Transforming A Sector......

Like many sectors, the legal sector is in the process of a big shake-up. This is being driven by a significant combination of factors, including a new legal training regime, increased use of tech, and a spotlight on the skills and attributes needed in the future. One of the movements at the forefront of this change is the O Shaped Lawyer. The movement, led by Dan Kayne, General Counsel, Regions, at Network Rail, started life as a small gathering of General Counsel's passionate about driving positive change in the legal industry - for those who work in it, those who use it, and those entering it. The O's Vision is to lead the creation of a legal ecosystem which values people as individuals, which gives everyone a voice and which fosters a culture where legal providers and customers can work together to build trust and deliver excellent services.

I have had the privilege of working with Dan and the team over the last 12 months; and it really is wonderful to be part of something that is credibly, whilst ambitiously, trying to transform an entire sector. I have asked Dan to provide some thoughts because of the insight he can provide around: putting people first; building the attributes needed for 21st Century lawyers (and I'm sure other sectors); and how to drive transformational change.

Question 1: The O Shaped Lawyer is based around five O's, underpinned by 12 attributes. Can you explain what these are, and why they are so key?

For some time I had been frustrated with the myopic focus of the legal profession on technical, intellectual excellence, almost entirely ignoring the fundamental role that emotional intelligence plays in successful modern-day leaders. 

“The legal profession is struggling to find its way. Big law remains incredibly profitable but with that comes significant collateral - a lack of diversity, poor mental health, antiquated practices, a lack of trust and disgruntled clients.”

Many organisations are looking to disrupt the profession, but they have largely centred on technology and process – all very much needed - but nowhere has there been a movement to make the profession more ‘human’.  

I wanted to create something that was human centric, relevant and memorable to showcase the O, so I came up with framework to describe the characteristics of the next generation of lawyer – Open minded, Original, Opportunist, Ownership and Optimism.  Enveloping the 5 Os was the mantra of ‘People first, then lawyers’ – a clear statement that highlights the need for the profession to start taking better care of our main asset, our people.

I started to share my thinking with peers and then more widely at industry roundtables and conferences, each time building more support and momentum for the creation of a more human centric profession.  This led to a series of interviews with leading General Counsel from FTSE 250 companies and the subsequent publication of a report that gave resounding endorsement to the contention that lawyers’ skillsets are largely inadequate and out of touch with the modern day requirements of General Counsel, the buyers of their services.

The report distilled the interviews down into three buckets (Building Relationships, Creating Value and Being Adaptable) containing 12 attributes that reflected the skills required of the modern-day lawyer.  Technical lawyering is regarded as a given and it was the development of these O Shaped Attributes that would define the next generation of lawyers.

I was, and am, under no illusion that effecting such a transformational change in a profession that has traditionally been so resistant to change is a huge challenge.   That said, my experience over the last two years running this programme is a really positive one.  It’s clear that the profession, including some very influential leaders in it, recognise the need to change and do want to modernise, but the challenge of undoing decades of a culture of status quo remains a significant barrier.   

Despite the emergence of the disruptors over the last decade, the fundamentals remain the same – a profession that is inherently inefficient, lacks genuine customer centricity, is steeped in tradition and attracts, promotes and rewards the same type of behaviours and practices.   Whereas the disruptors have generally focussed on a particular part of the profession (such as in-house or private practice), we have adopted a whole system approach to our programme. 

Take legal education - outdated and focussed on academic excellence rather than preparing aspiring lawyers for the world of legal practice.   It is currently undergoing a once in a generation change, due to commence in Autumn this year, but despite 8 years in the making, with consultation across the industry, the main working groups failed to include any in-house lawyer representation – the people that buy the services that the law schools are supposed to be preparing for practice. 

Law Schools have suffered from the same narrow focus.  Before our involvement, law schools had been designing their programmes for the new SQE alongside their law firm clients, but in splendid isolation from the General Counsel. 

Question 2 - Successes: The Vision and Mission of the O is incredibly ambitious. Can you talk us through achievements to date, and also highlight what you believe have been the key drivers.

