The Leading Lawyer Project with Sam Burrett

What are the skills needed to tranition from private practice to in-house? What do litigation funders do? And what role does mentoring play in a successful career path?In this episode of the Leading Lawyer Project, we sat down with Siba Diqer, Investment Manager at Litigation Capital Management to explore her exciting and varied career path in the law.Learn more about Siba:The Litigation Capital Management website Siba's LinkedIn ProfileAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

For this week’s episode of the Leading Lawyer Project, we spoke with Mark Rigotti about leadership, learning, and how to make sense of 2020.This is the second time I’ve had the privilege of interviewing Mark and I wanted to follow up our interview from mid-2020, which is one of the most downloaded episodes of the podcast. In this episode we explored:The impact of 2020 on law firms, particularly on graduates, mentoring and our relationships with our clients;How law firms can and should invest in technology to innovate and improve in the future;Why the pandemic lead to more humanistic, empathetic leadership and what that means for the future;How to cultivate and develop a learner mindset that benefits your career in the long run.Learn more about MarkListen to Mark’s previous interview here.Herbert Smith Freehills websiteMark’s LinkedIn profileAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

Why is now the time to change the way we practice law? And for those lawyers who are ready to innovate - where can you start?This week I have a special interview with lawyer and innovator, Lucy Dickens, exploring her new book It's Time to Do Law Differently. Just a week after release, the book is already a #1 best seller on Amazon and has received great reviews from both practitioners and legal industry commentators.In this episode we explored:Lucy's book writing process;Why now is the time to do law differently;Best-practice tips for law firm innovation and;How the journey to writing a book has shaped Lucy's definition of a successful career.Learn more about LucyCheck out Lucy's new book hereConnect with Lucy on LinkedInLearn more about Doing Law Differently via Lucy's podcastAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

The legal industry is full of buzzwords, including New Law, Innovation and Design Thinking. But what does it all mean in practice?This week, I had the pleasure of exploring the realities of legal innovation with Melissa Lyon. Melissa is a Design Thinker, Innovation and Business Development specialist working at Hive Legal, one of Australia's New Law Firms.Melissa assists clients, law firms and professional services providers develop and utilise client focussed skills and innovation programs. I consult on Design Thinking, Innovation, NewLaw business models and value pricing.In this episode we discuss:Show notesWhat lead to Melissa being awarded Innovator of the Year at The Australian Law Awards;What is Design Thinking and why is it important for lawyers?The Hive Legal Design Thinking Framework: HiveThinkP;The problem with lawyers who are too ‘solutionist’ risk averse and serious;Concrete examples of Design Thinking in practice, including this visual Privacy Policy;How firms can encourage diversity and inclusion through business model innovations;The impacts of the pandemic on the future of legal work;What a day in the life of a legal innovator in a New Law firm actually looks like;What success means to Melissa.Some of my favourite quotes“For many years I’ve seen many missed opportunities within law firms to develop broader skillsets…know-how, BD, technology skills - these skills can be brought to the fore to help lawyers produce better results”“The way we’ve been trained is that we know the law and the law must be the answer to all problems..but that’s not always the case.”“Lawyers are solutionists, which means we quickly jump to the solution without taking into account what’s on the periphery.”Learn more about MelissaLinkedinMelissa’s Email:  melissa.lyon@hivelegal.com.auHive Legal WebsiteCentre For Legal Innovation - Design Thinking Video SeriesAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

