It used to be that lawyers learned about the practice of law entirely on the job or from a colleague’s helpful advice. Today an increased workplace emphasis on formal education and training is making that approach outdated. Law firms are sending lawyers off to school – and bringing coaches to them – for leadership training.
Professional schools are now offering development programs geared to professionals; in the United States, for example, the Harvard Business School has one, and the George Washington University College of Professional Studies, in association with The Hildebrandt Institute, has recently begun offering a Graduate Certificate in Law Firm Management and a Master of Professional Studies in Law Firm Management degree.
“This is a period with significant change going on in leadership training and development,” says John Rogers, the managing partner in Halifax for Stewart McKelvey. “I think there’s a recognition that training is important for all professionals, and that includes leaders.
Rogers says Stewart McKelvey has taken steps to ensure that staff training occurs within a career-development framework – whether it’s delivered externally or in-house – and to stress the value of ongoing learning. “Education and training is not something that stops at some point, but is continuous,” Rogers adds.
At the national firm of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, there’s a leadership program for lawyers who have been named equity partner – a promotion they can receive after their fifth year of practice. “Our professional development program demonstrates the importance of people acting as owners at an early stage, and our formal mentoring program does the same,” says William O’Reilly, managing partner of the firm’s Toronto office.
Training the next generation
Partners in years six to eleven from across the firm participate in an annual one-day program led by an outside facilitator. The session covers teamwork, mentoring, integration, retention and recruitment issues, and O’Reilly says it is the young partners who set the agenda.
“People bring a view of what the firm will likely look like ten years from now. They’re saying, “We expect to be the future leaders of the firm, and what should we as a group ought to be thinking about?” he says. “It’s their initiative, and the people who lead that initiative also meet on a periodic basis to further that agenda, and talk about relevant issues.”
The firm holds training for its more senior lawyers every couple of years. In 2007, a group of partners in the 40- to 50- age range participated in a three-day program for “next generation” leaders directed by two Harvard business professors. Tailored for Davies Ward’s practice and culture, the sessions applied a case-study approach to various relevant themes, such as the producer/manager dilemma, O’Reilly says.
Three members of the firm have also taken a one-week program in leadership training for professionals at Harvard Business School, and a fourth is scheduled to take it. In addition, as at many firms, coaching is offered to individual lawyers who are struggling, O'Reilly says.
Firms weigh the benefits of outside help
Stewart McKelvey has a longstanding practice of sending its senior management – including practice managers, practice and industry group leaders, and female leaders – to training seminars, and the firm is in the midst of developing a leadership program, Rogers says. It will cover core competency in substantive law, practice management skills, client development and leadership ability, in addition to substantive expertise. “On practice leadership, we recognize that some of the skills and training need to be done by outside providers.”
Matthew Lindsay, managing partner of the Calgary office of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, says his firm doesn’t have a formal leadership training program per se; however, the firm offers a wide range of educational programs to its lawyers, partly through “FMC University,” which offers lectures on a variety of topics, some offered remotely.
There’s a role for both internal and external training, Lindsay says. Outside training is helpful in exposing lawyers to best practices within the industry, providing a valuable opportunity for them to synthesize what’s happening outside the firm. “But internally, much is driven by your own firm culture, so in-house training is also useful,” he adds.
However, “the primary criteria [for leadership] is a view by your partners and compatriots that you have the necessary skills for leadership.” The firm engages consultants to provide expert training to augment the particular experience of a lawyer who is seen as a future leader.
“I think [leadership development] is an area that law firms might pay greater attention to as time goes forward,” Lindsay adds. “As part of our strategic plan, it’s better to identify those who would benefit from additional leadership and management training; it would likely assist in allowing the managers to do their jobs more efficiently.
“It’s certainly something I expect that law firms will likely spend more time on.”
Elizabeth Raymer is a freelance writer in Toronto.