Buch, Englisch, 276 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 525 g
Buch, Englisch, 276 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 525 g
ISBN: 978-1-83723-188-1
Verlag: Globe Law and Business Ltd
The modern lawyer is expected to be technically excellent, emotionally intelligent, adaptable and commercially aware – often all at once. But legal workplaces are not one-size-fits-all, and neither are the people who work in them.
To thrive in today’s legal profession, lawyers must master the human skills that underpin trust, influence and effective leadership.
Fundamental Skills for Modern Lawyers is a practical, insight-driven guide to the capabilities that increasingly define successful legal careers. From handling difficult conversations and giving feedback, to building resilience, negotiating effectively and developing a strong professional profile, this title equips lawyers with the tools they need to perform in an increasingly complex world.
The book covers topics as diverse as emotional intelligence, decision-making and delegation, to networking and change management through a distinctly legal lens, as well as looking ahead to the evolving role of the lawyer, and how neurodiversity and technological developments can all play to the lawyer’s human strengths.
Written for lawyers at every stage of their career, this new co-publication with CILEX bridges the gap between legal expertise and human insight – helping practitioners become not just good lawyers, but trusted advisers and effective leaders.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
Executive summary. xi
About the authors. xix
About CILEX. xxix
Introduction: Why soft skills are now core legal skills. xxxi
By Sara Fowler, president, CILEX
Part I: Mastering Yourself
Chapter 1: Emotional intelligence in legal practice – developing a superpower for lawyers. 1
By Kim Tasso, managing director, RedStarKim
What does emotional intelligence really mean? Why is it important?. 2
The four key components of emotional intelligence. 4
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence under pressure. 7
Managing emotional triggers in adversarial environments. 8
Empathy without losing objectivity. 11
EI as a risk management and leadership tool. 12
Emotional intelligence and wellbeing. 15
Chapter 2: Building resilient lawyers and legal teams. 19
By Paula Davis, JD, MAPP, founder and CEO, Stress & Resilience Institute
What the legal profession can learn from the US Army. 20
Lawyers and soldiers – there are similarities. 21
Building resilience in law. 22
Strategies for building individual resilience. 24
Strategies for building team resilience. 26
Chapter 3: Grief and trauma in legal practice – managing exposure in a loss-saturated profession. 33
By Tom Spence
The hidden emotional landscape of legal work. 33
Suppression has cognitive, ethical and leadership consequences. 34
Understanding grief in professional contexts. 34
Grief as cumulative exposure. 34
The contextual nature of grief. 35
Grief as an operational reality. 35
Stress, trauma, and the continuum of exposure. 36
How suppression became the norm in legal culture. 36
Impact of unprocessed exposure. 38
Regulation vs suppression – developing a critical professional competence. 39
The one grain approach – practical navigation of grief and trauma. 40
Practical skills for lawyers – managing exposure in practice. 42
Collective resilience – a strategic reframe. 43
Leadership and culture in law firms. 45
Cultural change requires consistent practice, clear accountability and visible leadership. 45
Steadiness in law – building grief-literate firms. 45
Chapter 4: Neurodiversity in legal practice. 49
By Danielle Gleicher-Bates and Emma Llanwarne, neurodiversikey
What neurodiversity means. 49
The disability cross-over. 50
Strengths-based thinking vs deficit-based assumptions. 51
Identity-first vs person-first language. 51
Why law attracts – and challenges – neurodivergent thinkers. 52
Disclosure – choices, risks, and boundaries. 53
Reasonable adjustments. 54
Practicing as a neurodivergent lawyer. 55
Requesting reasonable adjustments. 56
Masking, burnout, and imposter syndrome in legal environments. 57
Managing your own working style with insight and self-compassion. 58
Working with neurodivergent colleagues and clients. 59
Making reasonable adjustments. 60
Serving clients’ best interests and needs. 62
Chapter 5: Time management and prioritization. 65
By Nikki Alderson
Introduction. 65
Why lawyers struggle with time. 66
Focus, energy, and avoiding burnout. 68
Managing competing stakeholders and deadlines. 71
Practical, sustainable solutions for busy legal professionals. 72
Conclusion. 78
Chapter 6: Decision-making under pressure. 81
By Alice Boullier de Branche and Jean-Baptiste Lebelle, A&O Shearman
Common decision-making traps for lawyers. 82
Deciding under pressure, the role of wellbeing. 83
Balancing risk, judgment, and incomplete information. 84
When perfectionism becomes a disability. 85
Collaborative decision making and collective responsibility. 86
Standing by decisions and revisiting them when needed. 86
Optimal busyness applies to decision making. 87
Practical tools for deciding under pressure. 88
Conclusion. 89
Part II: Working Effectively with Others
Chapter 7: How to have difficult conversations. 91
By Susan Heaton-Wright, founder, Superstar Communicator
Why difficult conversations define legal careers. 91
What makes conversations “difficult”?. 92
Introducing The SuperStar Communicator™ approach to difficult conversations. 93