How can you meaningfully impact your clients in a way that not only generates revenue, but sets the foundation for a meaningful career in law?This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Marlo Osborne-Smith, who is a Director in PwC's New Law department. Marlo has a wealth of experience building and growing amazing client relationships. Prior to PwC,  Marlo was Head of Clients Asia Pacific at global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.We covered:A walk through Marlo’s Journey to PwC, from graduate lawyer to recruiter, to business development professional and then Client Relationship Manager;The key skills Marlo built to improve her career;What it really means to be client-centric and how to put the client at the centre of the firm;The challenges and triumphs of growing the New Law arm within PwC;Key skills for a T-Shaped Lawyer;The challenges facing in-house legal teams and how PwC is building a legal operations capability to address those challenges;The future state of Legal Functions and;Success and making an impact on the legal industrySome of my favourite quotes from this episode:“For me thing that was missing [from traditional practice] was the need to think about the individual client. Not just their technical problems, but their individual needs.”“I built trust early by always delivering on what I said was going to do.”“My success has often been drawing on the skills of others. I’ve never pretended to be good at everything, but one of my strengths has been collaboration.” “What really drives me  is helping clients solve their problems.” “For me the definition of a successful career is really enjoying what I do. And what I do is help client solve their problems, and not their legal problems - solving the way they work. If I can make my clients, and the profession, work more efficiently, if I can help them do high value work, and have better relationships with their business stakeholders, then for me that’s the definition of success”“I think the careers available to [young lawyers now] are endless and it’s just about opening up your mind to those opportunities, and drawing on those T-Shaped skills, to differentiate yourself.”Learn more about Marlo:LinkedInPwC New Law websiteThe IronClad webinar we referenced in this chatAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

How can lawyers leverage marketing and business development principles to win more work? What’s it like to work in BD/Marketing in law firms?This week, I’m exploring the careers of successful BD professionals in law with Kim Wiegand. Kim is a seasoned business development professional who has worked in large law firms and magic circle firms across Australia and the United Kingdom for the last 18 years.I think you’ll get lots of value from this episode if you are A lawyer wanting to learn how to use business development and marketing to grow your practice and win more work;Someone wanting to understand how to better leverage your firms marketing/BD department to grow your practice;A small firm lawyer/solo practitioner wanting to grow your practice or;A young lawyer/mid-career lawyer looking to understand what it’s like to have a career in BD/MarketingWe covered:The role of BD and marketing professionals in law firmsWhat lawyers need to know about marketing and BD, and how they can make the most of their law firms’ BD departments.Digital marketing for law firms;The impact of COVID-19 on BD and marketing;What it’s like to jump from law to BD;The key things small firms can do to win more work;Practical ways to improve diversity in law.Some of my favourite quotes:"When you ask women in law about what needs to change to improve diversity, it’s not quotas. It’s the thought process. Diversity of thought needs to be appreciated."“We can’t have a group of homogenous people sitting in a room making decisions about a business that is in an industry that is evolving at pace. They will never keep up.”“Success now looks like doing great work with great people. “Buyer behaviour has changed now. The most powerful form of marketing is referrals. "A lot of lawyers don’t understand the power of their network. They say ‘oh I’ll do a good job and they’ll come back.’ Buyer behaviour is changed now.”“People buy people. If you’re not communicating why you get out of bed and why you do this every day, people won’t connect with you.”Learn more about Kim:Kim Wiegand on LinkedInYear 101: Women in LawAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

How can you actually make a positive impact on the legal profession? Plenty of lawyers want to improve the way things are done. But honestly, very few people ever make a big dent on the status quo. Peter Dombkins is a national leader in legal transformation, legal operations and the project management of legal professional services. Peter is someone who has driven significant improvements in the way the law is practised.He is currently a Director at PwC NewLaw, Australia's first Adjunct Associate Professor in Legal Transformation, at the University of NSW Faculty of Law, the Vice-President of the Australian Society for Computers and the Law (NSW), and the managing editor of their journal.Peter is also the first Legal Project Manager (LPM) to be peer-accredited as a Certified Practising Project Director. Safe to say, he has accomplished great things across many domains and continues to be at the forefront of important innovations in the legal industry.In this episode we covered:Peter's day-to-day work balancing Legal Project Management, Academia and Legal Operations Peter's journey from Sydney Grammar to Project Management to Legal Practice, and then to Gilbert and Tobin and finally PwC NewLaw.Why Project Management is so important for the legal industry and for individual lawyers (as well as their clients).How to use your own unique experience and perspectives to catalyze positive change in the legal profession. Why success for Peter is the evolution of the whole sector, not just a few individuals.You can learn more about Peter and his work here:Peter DombkinsPwC NewLawAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

