDGEISPOWERCJ: All of us carry at least some knowledge in our heads – information that is unwritten because we “just know” it. But because it’s in our heads, an employer is in danger of losing it when we leave. Get as much of the important stuff written down as possible.

FINDTHEMISSINGLINKCJ: Succession planning is a good opportunity to look at your team’s overall skill set and identify if anything is lacking. The potential successors you have identified may not have all the skills you need, so take steps to see how you might make up that shortfall, either by training or further recruitment.

OWNTHEPLANMB: HR initiatives can sometimes be viewed sceptically or not taken seriously so it’s vital that senior partners shape the plan and then own it. HR will be the ones to make it work, but that won’t happen unless the company’s bosses own, support and advocate it.

IT’SGOODTOTALKCJ: Whether it’s a temporary or permanent departure, communication is key. Everyone on maternity leave or on long-term sick, for example, has a mentor who stays in touch. It makes people feel valued – and it helps the company to plan.

GETINTOTRAININGMB: If you have someone with potential, give them the appropriate skills to step up. Offer them opportunities to do the job, perhaps by getting them to work alongside partners. That way, by the time the succession comes the step-up won’t be a big shock to them, the company or the client.

PLANTOSUCCEEDCaitlin Jenkins (CJ): All our partners attend regular “five-year workshops” which enable them to step back and look at where they want to be in five years’ time. Whether they want to step up, retire or continue as they are, ongoing open discussions keeps the company prepared for any scenario.

KEEPTHECUSTOMERSATISFIEDCJ: Knowing your client is vital. If you plan to make any personnel changes, for instance, make sure you talk to the client who will be affected, since they may have specific needs. It continues that sense of an ongoing partnership between you and them.

HAVEAPLANBMB: With the best will in the world, the best plans can go awry. Potential successors may not work out; others may leave suddenly. Make sure you’ve always got a practical, workable alternative that you can implement immediately – even if it’s only a short term one.

S U C C E S S I O N P L A N N I N G

T O P T E N

Leadership is all about strategy and planning. Monica Burch, senior partner at Addleshaw

Goddard, and Caitlin Jenkins, partner at Mills & Reeve, reveal

the secrets of their succession.

words by peter taylor-whiffen illustration by hanna melin

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I wholeheartedly believe in diversity. I had a mother who worked and a grandmother who firmly believed in

educating women, and I believe that if you give women the opportunity, they will demonstrate how valuable they are. Firms combat diversity challenges in different ways – some with quotas or targets, others with mentoring or sponsorship to give women the tools they need.

I think you have to manufacture change from the top down so it can slowly reach a critical mass. When you start getting a more equal split of men and women in meetings and in boardrooms, then all of a sudden you have a different dynamic.

At Ashurst, I’ve helped set up mentoring schemes for women, mixing junior and senior associates from different departments – all of whom have chosen to be there. You need to engage with mentoring to reap the benefits, but those benefits are real: confidence, and a support network within the firm. It’s really hard to get it right and we need to review and revamp regularly.

Working women need to share more knowledge, ideas and our networks with each other so that we can all be pulling more women up the ladder together. With support I see my future in the next five years as a partner at Ashurst, likely in one of our many global offices, but still remaining closely connected with my London colleagues and therefore in a position to mentor, coach and ultimately sponsor other Ashurst women towards success in their careers.

Of course I do think our industry is changing. At my firm slightly more than a quarter of our executive committee are women and we now have four strong senior female partners on the board, including Angela Pearson who has supported and mentored me throughout my time at Ashurst. We’ve also been looking at the broader picture both within and outside the firm: actively promoting women, and putting on and attending events with clients.

But one of our big challenges is engaging men in gender diversity issues and trying to help them understand some of the hurdles we face. While we as a firm and a profession are now hosting many gender diversity events, most of the time all the attendees are women and we are therefore just re-educating the educated. We need to cross the barrier and go further, and one idea we are working on is a “bring a date” initiative: if everyone is tasked with just getting one man to attend then that could really get bums on seats and perhaps break down the barriers some men have about being one of few male attendees present.

I think the recipe for career success for women is not very different to that for men: it comes down to three things: sponsorship – someone to fight your corner and put you forward in meetings; mentoring – not one, but a broad board of supporters who can offer different things; and professional executive coaching – in the same way you’d have a tennis coach or a personal trainer.

But ultimately, my advice is to follow what you like and what you’re good at – the rest will come eventually.

“You need to engage with mentoring to reap the benefits, but those benefits are real: confidence, and a support network within the firm.”

L E A D I N G L I G H TE X P E R T W I T N E S S

Antonia Croke, senior associate at Ashurst, talks diversity and how to get ahead.

illustration by ben kirchner

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Quotas. Mentors. Networks. Culture change. Carrot. Stick. Not a week goes by without another law firm

announcing a new strategy to get more women into senior roles, but does any of it work? Academics at Cambridge University have been examining the evidence and their findings are intriguing to say the least.

At Cambridge Judge Business School, Professor Sucheta Nadkarni and her team have been conducting a major study of more than 1,000 organisations in 41 countries to find out what factors influence the percentage of women promoted to boards and, crucially, how long they remain on the board.

“A better way [than quotas] to improve gender imbalance in leadership is to expand the pool of women qualified to reach the top through training, mentoring and maternity provision.”

P I P E L I N EB I G I D E A

How do you get more women into senior roles? New research suggests

it may be more straightforward than previously thought, as

Peter Taylor-Whiffen discovers. illustration by jason ford

function optimally. A second objection is that quotas are discriminatory, and a third that quotas undermine the achievements of successful women who have risen to the top under their own steam.

