THE AUTHORS:
Dharshini Prasad, Partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Svetlana Portman, Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton
Lawyering Plus Webinar: S1 EP2
Lawyering Plus is an initiative set up by Mihaela Apostol, Dr Ilka Beimel, and Svetlana Portman to help lawyers build soft skills. Lawyering Plus organises webinars and invites expert speakers to share their tips on a particular soft skill. Each episode ends with an interactive Q&A segment. The first webinar season focuses on communication skills and comprises the following episodes: Communicating with Clients (E1), Communication within the Law Firm (E2), Communicating with Expert Witnesses, Written Advocacy, Oral Advocacy, and Non-verbal Communication – further details about the episodes are available here. If you want to be updated about the next webinars, please subscribe here.
On 30 May 2024, Lawyering Plus hosted Dharshini Prasad, a seasoned international arbitration and litigation practitioner, and Partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher (London), who delivered a presentation focusing on practical strategies to enhance communication within law firms. Her insights aimed to equip legal professionals with actionable advice to foster positive relationships, resolve conflicts, and advance their careers effectively.
Building Positive Relationships
Dharshini emphasised the foundational role of building positive relationships within law firms. She stressed the importance of:
- Mutual respect and collaboration: Encouraging colleagues to understand each other’s roles and responsibilities to facilitate smoother teamwork.
- Approachability and responsiveness: Being accessible and responsive to colleagues at all levels, fostering an environment of trust and cooperation.
Strategies for Effective Communication
Dharshini provided practical strategies for ensuring clear and effective communication within the firm, including:
- Managing expectations: Clearly articulating work expectations and deadlines upfront ensures everyone is on the same page, prevents misunderstandings, and reduces potential conflicts down the line.
- Conflict resolution: Addressing conflicts promptly and constructively through open dialogue and mediation. Dharshini highlighted the importance of seeking common ground and understanding the perspectives of all parties involved to find a mutually agreeable solution.
- Use evaluation cycles: Leveraging performance evaluations not only for feedback but also as an opportunity to discuss career development and progression.
Career Advancement and Professional Development
Dharshini underscored proactive communication as pivotal for career growth within law firms. Specifically:
- Seeking mentorship: Encouraging junior lawyers to seek mentorship from senior colleagues to navigate challenges and accelerate professional development.
- Taking initiative: Volunteering for challenging assignments and proactively seeking opportunities to expand skill sets and visibility within the firm.
- Feedback integration: Using feedback constructively to improve performance and refine professional goals. Dharshini advised that feedback should be seen as a tool for growth and that lawyers should actively seek feedback and use it to identify areas for improvement and development.
Acknowledging the diverse backgrounds within law firms, Dharshini emphasized the importance of cultural sensitivity. In particular:
- Inclusive communication practices: Being mindful of cultural differences and adapting communication styles accordingly to foster inclusivity and respect.
- Navigating cultural nuances: Understanding cultural nuances in client interactions and internal communications to build stronger relationships and enhance collaboration.
Audience Engagement and Q&A Session
During the interactive Q&A session, participants engaged Dharshini on issues related to conflict management, onboarding and integration, and career progression. She provided the following practical advice:
- Effective communication with seniors: Junior lawyers should observe workplace dynamics initially and identify senior colleagues to build rapport with.
- Understanding case context: It is important to review the case file and materials thoroughly.
- Proactive engagement: Junior lawyers should proactively seek tasks that add value, such as creating chronologies or conducting legal research. They should ask senior associates on the team or partners what they can do to help move the case along.
- Addressing mistakes: Immediate and transparent communication when mistakes occur is crucial.
- Receiving feedback: It is important to focuson solutions first when receiving news of mistake; then discuss why it happened and how to prevent it in the future.
- Building personal relationships: Building personal relationships by sharing a little about yourself with colleagues will build a deeper relationship with people and foster a supportive work environment.
Key Takeaways on Communication Within the Law Firm
- Effective communication from day one: Observe workplace dynamics and norms initially, build rapport with senior colleagues by scheduling time to talk to them, and deliberately reach out to those who might be too busy to initiate conversations.
- Understanding case context: Thoroughly review all case files and materials to understand the context before contributing ideas. For new cases, get a comprehensive grasp of the client’s documents and background
- Proactive engagement: Proactively seek tasks that add value, such as creating chronologies or conducting legal research. Offer to help with thought leadership activities like drafting articles or client alerts.
- Addressing and learning from mistakes: Communicate immediately and transparently when mistakes occur. Identify the person best placed to resolve the issue and work together on a solution. Managers should address mistakes calmly, focusing first on solutions and later on understanding the causes.
- Receiving feedback: Focus on solutions first when receiving feedback about mistakes. Discuss the reasons for mistakes afterwards to prevent future occurrences. Emphasise the importance of honesty and transparency in communication.
- Building personal relationships: Build personal relationships by sharing appropriate personal details. This fosters a supportive and respectful work environment, reducing the likelihood of discourteous behaviour under stress.
- Cultural sensitivity: Be aware of and respect different cultural norms. Understand the cultural background of colleagues and clients to prevent misunderstandings and build stronger relationships.
- Managing expectations: Set clear expectations for tasks and deadlines, regularly update colleagues on progress and any changes to timelines, and ensure clarity to avoid confusion and miscommunication.
Next Episode
The episode’s recording is available on the Lawyering Plus YouTube channel. The next session, scheduled for end of July 2024, focuses on communicating with expert witnesses. Follow Lawyering Plus on LinkedIn and Arbi.City to receive updates on future episodes and learn more about soft skills.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dharshini Prasad is a Partner in the International Arbitration Group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. She is triple qualified to practice in Singapore, England and Wales and New York and regularly draws on her multi-jurisdictional experience to advice clients on complex, high-value disputes with a cross-border element. Dharshini has acted as counsel in several billion-dollar arbitrations in different industries, from energy and mining to technology, pharmaceuticals and private equity, and for clients in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. Clients and peers commend Dharshini for being a “brilliant and talented advocate” (Who’s Who Legal) and “a very intelligent, driven and relentless professional” with “deep knowledge about the international arbitration forum and strong analytical skills” (Legal500 UK). Apart from her work as counsel, Dharshini has an active practice as arbitrator. She is a member of the LCIA Court and sits on the Board of Editors for the AAA Dispute Resolution Journal. She also teaches seminars on energy and investor-State arbitration at Queen Mary University and has previously taught at New York University (Paris), the London School of Economics, and Austrian arbitration academies.
Svetlana Portman is an associate in the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton and a member of the International Dispute Resolution Group. Her practice focuses on international arbitration and public international law. Svetlana represents private clients and states across multiple jurisdictions in investor-state and international commercial arbitrations governed by various substantive laws and conducted under the auspices of the major arbitral rules, including ICSID, LCIA, ICC and UNCITRAL. She is familiar with disputes across a broad range of industries and sectors. Svetlana is admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales and to the bars of New York State and Israel. As a solicitor-advocate, Mr. Portman has full rights of audience before all civil courts of England & Wales. She is one of the founders of Lawyering Plus.
*The views and opinions expressed by authors are theirs and do not necessarily reflect those of their organizations, employers, or Daily Jus, Jus Mundi, or Jus Connect.