This week on the Leading Lawyer Project, I'm exploring the current state of the legal technology market and asking the question "where are we up to in the legal tech journey?"To explore this idea, I interview Maya Markovich, who is the Chief Growth Officer at Nextlaw Labs. Nextlaw Labs is the legal industry’s first and leading legal technology and innovation catalyst.Maya currently leads analysis, collaboration, launch, and adoption of early-stage legal tech for Nextlaw Labs.  Maya has a unique background spanning behavioural science, law, investment, and change management and was named one of five “Influential Women of Legal Tech” by ILTA in 2020, a “Woman Leading Legal Tech” by The Technolawgist in 2019, and an ABA Legal Technology Resource Center “Woman of Legal Tech 2018” for her work in encouraging, designing and implementing the future of the legal profession.Some episode highlights:In 2015, when Nextlaw Labs started, there were around 75 legal tech startups - now there are almost 2,000 (check out Standford CodeX's list of legal tech companies);How institutional investment is changing the legal technology landscape;Which legal technologies are providing the biggest benefits to lawyers;The barriers to adoption and how we can overcome them Why young lawyers and law students will carve the future of the industry;The different career paths open to young lawyers;The key personality traits of the lawyers of the future, including data science, money management, design thinking and project management;Fostering gender and cultural diversity in the legal technology community;Why legal tech companies that are diverse are more successful;How COVID-19 has impacted the legal technology landscape;Some of my favourite quotes:"There is an increasing ability of people to do different things, working in a legal tech startup or in legal operations.To thrive in the legal industry of the future (which is now) lawyers really need foundational literacies like a basic understanding of data science, money management, design thinking and project management. Then you need collaboration, flexibility, EQ (emotional intelligence) and creativity""To truly affect change, lawyers with resilience, curiosity, comfort with ambiguity and a bias to action are going to have the most impact. Most of these things can be learned.""Its not in the best interests of investors to not invest in homogenous groups (and instead to invest in companies that are diverse). But at the same time, this increased understanding isn't translating into more money. It's a problem that hasn't; been solved anywhere near satisfactorily.""There are countless examples already of the pitfalls of technology that is built by a homogenous group. Diversity is a vital, but underestimated component of success.""What we need to avoid is implementing and automating biased processes."You can find more about Nextlaw Labs and Maya HereMaya's LinkedInMaya's TwitterNextlaw's TwitterThe Nexdtlaw Labs websiteAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

This week, I’m diving deep into the traits and mindsets of successful lawyers.Chris Gardner is a partner with leading international labour and employment firm Seyfarth Shaw. Chris specialises in workplace relations law with over 25 years experience and is one of the country’s leading lawyers in workplace change, strategy and enterprise bargaining, recognised in the Legal 500 and in Band 1 of Chambers.But in addition, Chris is passionate about what makes it takes to be a successful lawyers. Chris is a coach and is writing a book on this very topic, so it was great to have him on the show to share his learning so far.We covered:A day in the life of a partner at Seyfarth Shaw How legal skills evolve over time and as you take on more senior rolesThe essence of a trusted advisor and how to make the transition from being a junior lawyer to a fee-earning partnerHow to navigate the challenges presented by the workplaceWhat Chris sees the best young lawyers doing/their traitsThe three buckets of being a great lawyerThe importance of mindset and the key elements of a successful lawyer’s mindset including optimism, growth mindsetWhy mindfulness is so important - we know it makes a tangible difference to performance, so why wouldn’t you use it? Chris’ book, in which he is interviewing 100 professionals and turning those interviews into case studies about what sets the best apart from their peers, in connection with some of the research on positive psychology.Some of my favourite quotes:“Don’t tell the client what they can’t do, tell them what they can do.” “It takes 6-8 years to build the right kind of expertise, but at some point, you grow another skillset, closer relationships with clients…the skills that take you to a certain stage in your career will only take you so far. The capacity to take your career to the next stage lies upon another skill set which is not taught in university…it’s mostly taught on the job.”“You can win a case but lose a client, and conversely, you can lose a case but win a client…”“It’s not just the what [of being a successful lawyer] but the how, because you watch some of the best practitioners and they can’t describe what it is that they do so well…but we can distill mindsets and behaviours to learn more quickly.”“I don’t know any lawyer who hasn’t faced some setbacks in their careers.”“Resilience, hunger, passion…they’ve done their studies but they’ve done something else too. They’ve had to fend for themselves.”“I would say to any junior lawyer…Find what it is that makes you do what you do, find some meaning in your work that drives you and how that is reflected in your work.”"You don’t grow your career unless you grow your mindset."I want to give back to the profession that was so good to me…It was often difficult and challenging for me, and I’m hoping to bring awareness aBooks referenced:Hypnosport by Lee CunnhingahmOutliers by Malcolm Gladwell (the famous 10,000 hours world)The Trusted Advisor and Managing the Professional Services Firm by David Master7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven CoveyGrit: The Power of Passion and Persistence by Angela DuckworthMartin Seligman on Positive PsychologyYou can find

