We’ve all been there. Sometimes, regardless of how good things may be going at your current firm, or how successful you’ve been, you might feel like a change of scenery. But how can lawyers assess their career options and identify whether it’s time for a career change, and what should their next steps be?

Career change

There are plenty of factors for legal professionals to consider when weighing up a career change and it’s important to remember that the grass certainly isn’t always greener on the other side. You should take into account whether your departure will affect any cases you’re currently working on and whether you’ll be able to maintain courteous and professional relationships with your current firm. Can you ethically transfer your existing clients to your new employer? What effect will this have on your practice area? Will moving impact your ability to make partner? It’s crucial to keep these questions and many more in mind when making a move as you don’t want to find yourself in a worse position than you started in.

The warning signs

It goes without saying that if you’re not happy in your current role then you should leave it. That much is obvious. We spend far too much time at work to do something we don’t enjoy and your mental health is more important than any job. However, there are less obvious indicators that might mean it’s time for you to consider a career change. If you want to change to a specialism that your firm doesn’t focus on, or feel like your progression with your current employer is limited then that could suggest you need to move. Alternatively, you might want to seek out an employer that could potentially offer an improved work/life balance or the opportunity to work overseas. There are myriad options out there but ultimately, the only person that can understand your motivations and whether it’s the right time to leave is you. A good rule of thumb is that if you think your performance has been affected in any way – it’s time for a change.

Maintaining relationships

One thing you certainly don’t want to do is burn bridges and you must avoid what Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg calls, ‘leaving before you’ve left’ where you’ve essentially internally resigned while in the process of looking for a new job. This will only leave a bad taste and may affect your long term career success. It’s worth remembering that the legal sector is relatively insular and word travels fast. If you’ve downed tools for one firm, there’s a good chance others have heard about it. Try and leave on the best possible terms and, unless you’ve had a thoroughly unpleasant stint, attempt to leave the doors open for a possible return in the future. After all, you never know where your career could take you.

There are no concrete rules for when you should consider a career change, but what is important is that you do it on your terms and in the right way, otherwise it could impact your role at your next employer and ultimately your career progression.

Check out some of our other blogs to find out how you can get ahead in your career.

Or take a look at some of our current legal jobs.

​

After the interview: what went wrong?

If you are interviewed for a job that you really want and are unsuccessful, it can be very disheartening. It’s tempting to replay the interview in your head, trying to work out what went wrong. You weren’t late and had dressed smartly. You’d prepared by doing plenty of research into the role and employer. You thought the interviewer seemed happy with your answers. So, why did they to decide not to hire you and how can you avoid it happening again?

Why you should ask for interview feedback

Instead of guessing the answers to these questions, it’s important to ask for feedback so that you understand which area of your interview technique needs developing. Don’t just chalk it up to experience and simply keep applying elsewhere. Most of us have an unsuccessful interview at some point, and it isn’t a waste of time if you view the experience as one from which you can learn and develop. Try not to let it knock your confidence: feedback might highlight aspects that you wouldn’t have considered; being mindful of them could directly result in you securing the next job that you apply for.

How to ask for feedback

How you ask for feedback will depend on the way in which you find out that you have been unsuccessful. If your recruitment consultant gives you the news, spend some time discussing the interview with your consultant who will be able to pass on any feedback and offer you tips on how you can improve your technique.

If you are telephoned by the company, ask there and then; if they email you, reply within 24 hours so that the interview is still fresh in their mind. And how do you word the request? Always begin by thanking them for the opportunity to be interviewed. Whatever you do, don’t suggest that the employer made the wrong decision. This graciousness is important because you never know when you might have to deal with the interviewer or company again in the future.

Then, rather than asking ‘why didn’t I get the job?’ or ‘what did I do wrong?’ – both of which put the interviewer on the spot and sound rather defensive – ask if they would mind letting you know what you could do to improve next time. Which area do they think that you could develop most?

If you disagree with any feedback, don’t allow your feelings to get the better of you or protest. Instead, focus on moving forward with a new insight.

