Legal Practice Notes

This Practice Note offers guidance on learning and development ( L& D) plans and includes the following key areas: what constitutes an L& D plan in practice applicable regulatory obligations and expectations the reasons an L& D plan is required the key components of an L& D plan budgeting and resourcing considerations templates for L& D plans and examples how the L& D plan fits the wider corporate context overall why L& D plans may fail how the L& D plan supports recruitment and the induction of new employees reviewing and tracking L& D plans effectively What is an L& D plan? An L& D plan sets out: what the legal team aims to accomplish, eg its goals and priorities the learning outcomes needed to help the legal team meet those goals, eg what...

The scope A first question is whether you aim to act within your team—large or small—or across a broader area, or even the whole organisation. Taking an organisation-wide route can mean more resource on tap, closer alignment between your team and others, and a chance for your team to be recognised for leading a significant, organisation-benefitting initiative. With the legal case for action, it also aligns with your obligations to the wider organisation. However, a whole-organisation initiative can introduce delay—you will need to bring others with you; some may feel it more properly sits in their remit, and seek control or, at the very least, a role in decision-making. That path should, ultimately, help secure wider buy-in, but it may come with delays and compromise. If you are a senior leader in the organisation, you have the chance to be the visible champion, using your...

This Practice Note sets out advice for shaping a persuasive strategy and ensuring it sits alongside and supports the wider business strategy, vision and culture. It explains who to involve, which tools to employ, and the form expected outcomes could take in practice. What is legal strategy and why does it matter? An in-house legal function needs a future-focused plan that brings its resources, capabilities and activities into line with the broader business strategy. A legal team strategy is separate from legal operations (the delivery of legal work), risk management (spotting and reducing legal risks), and compliance (meeting laws and regulations), yet it both draws on and influences those parts of the function. Three core factors frame why an in-house team requires a strategic management approach: Today’s business choices typically rely on advanced analysis of metrics—financial, risk, market and trend data—yet little of this exists to...

Legal tech is reshaping the legal sector in ways once hard to imagine; just as technology has repeatedly done across our lives. In law, that shift has been measured and careful—until now. The tempo of change is accelerating rapidly, and legal teams must determine how to weave technology into their workflows to maximise their value and impact, and to stay relevant. This Practice Note, created in partnership with Ben Shillito, Senior Director at Olus, explores the use and influence of legal tech from an in-house legal team’s standpoint. What is legal tech? Legal tech denotes technology designed specifically to support the work of legal professionals, or to provide legal services directly to a client or consumer. Traditionally, such tools centred on matter management, document management, billing, or document formatting. As more advanced capabilities have emerged—such as artificial intelligence ( AI), machine learning, and natural...

This Practice Note gathers a consolidated list of Crafty Counsel videos available within Lexis+® In-house Advisor. Further videos can be found on the Crafty Counsel website. New to role Video Mini-summary Crafty Counsel video: Your first 100 days as General Counsel—carving out the General Counsel's role In this bite-sized video from Crafty Counsel, first posted 08.10.2019, coach and former GC Emma Jelley, Alexis Alexander of Liberis, and experienced GC Xavier Langlois explore how General Counsel should define accountability for their function—including setting boundaries on what the Legal team is not for. They also tackle the usual ‘hot potatoes’ that fall to legal, such as data protection, information security and employment. Crafty Counsel video: What makes a great in-house leader? This short Crafty Counsel video, first posted...

Although structured coaching sessions away from the workstation are highly worthwhile for all involved, managers can also weave coaching into everyday tasks. Nurturing a coaching mindset and meeting each scenario with a coach’s perspective can swiftly elevate skills across the team. In this Practice Note, we explore: how to cultivate a coaching approach to management the ‘ Growth Mindset’—what it means and how to foster it goal-setting—from five-minute to five-year plans integrating coaching into your day establishing coaching boundaries what to do when coaching goes off track five essential tips for coaching For more on coaching, see Practice Notes: An introduction to coaching, Coaching for coachees, and Popular coaching models and methodologies. How to develop a coaching approach to management For managers or supervisors, leading with a coaching lens can transform how you guide your team......