Can your personal brand accelerate your career? Melissa Scott is a Legal Counsel at Megaport and the host of the successful Counsel podcast, exploring life as an in-house lawyer.In today's episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, we talked about having a great career as an in-house lawyer. Some highlights from the show:Mel kicks off with an overview of exactly what is involved with her job - all the diverse things she does throughout the dayWhy in-house lawyers need to do more with less in the post-COVID-19 worldMel answers questions that she is often asked by young lawyers, including ‘when is the best time to transition from private practice to in-house?Why it’s so important to start taking your personal brand seriouslyMel’s top practical suggestions and resources for accelerating your in-house careerLessons learned from Mel’s podcast journeyThe importance of Mental Health for performance and Mel’s favourite wellbeing practices Why “the path” or “the playbook” that has traditionally defined a successful legal career wasn’t for Mel and what success means now.Some of my favourite quotes:“Legal Counsel are like the General Practitioners of the legal world. We triage legal, risk and compliance issues and decide how to manage that. We manage external relationships. Sometimes we brief it out, and other times we use technology to free up our time for the exciting meaty issues that we’d otherwise have to brief out.”“I genuinely love the way I get to be a lawyer.“You need to take your personal brand seriously and start the journey as early as you’d like it to.”“I’m not afraid to share so that people might have a slightly easier time”“Success in my practice is living in alignment with my values. Looking forward to the week ahead on a Sunday afternoon.You can find more about Mel here:Mel's LinkedInThe Counsel Podcast FeedAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

How will the Big 4 accounting firms change the legal industry? How will data transform the role of in-house lawyers? What does the future hold for young lawyers?In this week's episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, we discuss the changing nature of in-house legal work with Mick Sheehy.Mick is a partner at PwC and a founder of PwC's NewLaw practice. He's a well-recognised leader in legal innovation and his work has been featured as a case study for Harvard Business School. Mick is also the founder of the Australian arm of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC). In this episode we discuss:+ Mick's experience moving from private practice at King Wood & Mallesons (or Mallesons as it was then) to in-house at Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company. + The journey from in-house lawyer to General Counsel of Telstra+ Balancing legal operations with legal work+ How Mick established PwC NewLaw from scratch and assembled the Avengers of legal consulting+ What's involved with legal operations consulting+ Technology at PwC NewLaw + The importance of data and metrics for legal functions + Why lawyers might not always be best placed to improve legal departments + The benefits for law firms in using the Big 4 consulting firms to improve their function+ The impact of COVID-19 on legal functions+ Using data to re-focus the value of legal functions+ The evolution of legal careers and what lies ahead for young lawyers.My favourite quotes:"We've made great inroads into making the law more effective, affordable and accessible, and ultimately more valuable for our clients. But we've also got a long way to go.""A disproportionate amount of innovation comes from younger people who are more creative thinkers and free to think about doing things differently.""I don't think legal departments have traditionally been very good at spending time on themselves. Lawyers and legal functions are fantastic at client service, but not enough time has been spent on thinking about how to run the function better."You can find more about Mick here:Mick's LinkedInPwC NewLaw Website PwC's new paper on Legal Department Metrics - a great read which I highly recommend checking out!Also:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

Sarah, known as the Goddess of Governance®, is the Founder of You Legal. With over 15 years' experience, she is passionate about protecting purpose-driven organisations to allow them to focus on what matters to them most, making their impact in the world.  In this week's episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, Sarah and I talked about:What it means to have a purpose higher than profit;Sarah's motivations for starting a law firm;Going from being let go from her lawyer job to building her own brand;The ups and downs of entrepreneurship;Personal branding for lawyers;The traps of traditional lawyer thinking that holds lawyers back;How lawyers can build channel partners and why Sarah runs her podcast 'Accountants on Purpose.'You can find more about Sarah and YouLegal hereSarah's LinkedInYouLegal's WebsiteThe Goddess of Governance WebsiteAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

