Reuters Legal Leaders Europe 2022: How Lawyers Can Become Business Leaders
Pictured (from left to right): Saffron-Lucia Gilbert-Kaluba (The Corporate Law Journal Co-Founder & CEO), Catheryn O’Rourke (Reckitt General Counsel & Company Secretary), Helen Barraclough (Smith & Nephew Group General Counsel) and Andy James (Electrocomponents Acting General Counsel & Company Secretary).
A common piece of rejection feedback that legal applicants receive is that they lack understanding of the role of a lawyer. This makes it difficult to give a persuasive answer to the questions of ‘why corporate law?’ and ‘why X firm/company?’. Not knowing exactly how the legal function fits in the business world is understandable – legal work experience is difficult to find, let alone opportunities to shadow lawyers at big firms or corporations.
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Reuters Legal Leaders Europe 2022 event in London, hosted by Stefan Mullan and the Reuters Events team. The Corporate Law Journal’s very own Co-Founder and CEO, Saffron-Lucia Gilbert-Kaluba, was named Europe’s youngest ‘Legal Leader’ by Reuters amongst General Counsels, Chief Legal Officers and Board Members of some FTSE 100 companies. At the Reuters event on 10 November 2022, Saffron spoke to the other named Legal Leaders about using technology as a competitive advantage for the modern in-house legal department. Our Co-Founder and CEO, spoke on a panel to the room filled with 200+ legal professionals as well as some of the world’s top General Counsels, Chief Legal Officers and Board Members on how they could use technology to transform their legal departments.
Sitting in on panel discussions led by partners, General Counsels, CEOs and the like made for an insightful opportunity as a future trainee that, since her first year of university, had been hyper-focused on the path to qualification and nothing beyond the completion of my training contract. As panellists engaged deeply with aspects of the legal world that they felt needed disrupting and improving, I noticed that these were all things I had attempted to articulate in my own vacation scheme applications as pull factors to the profession but was never able to do in a fully informed way.
One short article will not do the conference justice, but I have picked out some key takeaways that I think would benefit those preparing to submit applications this milkround from applying to be an associate at a firm, all the way down to applying for a vacation scheme/work experience. The following insights are organised in relation to generic sentences often seen in firm applications’ motivational questions. This is not to say that these rationales should never appear in your own applications; knowing how these aspects work in practice and ensuring this shines through in your answer is crucial.
“I want to pursue a career in corporate law because it is where law and business collide”
The description of the modern lawyer is changing – lawyers are no longer simply a support function to businesses, but business advisors with legal knowledge. Private practice lawyers, in comparison to general counsel, have the benefit of being instructed by different players in the field. This allows for great market oversight. However, for this to be beneficial, lawyers must understand the ‘so what?’ for the business. It may be easy to fall into the trap of simplifying the legal function to managing risk and saying yes or no to legal questions. Lawyers are here to help clients navigate through grey areas from both a legal and business perspective. This is the basis of commercial awareness – not the ability to recite every article from the Financial Times. Putting in the effort to develop financial literacy and business acumen is important.
“I am drawn to your D&I/ESG initiatives”
It is insufficient for businesses to publish statements in support of social justice and environmental causes. On the same basis, it would be insufficient for an applicant to simply state that D&I/ESG is important to them. A comment was made during the discussion on acting on D&I statements that has stuck with me since – D&I initiatives should not be seen as a competitive advantage. If progress is to be made, collaboration between firms and business is absolutely crucial. It is not enough that your dream firm has good initiatives – how about other firms that you inevitably will have to work with? Law firms are reactive to their clients. They are also reactive to the next generation of legal talent. It is therefore important to address your current involvement in D&I/ESG, as well as what you would involve yourself in when joining as a trainee. This is invaluable in fostering a productive discussion, albeit indirect, on how the legal sector can do better.
“I am interested in legal technology/AI in law”
Although it may be impressive if you have developed a strong understanding of how certain pieces of legal tech work, it is also critical to acknowledge that it is yet to become a fully integral part of legal practice. Panellists discussed how legal tech is only as useful as the human operating it – lawyers appear resistant to adoption for reasons of inconvenience and difficulty in understanding how to use it.
“I am confident I will be a valuable asset to the firm”
A theme that dominated conversations was the push to get rid of the billable hour. It was said that the billable hour is poor currency to manage law firm relationships with their clients as it incentivises the wrong behaviours. It became increasingly clear as discussions continued that there is a demand for lawyers to become increasingly efficient, starting with looking at the amount of time it takes to complete a specific task. This drive for outcomes by clients is likely to majorly disrupt the workings of private practice.
The Corporate Law Journal Team, pictured (from left): Nicole Woo (Technology Editor), Saffron-Lucia Gilbert-Kaluba (The Corporate Law Journal Co-Founder & CEO) and Monique Wong (Chief Brand Officer).
Additionally, ‘value creation’ was a buzzword used during the conference. The meaning of value will differ from organisation to organisation. But importantly, a company’s value and purpose must be tangible and visible to its employees. It was mentioned that in recruiting legal talent, demonstrating a passion for the law is not enough. Firms are looking for well-rounded individuals that are, among other things, able to build relationships, develop trust and influence internally, and communicate well. This is often over-looked as applicants assume that recruiters will be looking for individuals that are academically smart and willing to work long hours. This is certainly not the case – emotional intelligence is just as valued. As such, candidates should be focusing on their capacity to create value within the organisation as much as their knowledge of the law and business acumen.
By Nicole Woo