Coaching can be approached in numerous ways, with a range of tools available to help you gain the most from every session. Employing a varied mix of frameworks and techniques supports meaningful progress and structured dialogue; yet, since there is no absolute right or wrong, select whichever approach and/or tool(s) best fit your specific context. In this Practice Note we will consider: the O Shaped Lawyer concept the GROW coaching model setting SMART goals the MAPS model and when it is most effective how the ‘5 Whys’ method can assist positive goal setting—what it means and why it is effective using goals, markers, my part/and your part at the close of a session For further reading on coaching, see Practice Notes: An introduction to coaching, Becoming a coaching manager and Coaching for coachees. The O Shaped Lawyer The O Shaped Lawyer concept was founded by Dan Kayne, a former General Counsel for Network Rail, and was...

Coaching is widely discussed across commerce, and rightly so, as it ranks among the strongest methods a manager can draw on to build and enhance the team’s skills. While coaching meetings may stand alone as distinct events, they can sit within a broader style of management and oversight. This Practice Note examines: what coaching is—and is not coaching versus mentoring—the differences and similarities the abilities an excellent coach requires purposes coaching can serve getting to the core of the matter keeping coaching focused posing brilliant coaching questions establishing a coaching programme For more on coaching, see Practice Notes: Becoming a coaching manager, Coaching for coachees, and Popular coaching models and methodologies. What is, and isn’t, coaching? Coaching is a versatile yet structured method designed to help people progress and mature in their careers. Rather than giving answers, the coach poses...

Coaching is a collaborative endeavour. While a coach should be suitably trained, the coachee also needs a clear briefing on what to expect and how to draw the greatest benefit from the meetings. Being offered coaching is a valuable opportunity and reflects genuine investment in your development, so it’s crucial every coachee knows how to make the most of each session. In this Practice Note, we will explore: what to expect from a coaching session your responsibilities within the process defining what you want from the coaching relationship how coaching develops more than skills alone how you can enable your coach to support you useful actions to take between sessions the ways coaching can assist at every stage of your career how to use feedback to learn and grow five top tips for getting the most from...

Key elements ( PDF) The table below outlines the principal elements for managing a relationship with a divisional manager, together also with links to associated Practice Notes and the overall implications for the legal team. Key element: Joint assessment of legal risk, risk appetite and the requirement for appropriate legal services Relevant briefing notes: How to manage legal risk Dependency on legal team: Participation ......

There will, inevitably, be hurdles and blocks that disrupt your progression. This Practice Note explores what these could be and how to handle them. Broadly, barriers fall into the following groups: environment time pressures habit motivation perception of your role Environment To become genuinely embedded in the business and operate as one team with commercial colleagues, they may need to meet you half way. A particularly effective route to building commercial awareness is to sit in on commercial meetings where legal input isn’t required—simply listening to what’s going on across the business to gain context. See Practice Notes: What do we mean by a legal business person? and How to move to working as a legal business person. However, this is often resisted. Some commercial peers may feel uneasy or question your motives, or doubt the value-add of you joining...

The Getting the Deal Through Arbitration in Brazil guide adopts a Q& A layout and is refreshed annually. Current edition: May 2019. 1. Is your jurisdiction a contracting state to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards? Since when has the Convention been in force? Were any declarations or notifications made under articles I, X and XI of the Convention? What other multilateral conventions relating to international commercial and investment arbitration is your country a party to? Brazil is a party to the New York Convention, having joined by way of Federal Decree No. 4,311/2002 on 23 July 2002. No declarations or notifications were submitted by the Brazilian government under articles I, X or XI. Brazil has also subscribed to the following multilateral instruments concerning international commercial arbitration: Geneva Protocol on Arbitration Clauses (1923) Panama Inter-...

This Practice Note presents an overview of strategy—what it is and why it matters—and points to factors that influence strategy for in-house lawyers. It also explains the fundamentals of several tools and techniques involved in crafting an effective strategy. By deepening your understanding of how strategies are developed, and by gaining clearer sight of your own company’s strategy, you can contribute more effectively to the business, with stronger appreciation of business decision-making. It will also help you determine where to place your priorities. For further guidance, see Practice Notes: Aligning the legal team to the business and Creating a compelling strategy for the in-house legal team. What do we mean by strategy? Lawyers like to begin by defining their terms. Every business management textbook offers a different definition of ‘objectives’ and ‘strategy’, but in this Practice Note: the term...

