Career corner
One of the few Australian female lawyers qualified to practice in Papua New Guinea, HFW’s Helen Verrier was admitted as a lawyer of the Pacific nation’s Supreme Court in 2018. Here she reflects on her career to date and what she has learned from working in this resource-rich nation of just 8 million people
The thing that surprises many people about me is my experience as a lawyer in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Looking at my career with fresh-out-of-law-school eyes, I’d be pretty surprised myself. Opportunities early in my career led to a less-than-common legal qualification and a keen professional and personal interest in PNG. When I joined Blake …
Continue reading “How plans can change for the better”
Technology
Alex Smith, global product management lead for iManage RAVN, outlines the evolution of knowledge management and explains why it needs redefinition in the modern legal world
Knowledge management (KM) brings the phrase ‘what’s old is new’ to mind. As a concept, KM is at least 30 years old in the legal sector, and yet there’s newfound excitement for it in the industry within both law firms and new entrants in the ecosystem. Historically, the discipline has been driven by the need …
Continue reading “Knowledge management needs redefinition, not reinvention”
Practice spotlight
The chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission has said his country is the only one tackling bribery and corruption. Syedur Rahman of Rahman Ravelli highlights why that is not entirely accurate
As business crime-related claims go, the one made by the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was a pretty big one. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton chose a speech to the New York Economic Club to argue that the US was pretty much going it alone when it comes to punishing bribery and …
Continue reading “The US is not alone in the battle against bribery”
The Bar
From the importance of gender diversity and social mobility to support for pro bono work, Essex Court Chambers’
Richard Hoyle explains how the millennial mindset is
changing the commercial Bar
‘Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t …
Continue reading “A generation that thinks differently”
The Bar
UK Bar editor John van der Luit-Drummond talks to five sets about their various CSR initiatives – what works, why they do it, and the challenges they face
Chambers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives cover a number of different areas, including access to the profession and equality and diversity, as well as initiatives focusing on staff health, environmental sustainability, ethical business practices, and charitable causes. A successful CSR programme can have far-reaching effects, not only for the reputation of a chambers, but also …
Continue reading “Chambers’ social responsibility”
The Bar
Georgina MacLellan, business development manager at 4 New Square, discusses her chambers’ recently launched podcast and looking beyond the traditional marketing tool-box
Chambers has recently launched the ‘Analysis: Commercial Dispute Resolution and life at the Bar’ podcast. How did the idea of this podcast come about? There are two arms to our podcast – recent developments in commercial law and life at the Bar. The idea was initially born out of a desire to reach our international …
Continue reading “Entrepreneurial marketing”
Diversity and inclusion
In a series of forthcoming articles, fivehundred will feature a selection of legal diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives from the US, highlighting the efforts of the law firms and GCs we work with in an effort to draw attention to the work being done in this area and hopefully inspire others to get involved. This inaugural article in the series focuses on promoting the law as a career amongst high school students from diverse backgrounds
Street Law’s Legal Diversity Pipeline Programs The legal teams seeking to make the most progress in terms of diversifying their talent pool are taking a multi-pronged approach in targeting diversity initiatives to recruit, retain, and promote individuals from different diversity backgrounds, while complementing this by addressing diversity at different career stages – or pre-career stage …
Continue reading “Building diversity into the legal talent pipeline”
Marketing
Deborah Brightman Farone, founder of Farone Advisors LLC and former Cravath, Swaine & Moore CMO, highlights the importance of partner collaboration in law firm business development and marketing initiatives
A law firm leader recently asked me what it is that separates successful firms from the uber-successful, superstar firms – those that seem to grow exponentially, retain greater profits, and solidify decades-long large-scale client engagements. She asked what I see when I contrast the behaviour of those two types of firms. The challenge is that …
Continue reading “Collaboration: An essential key to successful business development”
Editor's views
Georgina Stanley reveals the diversity statistics from the latest UK Solicitors guide
When I joined The Legal 500 a year ago, one of the main ambitions I set out was to improve diversity in our rankings and, in particular, the proportion of cited women in the UK Solicitors guide. The reason was obvious – women are under-represented at senior levels in law firms and this has also …
Continue reading “Women in The Legal 500 – A step in the right direction but we need your help”