The conversation grid. 94
The PREPARE model (for before the conversation). 95
The OPEN model. 98
The LISTEN model. 99
The CALM technique (emotional regulation). 100
Real-world scenarios. 101
Voice and presence. 102
Non-verbal communication. 103
The five-minute hack – a quick exercise before any difficult conversation. 104
Conclusion. 104
Chapter 8: Giving and receiving feedback. 107
By Wayne Hassay, managing partner, Maguire Schneider Hassay, LLP
Objections to a constructive culture of feedback. 108
Build the operating standard. 109
Implementation risks. 112
The ultimate implementation risk – a failed loop poisons morale. 114
Regaining control when the risks appear. 114
Managers giving – and the team receiving – all feedback. 114
Conclusion – this is not a gimmick. 116
Chapter 9: Delegation and supervision – leading modern legal teams with confidence, clarity and humanity. 117
By Pam Loch, Solicitor and CEO, with contributions from Lauren McLaughlin, solicitor, and Kate Rigby, HR director, Loch
Delegation and supervision as core leadership capabilities. 117
Setting expectations and boundaries with modern teams. 118
Managing people for quality, efficiency, and development. 120
Supervising without micromanaging. 122
Psychological safety and supportive challenge. 124
Delegation as a leadership skill, not a liability. 124
Building resilient teams through delegation. 125
Learning from delegation failures. 126
Clearer delegation, stronger supervision, better outcomes. 127
Chapter 10: Negotiation as communication. 129
By Jonathan Middleburgh, principal, Edge International
Negotiation as a core communication skill. 129
Negotiation as communication process. 129
Two philosophies – positional vs interest-based negotiation. 130
The communication toolkit. 132
Context and medium – where and how negotiation happens. 135
Negotiation with your own client. 135
Communication as a core skill. 136
Chapter 11: Agile and lean – new ways of collaborating and organizing work. 137
By Maria Govis, KPMG
Introduction. 137
Where Agile and Lean come from. 137
Agile and Lean for legal teams. 141
Working smarter – technology tools for modern legal practice. 148
Conclusion. 150
Part III: Influence, Visibility and Career Development
Chapter 12: Networking with purpose. 153
By Rebecca Overend, business development manager and associate, Irwin Mitchell
Why networking matters more than ever. 153
Debunking myths and reframing networking for lawyers – why networking is a skill, not a personality. 154
Building genuine professional relationships. 155
Internal vs external networks. 160
Maintaining connections over time. 163
Networking for different career stages. 165
Practical frameworks. 167
Making networking a sustainable habit. 168
Chapter 13: Turning relationships into results – mastering business development in modern practice. 169
By Yuliya I. LaRoe, JD, MBA, BD and leadership coach for lawyers and CEO at LeadWise Group, Inc
The RainMastersTM Framework – the foundations of sustainable rainmaking. 169
Discovering your natural rainmaking style. 171
Upgrading your business development mindset. 173
Developing a winning business development strategy. 176
The operating system of sustainable rainmaking. 178
Bringing it all together. 183
Chapter 14: Developing your professional profile. 185
By Rebecca Harding, Saltwhistle
Why you cannot afford to ignore this. 185
How clients actually choose you. 185
Defining who you are. 186
The psychology that helps you win. 187
Your digital presence. 188
Creating content that gets you noticed. 190
The new digital landscape – what you also need to be doing. 191
Making it happen. 195
In summary. 196
Part IV: Leading Through Change
Chapter 15: Change management for lawyers – the human architecture of change in legal. 199
By Dr Andrea Miskolczi, MBA, managing director, InterAlia Consulting
Introduction. 199
The sponsor – permission as leadership. 200
Managers and partners – the daily architects of culture. 201
The change leader – bridging the gap between left and right. 202
The project manager – when structure serves people. 203
The power user – the most credible proof of concept. 204
The change champion – the bridge between vision and practice. 205
The sponsor alliance – when one sponsor is not enough. 206
Conclusion. 207
Chapter 16: The modern digital lawyer. 209
By Daan Potjer, director, commercial and legal excellence, Loyens & Loeff N.V.
Introduction. 209
Future-proof skills and mindset for lawyers. 210
How AI is transforming lawyer workloads. 211
Working smarter, not harder. 212
Fostering an innovative culture in the firm. 213
Rethinking the lawyer’s value proposition in an AI era. 214
Embrace and adopt new technology. 216
Chapter 17: Becoming a trusted advisor and beyond. 219
By Stuart Maister, chief storyteller, Strategic Narrative
First, be trusted. 219
What is trust?. 220
Be a trusted… what?. 224
Being a Trusted Partner. 225
Trusted partnership can bring firm-wide benefits. 226
Focus on the clients who are willing to build a partnership. 227
Be intentional about trust. 227
Chapter 18: The profoundly human law firm. 229
By Jonathan Middleburgh, principal, Edge International
Learning from other shifts in technology. 230
The shifting landscape – what AI can and cannot do. 230
The Profoundly Human Lawyer – a model. 231
The skills matrix. 234
Developing human skills – practical approaches. 235
A word on AI literacy. 237
The competitive advantage that cannot be automated. 237
About Globe Law and Business. 239