Every field develops its own jargon or terminology, absorbed instinctively by people sharing comparable schooling and training. Regrettably, this shared code may become a hurdle for individuals who lack equivalent familiarity or understanding of that same knowledge......

Learning and development ( L& D) is a major outlay for every organisation. Given the breadth of possible options available, you must set out a robust business case for planned L& D initiatives to evidence their impact on the bottom line. Doing so helps secure upfront investment and prove continuing value to the organisation over time. Every L& D intervention must align tightly with corporate objectives to justify any expenditure. The challenges of building a business case for L& D The main difficulty is that, although L& D costs are usually simple to quantify, the benefits or ultimate return are often hard to pin down and attribute. When outcomes are poor, lack of training is an easy target, but when things are going well it becomes difficult to show precisely what training has delivered. It is therefore essential to identify the potential L& D...

This Practice Note provides practical guidance and pointers for in-house lawyers on how to cultivate, build and enhance relationships with individuals within the business. Understanding the pressures which they are under Whether you prefer to describe those you work with as your ‘clients’ or ‘business colleagues’, the first step in building a relationship is to view matters from their perspective and appreciate their viewpoint. time pressures and demanding deadlines targets relating to sales, profits and costs corporate governance obligations a competitive market landscape regulatory demands the introduction of new processes or procedures limited experience within the role, sector or industry The commercial environment is unforgiving. If we fail to recognise and understand the pressures our business colleagues face, or neglect to work with them in ways that help to ease them, all sides may end up exasperated or demoralised, which, in turn, does not foster strong relationships or the perception of you as an...

This Practice Note explores why you need to grasp the commercial language and the practical steps you can take to close the communication gap. It covers: why is there a language gap? why do you need to learn the commercial language? what colour is the sky in your commercial colleagues’ world? why are you different? Why is there a language gap? Commercial teams within companies have been known to say, ‘they just don’t get us’ when referring to their legal counterparts. That sense of irritation often reduces to one core issue—the legal function’s inability to speak the business’s commercial tongue. Lawyers are trained to use a different vocabulary: ‘indemnity’, ‘breach’, ‘recourse’, ‘liability’, and so on. For them it is instinctive. To non-lawyers, though, this can feel like dense legal jargon—an immediate turn-off. The organisation’s commercial patter is distinct as well, and can be...

This Practice Note, together with Precedent: Strategic planning—step plan, outlines practical steps to help you grasp your organisation’s broader business aims and provide legal services that align with them... Strategic alignment Start by clarifying the organisation’s strategic priorities. Arrange a meeting with your organisation’s CEO to discuss its objectives and the CEO’s view of the long, medium and short-term pathway to achieve them. See Practice Note: Understanding business strategy. Use this conversation to show that the in-house legal function is integral to the organisation’s success, as legal considerations touch all significant commercial decisions. You can also demonstrate your leadership by explaining how the legal team will align its work to the organisation’s goals and enhance its operational capabilities... The legal department’s important stakeholders and ‘customers’ It is essential to set aside dedicated time to build relationships with the parts of the organisation that the legal team will most...

This Practice Note focuses on how to identify, store and share the knowledge held by in-house legal teams, and how that insight, once surfaced, can be harnessed to create value. Key topics include: the importance of consolidating legal knowledge defining the in-house legal team’s value delivering benefit to the wider organisation spotting and disseminating knowledge challenges and practical solutions ways to communicate the information methods for recording and managing information The importance of consolidating legal knowledge Ambition often collides with reality when considering a business’s accessible knowledge. People want swift access to a compact, clear source, yet they face a sprawling, leaky sea of material that fails them. Too often, the team’s collective know-how sits in sprawling, unruly boxes, with little structure or logic. So what is the remedy? It is time to bring record management up from the basement. Paper should no longer be the dominant medium for storing...

Practice Note: delivering learning and development This Practice Note sets out guidance on a range of approaches to delivering learning and development ( L& D) and includes: factors to consider when selecting learning methods learning methods learning styles Factors to consider when selecting learning methods A broad spectrum of learning, training and development options exists to address learning needs. The selection for each identified need will hinge on several elements, including: the nature and priority of the learning need the location of the learner the level of seniority and qualifications of the learner the subject matter organisational culture evaluation of the effectiveness of previous learning activities and events costs and budgets available learning styles When shaping an L& D programme, it is vital to recognise from the outset that a single approach will not suit...