Using Training to Get Closer to the Client
It is a common mantra within law firms that lawyers need to be "more commercial". Many programs have been established to address this issue, including:
*MBA-style programmes,
*client focus groups,
*industry lectures,
*case studies and
*specific training modules
Training departments also offer training to in-house legal teams on both legal and managerial issues to enable a stronger bond to be fostered.
But I've yet to find a firm who sends chosen associates on a specific client's own middle-management leadership development programme.
So, for example, you would send an Associate on IBM's 5-day "The Leadership Challenge" programme (assuming IBM was a client), where s/he would mix with the future senior line managers within IBM.
In this way:
The lawyer would meet people who will REALLY matter within the client in 10 years time, and get a true understanding of the client's business outside the legal function.
- Associates would understand that the legal function within most client companies is not the well-regarded powerhouse that the in-house team would have you believe.
- Associates would see that, conversely, the legal function is often seen as the "business prevention unit" within a company, and is avoided in the usual run of events.
Contacts within the client's line management would be established, so that they can help the client's own in-house lawyers be more effective.
You could also impress the client with the quality of your associates, since you would choose your delegate carefully. In this way you would build a long term client relationship based on what we preach; really understanding the client.