Building an Outstanding Legal Team

Introduction 1. The Changing Context 1.1 Macro-economic changes 1.1.1 Regulatory expansion 1.1.2 Globalization 1.1.3 Risk convergence 1.2 Cost pressures 1.3 The twin revolutions 1.3.1 The Innovation Revolution 1.3.2 The Professional Convergence Revolution 1.3.3 The GC as chief executive Part I: The Hardware 2. Talent and Risk Assessments 2.1 The continuous process 2.2 Start by thinking 2.2.1 Why is it so important to spend time thinking? 2.2.2 When is it best to do your initial focused thinking? 2.2.3 Weekly and annual focused thinking 2.3 Develop your foundation 2.3.1 Build your foundation – assess the company and your team 2.4 Stop, look, listen: evaluate your talent 2.4.1 On-boarding process 2.5 Assess your core legal risks 2.5.1 Secure alignment 2.5.2 Time frame 2.5.3 Steps 2.5.4 Lessons 2.5.5 How to assess risk materiality 2.5.6 Mapping your risks 2.5.7 Remember to communicate and align 2.5.8 The three “golden rules” of risk 3. Designing an Integrated Team Structure 3.1 Appoint specialists and generalists 3.1.1 Specialists 3.1.2 Generalists 3.1.3 Enabling function lawyers: specialists or generalists? 3.1.4 Who decides: specialists or generalists? 3.1.5 The optimal ration of specialists to generalists 3.2 The rise of the legal operations officer 3.2.1 Do you need a legal operations team? 3.2.2 Who should the legal COO report to? 3.3 Appoint your legal leadership 3.3.1 How large should the leadership team be? 3.3.2 Insiders vs. outsiders 3.3.3 Mistakes will be made 3.3.4 Hire the right type of leaders 3.4 Map over the rest of your organization 3.4.1 The matrix 3.4.2 Reporting lines into Legal or the Business – or both? 3.4.3 Who reports to whom? 3.4.4 Flat vs. layered hierarchies 3.5 Budget 3.5.1 The importance of having a unitary budget 4. Law Firms 4.1 Disruption in the legal profession 4.1.1 The Innovation Revolution 4.1.2 Cost pressures 4.1.3 Regulatory reforms 4.1.4 New competitors 4.1.5 The law firm competitive response 4.2 Unbundle your work 4.2.1 Classify your workflow 4.2.2 Identify solutions for different categories of work 4.2.3 Optimize your mix of internal to external resources 4.3 Put the right policies in place 4.3.1 Gatekeeper policy 4.3.2 Billing guidelines policy 4.3.3 Engagement letters 4.3.4 Internal legal department controls 5. Alternative Legal Services Providers 5.1 What are ALS providers? 5.1.1 The origins of ALS 5.1.2 Alternative staffing providers 5.1.3 Legal process outsourcing providers 6. Selecting the Right Partners 6.1 Leverage legal procurement professionals 6.1.1 The benefits of involving procurement 6.2 Strategic partnerships 6.2.1 What it means to be “strategic” 6.3 Key performance indicators (KPIs) 6.4 Law firm “panels” 6.4.1 Are panels the right choice for all legal departments? 6.5 How to establish panels 6.5.1 Select the right work for the RFP 6.5.2 Panel scope 6.5.3 Decide on the right levels of support that you need 6.5.4 Research and identify candidates; gather market intelligence 6.5.5 Diversity 6.5.6 Generate and issue RFPs 6.5.7 Evaluate responses and select finalists 6.5.8 Establish finalist interviews 6.5.9 Set agenda for meetings with the finalists; interview them 6.5.10 Select and announce your panel 6.6 Are panels forever? 