Into this arena, Dr Browne proposes what she calls the Critical Mass Marker (CMM) approach that enables organisations to tailor their approach to diversity at all levels. The CMM approach eschews blanket quota solutions but still recognises that to do nothing structural to enhance the number of women in senior roles (at least in the short term) is likely to end in continued failure.

The team found that the average percentage of female board representation rose from nine per cent to 16.4 per cent from 2004 to 2013. Norway, which has quota legislation, had the highest percentage at just under 40 per cent, ahead of Sweden and Finland, with the UK ranked sixth at 16 per cent.

However, none of the top six ranked countries seem to keep their women on the board for very long. Indeed, the highest average tenure among female board members was seen in Mexico (around eight years) and Hong Kong and the USA, suggesting that while a quota system promotes women to directorships, they only hold onto them if other factors are in play.

Overall, the study found that women remained directors longer in countries with greater “female economic power”, measured by expected years of schooling and percentage of women in the labour market, and “a requirement for gender diversity in the corporate governance code”. A country’s maternity provisions and strong “female political power” (percentage of female-held parliamentary seats) also made a difference.

According to Professor Nadkarni: “This result suggests that empowering women outside the boardroom is key to getting women in the boardroom and keeping them there. One of the biggest hurdles for women is lack of sponsorship – less than a third of women have sponsors compared to males. This makes it very difficult to penetrate the right networks essential to get ahead.

“Our findings also suggest that by sending a signal of preferential treatment and compromise of merit, quotas can create a hostile environment for women and result in a revolving door,” continues Professor Nadkarni. “So quotas should not be looked at as a ‘quick fix’ because their long-term effects are not very clear. A better way to improve gender imbalance in leadership is to expand the pool of women qualified to reach the top through training, mentorship and maternity provisions.”

At the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies, the Centre’s director, Dr Jude Browne, has also been looking closely at the politics and practicalities of mandatory quotas, considered by many to be counterproductive.

One of the most common objections to quotas is that they undermine merit, thereby reducing a company’s ability to

The CMM approach instead requires organisations to commit to identifying situations where there is “a thwarted critical mass” – clusters of highly skilled women who are not progressing to more senior levels –organisations would then apply proportionate quotas accordingly.

This approach is more subtle than recent EU proposals for blanket quotas of 40 per cent, but arguably more effective, in that it specifically addresses each organisation’s segregation patterns at all levels rather than simply focusing on the board. This in turn would ensure consistent upward movement through the so called “pipeline of talent”.

Provision does, of course, already exist in the UK’s equality laws entitling recruiters to use “positive action” to encourage applications from particular groups of people, or those who might have previously been disadvantaged. But that, says Dr Browne, sets out only a “mechanism” – whereas her proposal requires specific action.

“The CMM approach would ensure women equipped with the relevant skills are able to move up and across institutional structures in a consistent and effective way. It is a more proportionate response to an institution’s segregation patterns than existing proposals – and will give a much greater number of talented women the opportunity to reach their real potential.”

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Ididn’t have any positive female role models when I was an ambitious young lawyer. When I looked to women

above me to inspire confidence, all I saw were women behaving like men – and in some cases, worse than men. I often reflect on whether my career path would have been different had there been decent female role models at such a critical time in my career.

We can face less subtle challenges too, of course. When I was about four or five years qualified into my career in employment litigation I had my first child, and when I returned from maternity leave, I felt I was entering a completely different landscape. There was no way I could compete with colleagues who worked late and had no childcare responsibilities, so it was they who inevitably ran with the best cases. In the end I left.

Later, when I was teaching law – a job that fitted around my young children – I discovered that lots of women had done exactly the same. I still find it frustrating that many of us could well have been very successful partners in law firms, but the lack of female role models coupled with male-centric working culture meant this was never to be.

There’s no doubt that things are improving. It would be unusual to find a firm without at least one partner working flexibly, and the way that firms measure their value is changing too. But there’s a long way to go.

When I started working at Cambridge Judge Business School, we discovered that no other business school in Europe was running a leadership programme

specifically for female law firm partners to address challenges like this. So we decided to build on our experience of delivering partners’ development training. CJBS now runs a three-day programme in which leading business academics and top consulting professionals are brought in to focus on issues including integrated leadership, strategic talent management and building resilience for high performance.

One of the most interesting things that has come out of it so far is how many of these women, who we perceived as being at the top, said they felt they hadn’t made it at all. There’s another glass ceiling they can’t smash, they explain – and that is reaching the senior management positions. These women are the role models, yet even they feel their voices are not being heard at senior level.

Professor Michelle Ryan explores unconscious bias on our programme, looking at the perceived ideas we have of what a leader should be. We also go beyond what many diversity programmes offer. For example, we examine how women express power and ambition and how sometimes women opt out for fear of being seen as an “imposter”.

Women like Dame Professor Sandra Dawson, Emeritus KPMG Professor of Management Studies at Judge Business School, who speaks on our course, show that success for women in leadership positions is possible. And with growing recognition of the issues that women are facing, along with a genuine desire for things to change more quickly within law firms themselves, I think there is reason to be more hopeful than ever.

“I find it frustrating that a lot of women could have been successful partners, but a lack of female role models and a male-centric working culture meant this was never to be.”

T H E N E W W A V EB Y S TA N D E R

As an ex-lawyer, CJBS’s Sarah Lyons knows all about the prejudices women in the

industry face. And now she’s determined to do something about it.

illustration by ben kirchner

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Research & Guidance . Drafting . News & Media . Training & Development . Business Management

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