What to do with interview feedback

Some feedback will be very easy to address. For example, if you are told that you responded to a particular question in a way which lacked detail, you can prepare a more thorough response should the question arise again. Other feedback may require more thought. Could you film yourself responding to key questions and review the way that you come across? Do you have a friend or recruiter that could conduct a mock interview with you? Would more research into a company help next time? If you are given a number of areas where you could improve and it seems daunting, aim to address one or two key ones.

So, see interview feedback as invaluable positive guidance which helps you to develop the way that you present yourself professionally and, consequently, enables you to have a successful career.

For more job interview advice from the team, check out our other posts here or call the office on 01772 259121 to speak to one of our experts.

Whether you’ve been in the legal field for one year or for 25, you’ll know the value of being organised. However, in the modern ‘information overload’ world that we all live in, it can be challenging to remain on top of things. There are myriad different apps and programmes you can use to help organise your life and get ahead from your competition, however even cutting through the noise and working out what works and what doesn’t can be a major challenge. So what are the top tech tools for lawyers and how can they benefit your career?

Storage

Only the most technologically illiterate are likely to have not heard of Dropbox, the most advanced and robust file storage tool out there. As lawyers, you’ll be well aware that your existing storage space on your phone, tablet or desktop can get filled quickly with all the documents that you’re sent on a daily basis, and using a programme like Dropbox can provide extra storage as well as helping you to remain organised. It’s also a useful – and secure – tool for exchanging information online with your clients and colleagues.

Practice management

There are plenty of different types of practice management software out there, some of which are suited to firms of a certain size or specialism. However, it’s probably fair to say that the most widely effective platform is MerusCase, a tool that lets you manage and automate your cases, communication, calendar, court forms, templates and case files. And as the programme is cloud-based one of the main benefits is that everything is one place. It’s advisable to do your homework as different programmes will suit different firms and individuals, however it’s likely you’ll find that adopting the software will make you more organised and your files safer.

Security

Ensuring your data is secure should be an absolute priority, particularly with the spate of high profile hacks taking place in recent months. If organisations with the resources of the likes of Sony, Google and IHG haven’t been able to stop hackers, then the average legal firm doesn’t stand much chance, unless that is, it invests heavily in its online defences. However, most companies still have their head in the sand when it comes to data security, and it’s often down to the individual to ensure that they remain safe when operating online. Almost every app or programme requires a password of some sort and the ever growing list of phrases with or without a grammatical symbol, number or capital letter can be hard to keep up with. By far and away the best product is Lastpass as this means you need to remember just one password. It also offers a safe and secure place to store login and credit card details, for example.

Research tools

As you’ll all be only too aware, one of the more time consuming aspects of the average lawyer’s role is research. However, that’s about to change as there are now two tools which look set to shake up the status quo in the legal industry. The first is Casetext, which contains a programme called Cara that finds relevant case law files for lawyers who upload legal documents, allowing them to get the exact cases they need. And the second is Ravel Law, which gives lawyers insights into how judges have ruled on previous cases, allowing professionals to tailor their preparations ahead of their cases, both of which can potentially save you a huge amount of time.

Work/life balance

Don’t laugh, it is possible to achieve a work/life balance when working in the legal sector. Obviously, a lot of the pressure is out of your hands, however creating boundaries is an effective way of regaining control. By using Google Voice to separate your phone lines – for free – you can set up a separate number for your firm on your mobile and restrict its hours, meaning the days of late night calls will be a thing of the past. It also means that clients can call or text you without reaching you on your personal number or pursuing you when you’re busy. You can even read transcribed voicemails and text messages when you’re in court and, as if that wasn’t enough, there’s also an automatic timing function so you can bill clients accordingly.

Ignore the reports, technology is here to help make our jobs easier, rather than stealing them from us. If you’d like to speak to our expert team about their favourite tech tools for lawyers then get in touch now.

What are your favourite tech tools for lawyers?

Check out some of our other blogs on the impact of technology on the legal profession. And if you’re looking for a career move, take a look at our current jobs.