6.7 Panels for Alternative Legal Services Providers 7. Technology 7.1 Processes before technology 7.2 The evolving technology landscape 7.2.1 The Second Machine Age 7.2.2 Moore’s Law and the second half of the chessboard 7.2.3 The Internet of Things and Big Data 7.2.4 Cloud computing 7.2.5 Artificial Intelligence (AI) 7.2.6 Autonomy and replacement 7.3 In-house technology applications 7.3.1 Communication and collaboration tools 7.3.2 Self help tools 7.3.3 Efficiency tools 7.3.4 Transparency tools 7.3.5 Artificial Intelligence and machine learning 7.4 Procurement of technology 7.4.1 Build or buy? 7.4.2 Off-the-shelf or custom? 7.5 Process, technology and risk reduction Part II: The Software 8. Culture 8.1 What is culture? 8.1.1 Culture as behaviour 8.1.2 Culture as values and beliefs 8.1.3 Cultures and subcultures 8.1.4 Your subculture must be aligned with your company’s culture 8.1.5 Actual culture vs. stated values and beliefs 8.2 Why is culture important? 8.2.1 Culture as a baseline 8.2.2 Culture as an attractant 8.3 Can you build a culture from scratch? 8.3.1 Legacy cultures – evolution not revolution 8.3.2 Influencing in new cultures 8.3.3 Write your culture down 8.3.4 Beware of the unwritten rules 8.4 Hack your culture 8.4.1 Large-scale hacks 8.4.2 Small, iterative hacks 8.5 Making it “sticky” 8.5.1 Screening 8.5.2 Induction 8.5.3 Rituals and reinforcement ceremonies 8.5.4 Stories 8.5.5 Influencers 8.5.6 Sanctions 9. The Generational Context and the Rise of the Millennials 9.1 Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers 9.1.1 The Baby Boomers 9.1.2 The Gen-Xers 9.1.3 The Millennials 9.1.4 How have these traits shaped the Millennials? 9.1.5 What is the problem? 9.1.6 How to approach Millennials 9.1.7 How to balance interests across the generational divide 10. Leadership Skills 10.1 Professional excellence 10.2 Innate curiosity 10.2.1 Constant learners 10.2.2 Formal vs. organic learning 10.2.3 The Internet vs. books 10.2.4 Future literacy 10.2.5 Importing and exporting good ideas 10.3 Excellent communicators 10.3.1 Storytelling 10.3.2 Focus on “why” 10.3.3 Clear written communication 10.4 Excellent business judgement 10.4.1 Market visits 10.4.2 The business of the law 10.5 Results driven 10.6 Autonomy 10.6.1 The pros and cons of law firm training 10.6.2 The pros and cons of government training 10.7 Courage 10.7.1 Manipulative business partners 10.8 Flexible leadership style 10.9 Cultural intelligence 10.9.1 Leadership savvy 10.9.2 Disagreement and “face” 10.9.3 High vs. low context cultures 10.9.4 Trust 10.9.5 Reasoning 10.10 Grit Part III: Critical Threads 11. Change Management 11.1 Ten lessons about change 11.1.1 Change is the natural state of being 11.1.2 Start with “why” 11.1.3 Change is an inherently emotional process 11.1.4 Regularly track and discuss your team’s emotional state 11.1.5 Do not let your team freeze up 11.1.6 Never look back! 11.1.7 Change can give you the best work of your career 11.1.8 Focus on what you can control; do not worry about the rest 11.1.9 You are in charge of you! 11.1.10 This is the “new normal” – so get used to it! 12. Strategic Direction 12.1 Roadmap principles 12.1.1 Vision 12.1.2 Mission 12.1.3 Strategies and tactics 12.2 Example of strategic priorities 12.2.1 Strategy 1 – Develop our people 12.2.2 Strategy 2 – Provide the right advice at the right time 12.2.3 Strategy 3 – Leverage our global strength 12.3 When and how to execute your strategic direction 12.3.1 When? 12.3.2 How? Conclusion Acknowledgements Index Bibliography Footnotes

Bjarne Tellmann’s book is brimming with important ideas about skills and techniques needed to be an outstanding general counsel