What is the advantage NewLaw and Boutique firms have over top-tier traditional firms? What will be the impact of COVID-19 on lawyers and law firms?Why are firms like Marque Lawyers so important to the progression of the legal profession?In this week's episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, I had the pleasure of speaking with Damian Sturzaker, a Partner and co-founder of Marque Lawyers, one of Sydney's leading boutique firms.Damian is a well-recognised expert in commercial litigation, one of Australia’s Top Lawyers according to the Australian Financial Review, a Professorial Fellow in International Arbitration at the University of New South Wales AND a medallist in the Javelin at the Australian Master's Games.In this episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, we discuss:How Marque Lawyers baked value-based billing into their business model from the beginning;What it means to be a value-based firm;Why timesheets and hourly-billing can bring out bad behaviour in lawyers;What law firms can learn from the Global Financial Crisis as they face down the COVID crisis;Why it's important to be more human for your clients;The challenge for New Law/Boutique firms as they move to remote working; The impacts of COVID on Marque Lawyers;How to drive client loyalty during the pandemic;Professional development and career-building in the New Normal;Why top-tier firms are chasing the innovations pioneered by Marque Lawyers and others;Why timesheets hamper diversity and inclusion in law firms;Some of my favourite quotes from this episode:"It's a privilege to work in an area you love and with people who are at the top of their game""Success is to create a truly multi-generational firm - a thing that will survive us.""I want to demonstrate to my kids that you should want to go to work - you genuinely feel like this is something you enjoy and something that adds purpose to your life."You can find more about Damian and Marque Lawyers here: Marque Lawyers Website The Marque Lawyers Podcast - The Soap BoxDamian Sturzaker on LinkedInAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

What is your contribution to the legal profession?This question sits front of mind for many top lawyers. This week's guest on The Leading Lawyer Project, Felicity Gerry QC, has certainly contributed a great deal to the law.Felicity regularly appears in in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Victorian Court of Appeal and largely defends in criminal matters, often with an international element.She is admitted to the list of counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and has advised in major terrorism, international fraud and money laundering matters, multi-claimant and multi-defendant cases, administrative action to heritage list Aboriginal land, a Federal challenge for women and children in Syrian camps and in a potential class action relating to illegal logging. Felicity is also Professor of Legal Practice at Deakin University where she lectures in Contemporary International Legal Challenges including Terrorism, Modern Slavery and Climate Change Litigation. In this episode, we discuss:What’s involved with her course Contemporary Legal Challenges - more info here.The key questions Felicity is exploring, including human trafficking, etc“I don’t wait for the case to come along, if there’s an issue that needs to be tackled, I tackle it”“My career path went from a town in Lester in England, which no-one had heard of until they found Richard the III buried in the car park, to international practice in Australia.”How Felicity balances academia and Being yourself in the law;“No great circus ever crept into town. If I’m going to do this right, I’m going to be me;”How we can improve the position of women in the law, and at The Bar more specifically;How to balance progressing your career with taking opportunities as they arise;Why Felicity wrote 77 applications to become a barrister, and why only 4 replied;Learn the proper or traditional way first - then drop in your own personality;The powerful habit of writing up the things that you learn as you go. Felicity wrote up every case she was involved in;Why Felicity continues to publish articles and write about areas she’s interested in, even when she’s not briefed on the area;How becoming an expert in a niche can have a huge impact on your career;Holding onto the ‘thread of history’ in the practice of law;Why you should aim to contribute to the development of law;The importance of being personable in law and why that helps you become successful;“I’m a combination of friendly, jolly and nerdy.You can find more about Felicity and her work hereFelicity's websiteFelicity's LinkedInFelicity's InstagramAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

