Training for Lawyers

People & Productivity
Training for Fee Earners

The Unstuck Lawyer®
when one of those days is every day

Leadership, management, and fee earner training.

For better performance, productivity, passion, and profit.

A solicitor in a grey suit and red tie, tugging at their cuff, perhaps demonstrating some self hesitancy which is intended to reflect the benefits of training for solicitors.

Confidence

Recent promotion, developing management skills, self-assurance

The red arrows flying in a triangular formation against a blue sky. Intended to reflect the power of lawyers in a team working together following training.

Money

Comfortably charging clients, hitting targets, firm growth

A mountain climber punching the sky with both hands at the top of a mountain which views of other mountains. Intended to demonstate reaching goals following great management training as a lawyer.

Performance

Energy, resilience, team, motivation, self-accountability & direction

A male and female sat at a desk with a laptop between them, seemingly listening to a third person. Intended to reflect training for solicitors and legal executives looking to step into a management role.

Responsibility

Self-sustaining teams, self-accountable individuals, fees

A red alarm clock in a field with green grass and daisies. Intended to reflect time management training for lawyers, solicitors, and legal executives.

Time

Prioritisation, productivity, time recording, delegation

Vision

Cultural shift, tackling behaviour, coaching, creating change

In-house Training for Solicitors, Legal Executives, Partners, CEO’s & Firm Owners

Easier Challenging Conversations

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. Inteded to reflect training for disciplinary and performance management training for solicitors and legal executives.

Do you want to deal with challenging conversations more readily? Stop repeated conversations with limited change?

This training allows attendees to:

  • hold performance and behaviour conversations easier
  • find a new approach that doesn’t need the ‘perfect script’
  • become clearer on why you find some people ‘difficult’
  • understand different barriers to receiving information
  • replace counter-productive language and behaviour
  • identify your natural response to conflict or manage strong emotions (yours and theirs)
  • improve the likelihood for change
  • increase self-motivation and accountability to make it happen

Delegates will be given practical tools to communicate more effectively, feel more confident, and improve the quality of the outcomes. Limiting repeat conversations, and frustrating lack of action.

Improved Billing – Charging Clients With Confidence

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. Reflecting training to improve confidence in charging clients following training for solicitors, legal executives, and other lawyers.

For many firms time recording and billing remains an issue, with time being discounted both at the recording stage (intentionally or unintentionally) and again at the billing stage.

Training or internal approaches typically look into tackling responses around technology, and how to improve ‘time management’ for time recording, and a carrot and stick approach linked to bonuses.

However, when it comes to lost time, there is often far more going on and is rarely looked at.

This training delves deeper into understanding what truly gets in the way of fee earners recording their time, including what is often never discussed, the discomfort around charging certain types of clients. Often made worse at junior level.

Where the culture of the firm might feed into it, and where the individual’s money mindset plays a role. This training helps for that to be recognised, understood, and improved. Alongside some practical tools to make billing an easier process.  Leaving fee earners more confident to record their time and improve billing.

Inner Critic Challenges – Procrastination, Perfectionism, Imposter Phenomenon

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. Reflecting training for lawyers dealing with perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and the inner critic.

The biggest inner critic challenges for lawyers and high achievers.

Procrastination is often incorrectly assumed to arise from laziness or lack of motivation. Perfectionism considered a positive trait. Confidence confused with self-assuredness.

With each of these, if not understood, it can have an impact to include:

  • tasks and projects not being started or not being completed (unless there is a strong external deadline)
  • an underlying dread of not being good enough, of it all being a fluke, ongoing comparison
  • marketing materials not being released
  • constant worry of making mistakes, being criticised, doing the wrong thing
  • feeling confident one moment, and then it being lost the next

Working through each of these, attendees can realise these are common, what they really mean, and most importantly, what can be done about it.

Transforming Meetings®

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. Linked to meetings training for managing partners, partners, and law firm owners to run more effective meetings.Who enjoys meetings the most? Typically the Chair, and even then they can take up more and more time.

With meetings still on the rise, particularly online, are you finding that meetings are becoming less productive. With some voices being heard, and others not at all. Or perhaps the same topics coming up time and time again, with little movement forward.

Transforming Meetings® training creates:

  • Meetings that are both engaging and create high quality ideas
  • A culture where everyone feels valued and heard
  • Strong, robust, and actionable decisions
  • Respectful and useful discussions
  • Inclusivity, diversity, and creative new ideas
  • Fewer meetings from better results

Skills developed for everyone attending , include active listening, respect, inclusivity, diversity, creating psychological safety, better thinking.   For those who run meetings, it includes practical skills for running meetings, setting agendas, and managing meetings, in a productive and easy to understand way.

All team members and team leaders benefit from attending the training. It can therefore be run for team leaders, or whole teams themselves.

Delegates who came to this, and have previously attended meetings training elsewhere, expressed how they wish they had come to this sooner, for its ease, value, and change of thinking.

New To Partnership

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. Reflecting them attending training designed for solicitors, and legal executives, attending training for new partners.Leadership skills are often seemingly required overnight. One day, an individual is a legal expert in their field. The next day suddenly responsible for others such as support staff, solicitors in their department or teams, or beyond, if stepping into the role of a partner.

Whether moving from solicitor to associate. Senior associate to Head of Department. Or partner to managing partner. Each transition brings with it new challenges.

