Paul Bennett reflects on the key issues that firm leaders face, and what this edition of the magazine provides
Welcome to the April edition of Managing for Success. In this new edition, the Leadership and Management Section brings you more articles that provide practical advice on the challenges that we face as leaders.
With seemingly constant changes to rules and regulations, it can feel harder than ever to stay on top of recent developments. So I am grateful for both the article by Paul Wightman about the changes to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme, and the anti-money laundering regulations update written by Julie Norris and Charlotte Judd. Both these articles do a great job of summarising what we as law firm leaders need to be aware of.
For any business leader, developing your staff is crucial for both the firm, and for your development as a leader. Peter Scott’s article on identifying objectives for your team, and measuring performance is a perfect reminder on one of the key elements as a firm leader, and we hope that you can implement some of his advice in your firm.
Diversity and inclusion remains an important issue for all firms, and hearing what organisations have been able to do to improve their inclusivity is a great way to generate ideas for our own firms. I hope reading about how Clifford Chance have adopted a global inclusion strategy forms some ideas for improving inclusivity in your firm.
Workplace culture is something we need to keep on the agenda, and Jonathon’s Bray article on the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal proposals is a timely reminder of how we as leaders can ensure we, and our employees, are staying compliant.
As we approach the professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal window, Ryan Senior and Piers Winton discuss the upcoming market, and suggest ways to mitigate risk. They also signpost to other resources that can help provide insight.
Finally, as flexible working is here to stay, it’s important to find a way of incorporating it that best suits your firm. Nicola Darfoor’s article, speaking with members about their experience of flexible working, provides real life success stories, which we hope can give you actionable ideas.
As ever, the Leadership and Management Section Committee are looking at these issues from a practitioner perspective. Our voluntary committee of practitioners, and advisers to the leaders of law firms are aware of the current challenges to law firms, but we welcome any ideas and feedback.
If there is an issue that you are struggling with as a law firm leader, that you’re not finding is being covered by the Section, please do get in touch.
