Advice

Careers advice for lawyers

Rhetoric that works: projecting logos

Rhetoric is at the heart of the battle for power in at least 64 countries which go to the polls this year – an extraordinary year in politics. While the Ancient sandals may have been swapped for Oxford brogues, Aristotle’s rhetorical pillars of ethos, pathos and logos have never been more relevant. Just where is […]

Presentation skills for lawyers: Projecting Pathos

What a timely moment to be looking at the role that pathos plays in signifying authority and credibility. If you are in the UK, then this month’s general election campaign provides an excellent opportunity to journey through the anthropological safari park and observe potential leaders up and down the country stake their claim. Meanwhile in […]

Rhetoric that works: Projecting ethos

There’s an expression which seems to be passed down from generation to generation which says that you know you’re getting older when police officers are looking younger.  This reminds us of our own mortality and is no real reflection on the heavily armed twenty something protecting us from known or unknown peril, however, there is […]

Presentation skills for lawyers: Projecting authority

Regardless of your politics, few would be betting against today’s Prime Minister not returning to Downing Street or even Parliament after the next general election. The smart money is on Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, taking the keys to Number 10 sometime this year. So how does it feel to be PM in waiting? It is […]

Presentation skills for lawyers: Look into my eyes… more effectively

So let’s start this article with a teaser! According to ‘the internet’ should you find yourself in a situation when you are facing off with a stalking tiger, an angry lion, a snarling leopard or the news presenter Kay Burley, which should you stare down and which should you look away from? I’ll give you […]

Jing Wei Luo: “Do the work and opportunity will find you.”

Many starting lawyers will come into the profession comforted by the promise of a stable, straight-forward career where the next steps are clearly laid ahead towards the golden ticket of partnership. But for KHP Ventures new head of legal and operations, Jing Wei Luo, his career has been spent moving back and forth between private […]

Presentation skills for lawyers: How are your social skills?

The month of January is not a month best known for its social highs certainly in the Northern Hemisphere. After the excess of the festive period it’s back to business, with a focus on health, wealth and escape from midwinter. So you may not feel in the best mood for exercising your social skills. Nevertheless, […]

Presentation skills for lawyers: Are you overthinking your conversations?

What are you thinking about? A recent study estimates that the average human being has over 6,000 thoughts a day, a feat that was achieved by studying ‘thought worms’, or the points where our brains jump from one thought to another. The research inevitably makes the point that those thoughts range from the incredibly profound […]

What really makes partner material?

“Being a partner used to mean spending a lot of time at the golf course, or at the gentlemen’s club. Now, it means a lot more billables than it used to,” muses a partner at a US firm. It’s true: being a partner requires more than it ever used to. Strong client relationships, high billables, […]

Balancing work and parenting: what can we do?

We’ve just launched Partnerless, a new email specifically for associates. Sign up here for weekly career intelligence and market chatter. I snapped a picture last week, my little girl Sophie, decided she was now bored of me working, comes to sit on my knee and starts typing on my keyboard. She’s got her baby doll […]

moving quickly

Presentation skills for lawyers: Know your pace

The great thing about quotes is that they hang around, just waiting for the right occasion! So I’m going to lift this one which I will use to illustrate the theme of this month’s article. It comes from a certain John Martins Jr; “Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each […]