Awareness

The momentum that the programme has built across the industry is in of itself a major success.  To have so many people at all levels of the profession aware of and advocating the importance of the O Shaped attributes is a significant step forward.

However, we recognise that to have a sustainable impact, the successes need to be real and tangible.  Like anything else (including the technical skills where lawyers are such high achievers) these skills need to be practiced regularly and consistently.  You can’t become an O Shaped lawyer overnight.  For these skills to become pervasive, they need to form part of everyday activity of lawyers and aspiring lawyers from early education through to the most senior leadership positions in the profession.

“We also recognised from the word go the need to take a truly collaborative approach with this; we can’t drive change on our own, we have to work in partnership with all levels of the sector. ”

Training

In 2020, the O Shape Lawyer programme partnered with the University of Law to design and deliver a number of O Shape introductory courses for Junior lawyers.  Participants were taken through elements of the attributes in a practical, focussed way, allowing them to take lessons away and start applying them in practice immediately. This was a first of its kind in any law school in the UK and has proved to be exceptionally popular with further introductory courses planned for 2021.

Practice

To embed the thinking into practice we have run a series of 6 month pilots between law firms and in house teams which are designed to focus on how legal services are provided as well as what is being delivered. 

“To achieve this, we set up small, psychologically safe working groups where in-house lawyers and their external partners openly discuss the attributes in the context of real work and consider collectively how they can improve their services to best meet the needs of their business.”

General Counsel

The O Shape group has built an ever-growing community of General Counsel, Heads of Legal and in-house legal operations specialists to build the case for change around the O Shaped attributes.  It is this group which has the influence to drive and embed the change.

Whilst in house teams are looking to adopt the O Shaped attributes as part of their internal development and their relationships with their external legal suppliers, nowhere has there been a bigger impact than when major corporates have included the requirement for O Shaped attributes to be demonstrated as part of an RFP process.

What we have sought to do with the programme is connect the profession and seek to bring about change to the entire system. The significance of high profile and influential General Counsel endorsing the programme cannot be underestimated.   As buyers of legal services in a £35bn per annum industry, their voices carry significant weight.  Law firms listen and consequently the curriculum at law schools, driven by the needs of law firms, are being modernised to reflect the broader range of skills so vital to our next generation of lawyers.     

Question 3: One of the key mantras of the O Shaped Lawyer is people first. Can you explain why that's so important to you, and how the pandemic has affected this?

From the outset of the O, the mantra of ‘people first, then lawyers’ has been core to our philosophy.  Few would associate the legal profession with compassion, kindness and caring, it being better known for long hours, command and control styles of leadership and a phenomenal record of financial success driven largely by a culture of fear of failure. 

“To many in the profession, the idea of displaying emotion, particularly something like compassion, would be uncomfortable and be seen as a weakness that few would want to expose. ”

The legal profession needs to start looking after its people.  Too often I have heard about law firm profit margins growing because the assets are being sweated.  It’s a significant contributory factor for a mental health record that ranks lowest of all the professions and an external perception of the profession as lacking in warmth, compassion and trust.

Recognition that a more compassionate approach from the leadership leads to more loyal, engaged employees and that will ultimately benefit the organisations.  Whilst the focus remains on PEP and profits, shifting mindsets to a more purpose driven profession will be incredibly difficult and will only happen if the growing community of General Counsel backing the programme demand it.

Ironically, the pandemic has brought the messaging of our programme into sharper focus.  There are more open conversations than ever before and genuine concern for the health and well-being of colleagues and their loved ones.  It means that the changes we have been advocating for some time are being listened to and the likelihood of more widespread adoption is becoming a reality.

For the O Shaped group to leave the legacy it set out to achieve, those in the profession who have been converts to a more human centric way of working during the pandemic will need to continue to adopt it when the world returns to something like normal; whatever and whenever that may be.

For more information on the work the O Shaped Lawyer is doing to make such a difference to the profession, please take a look here. I hope that this has been a useful read for non-lawyers as well as lawyers, not least as I believe that many of the insights are incredibly relevant to so many sectors. A huge thank you to Dan Kayne for collaborating on this piece.