It’s that time of year when many assess their career and decide that it is time to move on. But before you jump right in and send your CV out, it’s vital to take the time to review it and update it with your latest skills and achievements. And while you might not need us to tell you not to use your megalad@gmail.com or goddess@yahoo.co.uk email address when applying, we do have some very useful advice that our many years of experience in recruitment tells us will pay off. And with the average recruiter spending less than ten seconds reviewing a CV before deciding whether to keep it, yours needs to stand out from the crowd. Here’s how:

Tailor it

Nothing stands out more than a generic CV that hasn’t been updated for the specific job you’re applying for. Recruiters and potential employers want to see how well matched you are to that position so it’s no good sending out the same application every time. Read the job specification thoroughly and ensure your skills match the criteria that the organisation is looking for and you’re likely to receive a lot more responses than your regurgitated CV would bring.

No photo

Opinions are mixed over whether you should include a photo with a CV or job application. Some people think you should, more people think you shouldn’t. We’re in the latter camp and from our perspective, it’s much the same as including your birthday and only leaves you open to some employers potentially discriminating against you through their unconscious bias. While it shouldn’t make a difference, if an organisation is that keen to see what you look like then they can look at your social media channels. Which leads us onto our next point…

Sort out social media

While this isn’t part of your CV, it may as well be in the 21^st century as you’ll be hard-pressed to find an employer that won’t carry out at least a cursory search of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like to see what you’re really like. You don’t have to delete all the photos of you on a night out, or dressed up for a friend’s birthday, but do hide them as they’re hardly likely to impress your next potential boss. All it takes is an update of your privacy settings and bang – the dirt is gone, or at least hidden.

Keep it simple

There’s no need to add in every single detail about your life achievements so far. Your 25m swimming badge isn’t going to make the difference between getting an interview or not, so the best advice is to cut the superfluous detail and only highlight what will actually help you get the job you’re applying for. Consider that the recruiter who deals with your potential job probably receives hundreds of CVs every day and is fairly unlikely to read all five pages of yours so keep it concise, put your most important information first and cut the waffle.

Check, check and check again

The final point is every recruiter’s bugbear and if there’s one thing likely to get your CV thrown in the bin, it’s bad spelling and grammar. This is barely even excusable anymore as, unless you’ve written your CV by hand or on a typewriter, you will have had access to a spellchecker. And if you’re reluctant to rely on technology, print it out and read it out loud to yourself to ensure it makes sense. And then ask a friend to check it. It may sound like a lot of effort, but if it makes the difference between your application being considered and being binned, it’s probably worth it.

Got a killer CV?

Once you’ve completed this checklist you’re ready to go!

And if you need a helping hand why not get in touch with us today to see how we can help you get the job you’ve been dreaming off.

For advice on nailing your interview, click here.

You may also like to download our guide on How to Develop Your Legal CV.

During a job interview, you might find yourself being asked some tricky questions which put you on the spot. Anticipating them and preparing your responses in advance will help you to manage your nerves and stay composed on the day. So, here are some of the most common questions that trip up interviewees and our top tips on answering them.

‘Tell me about yourself.’

This seems like a very straight forward question but many candidates fall into the trap of thinking this is just a warm-up question to put them at ease and end up telling the interviewer all kinds of irrelevant things that don’t relate to the job. This is an opportunity for you to give a brief outline of your current role and state the personal and professional work experiences that relate to the position you have applied for. One way to prepare for this question is to plan and rehearse a brief statement – a paragraph or so – that quickly describes who you are and what you can bring to the company. Don’t focus too much on your childhood, school life, early career, personal likes and dislikes or hobbies, unless they are relevant to the post.

‘What is your biggest weakness?’

This is tricky because the point of an interview is to present yourself positively. The best way to approach this is to identify a gap in your knowledge or an area where you are seeking to improve yourself, which can be addressed through training or learning. For example, you may need to refresh your skills at using certain software. If you can’t think of anything, look at the person specification before the interview and identify a ‘desirable’ skill that you don’t yet have but are willing to work towards. Whatever you do, don’t tell them about a character weakness such as being continually late or forgetful.

