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Programme
09:55 Welcome and Introduction
chair
David Lee
Director, David Lee Media & Events
Session One: Essential responsibilities of becoming a partner
10:00 I wish I knew what I know now ...
Elaine Motion
Chairman, Balfour+Manson
Scott Foster
Financial Consultant, Professional Services
- Stakeholder: strategy, unity, personnel and succession
- Operations: performance, cash flow, over reliance, tech infrastructure
- Markets: over dependence, price pressure, market share
- Capital: covenant breaches, working capital, re-financing
11:00 AML
Fraser Sinclair
Head of AML, MacRoberts LLP
11:15 Comfort break
Session Two: Regulations and ethics
Sharon Brownlee
Financial Compliance Manager, Law Society of Scotland
- Monitoring accounts – scams pre and post covid
- Anonymous case studies
- Running a cashroom remotely
- Update on regulations
Fiona Robb
Director of Professional Practice
Gillian Alexander
Head of Professional Practice, Law Society of Scotland
Vicky Crichton
Director of Public Policy, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
Susan Williams
Best Practice Advisor, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
Complaints avoidance and handling are routinely identified by partners as the single most important aspect of partnership. It is therefore vital that all partners understand and adhere to the complaints regime.
This includes:
- Common causes of complaint
- Complaints process
- Ethics
- Professional conduct
12:45 Lunch break
Session Three: Essential skills and behaviours
Michael Fleming
Business Development for Lawyers, Kissing With Confidence
- Business Development in lockdown and the new virtual world – what’s changed?
- Getting comfortable with “selling” – avoiding the “hard sell” and the “never sell” lunch loop
- Why optimists outsell pessimists and why you need to re-chip your thinking
- Learning to embrace rejection: “no” is the second best answer to “yes”!
- The opportunities for developing more trust in the virtual business world – the power of small talk, “intimacy” and appropriate self, disclosure
- Time: making time for Business Development and prioritising it
- Systems: getting more organised and systematic in your approach to Business Development
- Following-up with and keeping in touch with contacts and clients
Session Three continued: Workshops
14:15 Introduction to mini workshops
14:20 Wellbeing
Kenny Robertson
Head of Outsourcing, Technology & IP legal team, RBS; and Chair, Wellbeing Steering Group, Law Society of Scotland
14:35 Recruitment and selection: unconscious bias
Elaine MacGlone
Equality and Diversity Manager
14:45 Technology and the legal profession
Rob Marrs
Head of Education, Law Society of Scotland
15:00 Flexibility Works
Lisa Gallagher
Co-Founder, Flexibility Works
15:10 Comfort break
Session Four: Strategic thinking and decision making
Groups will be assigned one of the topics below to discuss as a leadership group, and asked to devise a policy document for a firm on that topic, identifying key commitments that a law firm should make to self, staff, clients and profession.
- Developing people
- Values and aims
- Wellbeing
- Your business plan
- Exit strategy and succession plan
- Marketing and Bus Dev
Lorna Jack
Chief Executive, Law Society of Scotland
- Wellbeing
- Professional Practice
- Trainees
- Starting your own practice
- Next step courses
- Lawscot Foundation
16:10 Close