When creating leadership programmes, training often includes:

  • gaining clarity on what is expected in that new role, and how to manage the transition, including relationships with former peers
  • how to handle new situations and obligations, with confidence, whilst developing expertise and knowledge
  • consideration of business acumen, tactical thinking, and making those decisions which may have greater impact, despite uncertainty
  • developing leadership, interpersonal, and behavioural skills, such as delegation, giving and receiving feedback, providing direction and motivation
  • enhancing management skills such as running meetings, handling challenging situations, client complaints, dealing with performance
  • refining business growth skills that may include networking, public speaking, marketing, and generating work for others
  • understanding firm needs, finances, and regulatory changes
  • managing competing claims on time, wearing different hats, and prioritising key tasks

For those who are starting out in junior roles. Training helps those who attend feel reassured that what they are experiencing is not unusual, before helping them identity the key areas of strengths, skills, and responsibilities, needed for their role and for future promotion.

Senior fee earners and partners, the focus often on upskilling, generating greater awareness across all areas, closing skill gaps, and generating personal development plans.

Training can also be supported with coaching to help imbed changes, allow for trial and error of new techniques, and create a sounding board for new ideas or upcoming situations.

Managing People Within the Law

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. Aim of the image is to reflect training to cover performance and disciplinary conversations. As well as ways to hold conversations before they reach this stage.

Even within law firms, performance or behavioural challenges can arise. If line managers are feeling less that confident, to tackle situations as and when they arise, or deal with grievances or disciplinaries correctly, matters can escalate.  Whilst many firms have employment solicitors or hr support.  Sometimes it can be useful (and more cost effective) for an external trainer to come in and provide the training.

Are you finding that lateness, sickness, not completing work, or other day to day unacceptable behaviours, are not being addressed early on by managers?

Is there a lack of confidence or understanding, of what can be done, and when?

Perhaps there is a sense of discomfort, friction, or unease. Meaning that individuals are repeatedly left unchallenged.

Or it might be, that you want your line managers (at all levels of seniority) to be reminded of your policies and procedures. So that they can tackle poor performance, absences, conflict, unacceptable behaviour, and misconduct, with greater confidence.

Is too much time being taken up by senior management dealing with situations that could have been dealt with sooner?

This training typically includes a combination of helping line managers (of all seniority)

  • Identity unacceptable behaviour early on.
  • Learn how they can tackle it on the ground, before it escalates.
  • Identity when is the best way to manage that situation within formal grievance or disciplinary procedures.
  • Know how best to run formal and informal meetings or hearings, with helpful tips for giving feedback, dealing with performance conversations, or questions to ask during any formal meetings or hearings.
  • Understand how the law firm’s employment policies are useful to them.  What they can learn from the specific wording used, and how they offer guidance of what to do.

All for greater confidence and buy in. Including, if necessary, working with HR.

Effective Feedback for Success

Three people at a table blurred out, with pens at the front and one person reaching for them. As if they were attending training for partners such as giving more effective feedback.

  • Leading change and improving accountability
  • Advanced communication abilities
  • Confidence in delivering sensitive issues
  • Coaching & mentoring
  • Delivering actionable feedback
  • Avoiding escalation of niggles
  • Reduced misunderstandings or conflict

Our courses are practical, interactive, and fun, in a supportive environment.

CLIENT SUCCESSES

Return On Investment

Whilst there are various tools out there, many businesses choose the following:

  • comparison of before and after surveys on self-rated behaviours
  • 360 appraisal comparison
  • tracking employee retention, absences, and grievances
  • monitoring profitability or cash flow
  • recording customer or client retention, cross-referrals, or business development opportunities brought in
  • an overall litmus test of the firm’s culture and atmosphere

Leadership training (and coaching) for fee earners includes upskilling in:

Solicitor or partner in a grey jacket, black shirt, and red tie attending management training for lawyers.

  • increased fee earning through processes
  • managing challenging clients
  • work prioritisation and timekeeping
  • networking and marketing skills
  • confidence and assertiveness
  • team working and cross referrals
  • handling conflict and maintaining relationships
  • profit and mindset
  • goal setting
  • growth mindset
  • understanding feedback for greater performance
  • wider perspectives and thinking
  • self-accountability & responsibility

Female partner of a law firm dressed in a white jacket, black dress, and carrying a red folder, intended to reflect attending leadership and management training for solicitors.

Leadership training (and coaching) for partners provides advanced skills in

  • increasing business acumen and focus
  • looking for new opportunities for the firm
  • dealing with difficult situations or personalities
  • supervising and motivating others
  • improving interpersonal skills and delivering effective feedback
  • gaining a wider perspective than their case load or department
  • leading change or teams and running effective meetings
  • developing financial and marketing confidence
  • understanding their position as a role-model for behaviour
  • delegating and improved productivity
  • enhanced time management skills for new priorities
  • assertiveness and networking skills
  • developing balance and whole life prioritisation

Leadership & culture

Fee earners need to be able to work effectively to avoid:

  • errors being made
  • losing time on unnecessary tasks
  • having low resilience in challenging situations
  • taking their work home
  • working excessively
  • feeling stressed and overwhelmed
  • leaving

Where does your workplace culture need a tweak?

Firm & culture

  • allow fee earners to feel safe if an error is made
  • create a natural feedback environment
  • have role-models in senior positions
  • encourage learning
  • set reasonable and supported billing targets
  • allow for staff to openly discuss concerns, gaps in knowledge, or challenging cases
  • ensure all fee-earners excel to increase cross referrals
  • develop coaching and a positive mental health approach
  • ensure employees feel valued and see opportunities for personal growth and promotion

Focused

Coaching

Life

One Life

Change

Career

Ready for greater success?

Book your free online coaching session today.

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