‘What do you like least about your current job?’

The interviewer is looking to see how you speak about your existing employer and role. Be utterly professional and never criticise any individuals that you work with. The best bet here is to mention an aspect that’s far removed from the job you’re seeking. Finish by explaining that, despite the unappealing element, you have learned something useful from it or achieved something fulfilling. This shows that you have resilience and a positive attitude.

‘What has been your biggest failure?’

This is a tough question because it asks you to go over something that you’d probably rather forget, and at a time when you are already feeling under pressure. It is designed to find out more about your previous job performance and anticipate how you might behave in the future. Most importantly of all, the interviewer wants to know what lesson you learned from your failure. The number one rule here is to keep focused on your career: don’t talk about a divorce or anything similar. Equally, don’t mention something minor from years ago, like not passing a school test. Some candidates avoid the question and claim never to have failed at anything, but that also suggests that they’ve never taken any risks.

A top tip is to use the STAR framework (Situation/Task, Approach, and Results) to explain what happened. For example, you had to pitch to an existing client to win £10,000 of additional business. You approached it casually because you felt certain that the work was a dead-cert. Unfortunately, the client felt that a rival went the extra mile and gave the work to them. You have learned to treat every pitch with equal attention, regardless of your existing client relationship.

‘Where do you expect to be in five years’ time?’

Remember that employers just want to get a better idea about your background, your communication skills and how you’ll perform if they offer you the job. If you rehearse answering tricky questions and frame your responses so that you present yourself in the best possible light, you will impress interviewers, even when talking about your mistakes or weaknesses.

For more job interview advice from the team, check out our other posts here.

If you are looking for a new role check out our current jobs or if you want some career advice get in touch today.

A new report by the research and information firm, LexisNexis, suggests that there could be a growing disconnect between partners in mid-sized firms across the UK and the front line fee earners that work for them.

The study – ‘Mind the Gap’ – found that partners tended to have a much more optimistic view of their firms than more junior lawyers. For example, 84% believed that their firm had a clear commercial strategy for the future, as opposed to just 62% of professional employees and 72% believed that the partnership was capable of ‘agile’ decision making as opposed just 52% of those further down the pecking order. Partners and more junior lawyers also disagreed on what should be the priority issue in 2016 with the former focused on review of information sources while the latter were crying out for more investment in processes and technology. Perhaps most worryingly, well over half of the partners not only disagreed with their employees but actually seemed to believe that no further attention needed to be paid to these areas.

So why does it matter and, furthermore, why is it of interest to a professional recruiter?

The reason is perhaps obvious. If the study is truly representative of UK law firms – at least those in the medium-sized bracket – then it does suggest that many leaders are not communicating with their people as effectively as they could be and are consequently not winning ‘hearts and minds’. And this is important because the logical result will be a lack of engagement that will impact on the day-to-day effectiveness of the business and raise levels of staff attrition.

It also makes it harder to attract and hire the sort of high-calibre legal talent that a practice needs in order to thrive in increasingly competitive markets. In our hyper-connected world, candidates will quickly pick up on any divergence of message and mission between partners and professional staff, and, in many cases, will respond by voting with their feet. A truly attractive employer brand can only be built on a healthy and open culture. And this, in turn, calls for effective, two way internal communication where goals and objectives are continually shared, rather than simply handed down from above.

Do you think there should be closer relationships between fee-earners and partners? Let us know your thoughts below.

Get in touch today to see how we can help your company with hiring experts to join your team. Call the office on 01772 259121 or Register a Vacancy here.

We usually use this blog as a platform to offer advice, tips and updates on the legal landscape. However, we’re expanding rapidly and are on the lookout for individuals to join our team. Do you have what it takes to make it as a recruiter? Here are the top five skills you’ll need to succeed.

Confidence

You’ll need to be able to hold your own with people who are experts at what they do, and don’t appreciate their time being wasted and that means you have to be confident. Nobody wants to be consulted on a potentially life changing job move by someone who they suspect might know not their specialist field as well as they say they do. You need to be confident enough to take on new areas of expertise, but also be able to portray that confidence to clients and candidates. In addition, you’ll have to be comfortable picking up the phone and engaging with people who don’t know what your credentials are and likely to be at least mildly sceptical about what you’re doing. Many jobs require people to be confident, but not many where it’s as important as it is in recruitment.