Theo Kapodistrias is an award-winning in-house lawyer and keynote speaker. On this episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, we chat about:Why Theo is motivated by representing his home state of Tasmania;Going straight from law school to in-house;Starting out in the law without knowing any in-house lawyers;A day in the life of an in-house lawyer in Tasmania;How the Association of Corporate Counsel has helped Theo build great networks;Leveraging social media and how to handle detractors;How to develop our passions in law;Why titles don't matter so much;The impact of COVID on in-house teams;You can find more about Theo and his work hereTheo's LinkedInTheo's InstagramAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

There are law firms that are actively building the future of law. They are lead by lawyers who understand the power of technology, the importance of diversity in the legal workforce, and who know what it takes to lead lawyers.Genevieve Collins, Chief Executive Partner of Lander and Rogers, is one of those leaders. From editing a computer magazine to founding Australia's first Law Tech Hub, Genevieve has been at the front of innovation for a long time.You can find more about Genevieve and her work here:Genevieve's LinkedInLander and Rogers' websiteThe Law Tech Hub Also:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

Darren Fittler has achieved so much in the law. He is a Partner at Gilbert + Tobin and one of Australia's leading experts in law for charities and Not-For-Profits. Darren has achieved all this as a blind person and I was inspired to hear about his journey. We discuss: Darren's journey to practicing law;How he takes in information and provides legal advice without being able to see;Diversity in law firms and legal practice;Developing your core purpose as a lawyer;Pro-bono legal practice;A day in the life of a blind lawyer;Why success is about helping more people.You can find more about Darren and his work here:Darren's WebsiteDarren's Gilbert + Tobin PageDarren's LinkedInAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

I've learned so much on this journey so far. So this week I wanted to publish a quick (and sometimes rambling) episode to summarise three of my key takeaways and thank everyone who has been involved so far. In this episode of The Leading Lawyer Project, I cover:The reason why I started this podcast;A thank you to the guests and supporters of the show so far;The importance and power of curiosity;How and why the Legal industry is changing;Why the best are the best at whatever they do.Would love to hear your feedback on this format - let me know what you think via the links below! Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

What does it mean to be legally innovative? What do the legal leaders of today think about the future of legal practice?When I started this podcast, one of my goals was to interview Anna Lozynski, the Executive General Counsel of L'Oreal and one of Australia's leading legal thought leaders. Safe to say this week's episode is a dream come true for me! In this episode of the Leading Lawyer Podcast, we discuss:The journey from private practice to an in-house lawyer;Women in law and how women can succeed in law;Expectations vs reality in top-tier private practice;Why law school doesn't prepare you for real-life;Drawing on non-legal experience and education to succeed;What it's like to be a legal leader;How Anna's early tech adopter mentality prepared her for her current role;Being a lawyer is about having a commercial mindsetl; What innovation in law means;Should lawyers learn to code;How to handle push back as a trailblazer.You can find more about Anna and her work here:Anna's Instagram (@legallyinnovative)Anna's WebsiteAnna's LinkedInAnna's book, Legally InnovativeAlso:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com

Will the traditional law firm survive the COVID crisis? Could law firms make more money if they only charged fixed-fees?I was over the moon to speak with George Beaton for this week's episode. George is one of the foremost thinkers in the legal industry and I've learned so much from reading his work. In this episode we speak about:George's journey from Medicine in South Africa to law professor and legal leader in Australia;How the COVID crisis will impact law firms;What top lawyers are doing to mitigate the impacts of COVID;COVID has been a "managing partner's gift from heaven" to make necessary changes;Technology implementation in law firms over the next few years;The difference between NewLaw and BigLaw;Reducing fixed-costs in law firms to drive profits;Law firms exiting their leases as a result of COVID;The impact of increasing consumer sovereignty on legal businesses;Lawyers are now leaders, not just practitioners;What is holding the legal industry back;Where lawyers can find more information about NewLaw and the future of law.You can find more about George and Beaton here:Beaton Global WebsiteGeorge's LinkedIn PageLinks to George's books: "NewLaw New Rules" and "Remaking Law Firms"Other links:Please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts! It makes a huge difference and helps people find the show.Subscribe to The Leading Lawyer Project on iTunesConnect with me on LinkedIn Have an idea for the podcast or a guest you'd love to hear from? Drop me a line here: burrett.sam@gmail.com