Communication

Along similar lines, you’ll need to be an effective and concise communicator and able to get your point across quickly. You’ll probably be speaking to people who are busy in their current roles and don’t want to waste hours of their lives chatting to a recruiter. You’ll also need to be able to master your email communications and online marketing on platforms like LinkedIn. After all, you’re not going to have much success if your job advert iz ritten lyk dis.

Resilience

It’s not just applicants who face rejection, recruiters do too and you need to be able to take the bumps on the road and still be able to perform to the best of your ability. You’ll have good days and bad – that’s a given – but the secret is being able to prevent the bad days from affecting your output.

Target driven and motivated

At the vast majority of firms, you’ll have certain KPIs to work to. That’s an approach that’s not suited to everyone and not all organisations have the same model, people who are motivated by the idea of working to specific goals will do well here.

Multi-tasking and speed

As a job applicant it’s unlikely you’ll have used just one recruiter to help your job search and organisations are the same and will look to multiple sources for their own talent. This means that if you can move quickly and efficiently, then you’ll be able to beat your competitors. However, you’ll also have a lot to do at once and will likely be dealing with a lot of vacancies and therefore multiple companies and even more candidates. Consequently, you must be able to juggle multiple projects and various tasks simultaneously. You’ll have to keep in mind the details, experience and motivators of a large number of people and this requires a lot of organisational competency. If you can master the idea of ‘less haste, more speed’ then you’ll do well.

Do you have what it takes?

If you’re looking for a career in a challenging and fast-moving, but also highly rewarding, industry and want to join a successful, supportive and rapidly growing organisation, then get in touch with one of our expert consultants for a chat.  And for more insights from the team take a look at our other blogs.

©Depositphotos.com/Olivier26

You’ve probably heard all about artificial intelligence and its growing use in a number of widespread industries. And if you haven’t observed its use in a business context then you will surely have seen it in films like ‘iRobot’, ‘Ex Machina’ and, well…‘AI’. But the idea that businesses could harness the potential of artificial intelligence in a legal setting and use it to their firms’ advantage was surely only a distant dream?

Wrong.

Legal firms have increasingly adopted artificial intelligence led programmes for a few years now, indeed we wrote an article for Totally Legal on that very subject only last year. However, until recently this advanced technology was the sole preserve of firms with vast resources – and deep pockets – but that all appears to be about to change.

AI priority for legal firms

According to recent, extensive analysis conducted by our team here at Clayton Legal, small and medium sized legal firms both recognise the importance of the use of AI, regard it as an opportunity to be embraced and do not feel threatened by its impact on their business.

As one of the respondents to our research project, Andrew Kwan – solicitor advocate at Clear Law – put it, “This approach allows us some advantages including being agile within a changing legal market. Therefore I can see the utilisation of AI as being an opportunity to deliver greater value to clients, both individuals and businesses, by removing some of the administrative elements of the process.”

And it’s not only senior professionals who are experiencing this optimism. Miriam Khan – a junior colleague of Khan at Clear Law, made the point that AI and human skill sets should complement each other rather than take opposing sides, “The profound purpose of AI is to save the need for time, cost and energy on manual labour and increase efficiency. Why do a job that a computer can do for you?”

Opportunity for skills development

Our own managing director, Lynn Sedgwick, also commented on the increased adoption of AI by small and medium sized firms. “While firms such as Linklaters and Clifford Chance have moved to use AI in several different areas, this is very much about driving efficiencies, rather than eradicating jobs. AI is becoming a priority for legal firms and the smaller practices that we spoke to are also hoping to generate higher fees and ensure that processes can be and will be outsourced to machines.”

“For employers, this has huge benefits but it also offers their people more interesting work, making the workplace a more satisfying place to be in, in a marketplace where retention is key.  For legal professionals at all levels, the introduction of AI represents an opportunity to develop new skills, and for those who are open to change, to increase their value in the marketplace. The interpersonal and technological skills required to adapt to the new AI infused working environment are likely to bring benefits to all that choose to engage with them.”

“The human element can’t, at least yet, be replaced by a robot. Andrew Kwan really sums it up when he says: ‘I do not see AI removing the elements where you are a compassionate human. You can’t remove this from a process and expect a great result for your client.”

We would love to hear you views on the role that AI has to play at small and medium sized firms – do you agree with Lynn that the introduction of AI represents an opportunity to develop new skills and increase individuals’ value in their marketplace? Or do you believe that AI could ultimately lead to jobs being cut?

For more legal insight check out our website

Or to see some of our other insights take a look at our blog

As we all know, the billable hour has been the de-facto payment structure adopted across the legal sector. In fact, according to Sean Braswell, a leading legal journalist, the practice dates back to 1975 and the American case of Goldfarb vs Virginia State where it was discovered that the prior ‘minimum fee’ structure was outdated and favoured richer clients. However, it appears as if this trend – and the idea of the billable hour as a whole – could be coming to end. But what does this mean for legal professionals and the firms they work for?

RIP billable hour

The trend of moving away from the billable hour gained momentum during the financial crisis when consumers started to look for more cost effective external legal guidance and began identifying alternative fee arrangements (AFA). These came in various forms including flat fees, request for proposals (RFPs) and reverse auctions over the once universally accepted hourly fee structure.

Why did this happen?

The financial crisis – rather obviously – put extra pressure on both individuals and organisations which started putting more of a focus on their legal costs and how to reduce them, improve efficiency and value for money so clients essentially get a fairer deal from their legal partner.

However, it looks like this renewed focus has in fact had a negative impact and led to a decline in output. Firms’ productivity has traditionally been measured on billable hours per lawyer, which presents leaders with a challenging situation as remuneration and bonuses have also traditionally been calculated by total number of hours billed.

A report from Thomson Reuters has also highlighted how billable hours have dropped in the last 10 years and gone from an average of 134 per lawyer in 2007 to 122 in 2016. That may not seem like a huge fall, but this monthly reduction – extrapolated over a full year – equates to a loss of 144 billable hours per lawyer per year, which ‘costs’ firms around £53,000 annually.

It would be unfair to suggest that this is solely down to a shift towards AFAs in recent years, however legal firms have a challenge on their hands bringing productivity up to its previous level. And legal professionals will also need to be prepared for change.

New skills

It’s likely that, as a result of this changing market, negotiation will become an increasingly sought after and important trait as firms seek those who have the ability to agree upon and adopt more flexible fee structures that are embraced by legal consumers. Professionals will also have to change the way they document the work they’ve done for clients. And let’s not forget communication, which will be absolutely pivotal as clients cast a more discerning eye on their legal partners. Perhaps most importantly, lawyers will also need to find ways to demonstrate how they can show value to the business beyond the numbers of hours they can bill for.

Do you think the age of the billable hour is coming to an end?

For more legal insight check out our website

Or to see some of our other insights take a look at our blog

Our latest research which focuses on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) within small and medium law firms has been featured by the media across a number of different sectors with Marginalia, the Global Legal Post, Totally Legal, Lawyer Monthly, Recruitment International and the HR Director all covering its results.

Some of the key findings show that firms of both sizes understand the importance of AI, regard it as an opportunity to be embraced and do not feel threatened by its impact on their business models.

Our managing director, Lynn Sedgwick commented, “Within larger law firms, the uptake of AI has been a recurrent theme. This may be due to the perception that larger firms have access to the money to finance its development and use, their appetite to risk is greater and the infrastructure they already have in place allows them to develop their use of AI. As the increased use of AI begins to take shape so the larger firms enjoy being early adopters of new technologies, but as the research shows, small and medium sized firms don’t wish to miss out.”

For more insights from the team visit our website or to receive a copy of our comprehensive research get in touch today.

©depositphotos.com/nenovbrothers