A barrister in a leading Grays Inn commercial chambers for twelve years, Amanda has, since 2002, immersed herself in projects that promote networking and collaboration among providers and users of commercial legal services.
A co-founder of HeadStartED, which helps young people develop collaborative skills-based learning techniques based on Scrum, Amanda also works though her consultancy, AG Lord Consulting, as a performance culture specialist, Legal Scrum Master and legal consultant.
Why is networking so important in the legal profession?
It’s said that the happiness of a workforce is a great predictive indicator for productivity, so there’s a hard-edged reason for bosses to keep people happy. That also works both ways – the more productive we are, the happier we are. I believe there’s a multiplier effect where networking boosts people’s productivity, and therefore happiness.
The more extensive our network, the more people we have to call on for help or skills that we don’t have. Historically, the legal profession has been about what lawyers know. However, thanks to the internet and AI, legal knowledge is a lot more accessible to people these days, so the value lawyers must provide lies in strategic legal advice and how the law works in action. This is where ‘soft’ human skills such as networking and collaboration are indispensable.
How can AI complement collaboration in legal?
I see AI as a team member. It’ll never do everything, but it can perform some tasks very well, and this circles back to collaboration. For example, where you have multiple AI tools doing specific tasks, someone has to bring the outcomes and insights from those tasks together in a meaningful way.
AI is great for an initial draft of a legal document, but it cannot manage an entire project from start to finish. It’ll always be down to humans to pull the work of AI together – and that will always call for collaboration between people.
What’s your vision for collaborative learning?
I'd love to be part of – or even to launch - a self-directed learning hub where people interested in similar things can learn together in small groups.
Let's say I’m working in a law firm and want to set up on my own. It’d be great to meet people who’d either just done that or are planning to do it. We could share the research load, our insights and anxieties and, later, reassure others following in our footsteps. There’s almost too much reading material online now and, in any case, people work best when discussing concepts and bouncing ideas off each other in small groups. It’d be amazing to combine the best of the knowledge available online with the powerful benefits of like-minded people collaborating to achieve shared goals.
What’s the distinction between networking and collaborative networking?
Networking, as most people experience it, generally involves people getting together in a semi-social environment to discuss a specific purpose or theme. In collaborative networking, people get to know each other in a more incidental way.
A great example of this was the Pixar University, where employees of Pixar could learn anything at all – crochet, knitting – whatever they liked regardless of its relevance to their role in the business. Out of this joint learning format, colleagues – who may otherwise have never met - related to one another in a relaxed setting and gradually built rapports in forums secondary to their jobs.
As well as opening up opportunities to meet people beyond specific work disciplines, this activity takes the capital N out of networking. Introverts and shy people are not compelled to consciously network or initiate conversations, it all happens in a natural, organic way.
Furthermore, in a learning environment, everyone takes something slightly different out of the experience. So, while I learn more about the topic, I also learn how the other people in my group are thinking and what’s important to them. This contrasts with traditional networking, which often happens in short bursts and where conversations are predominantly transactional (I can help this person do x and they can help me with y).
How can networks such as the Centre for Legal Leadership’s Junior to Mid-Level Lawyer Network help achieve this?
They can provide a structure for people to connect and learn about topics and issues relevant to them. Say, for example, someone is interested in working offshore or moving into a new legal specialism. Networks can not only help them decide if these avenues are right for them, but also open doors for new career opportunities.
From here, people exploring similar ideas can set up their own semi-structured collaborative networking groups for further learning. Book clubs offer a great template for this – a meeting or video call where members agree to research a specific aspect of the group’s shared interest and then reconvene four weeks later to share their findings.
What’s your top tip for a smooth networking experience?
A great technique is to have a couple of sentences loosely pre-prepared, about something you’re interested in. They can be useful icebreakers and/or help get things back on track if there’s a lag in the conversation. Keep these sentences non-work related, though. Saying ‘Hi I’m Sarah, I specialise in IP,’ may inhibit someone with little or no interest in IP engaging with you. However, opening a conversation with, ‘Hi I’m Sarah, I’ve just come from my Zumba class, how do you unwind?’ gives the other person ‘permission’ to talk about their interests and gets a great dialog started, one that could lead into a fruitful relationship.
How is the relationship between business and the legal profession changing?
The boundaries between business people and lawyers are coming down. This will continue as lawyers become more commercially oriented and seek to be seen as trusted legal advisors, not just providers of specific legal services and knowledge of legislation.
The future of this relationship is going to be fascinating. My personal interest is more and more these days in the people who use legal services. I’m also a great follower of Richard Susskind OBE KC (Hon) and other legal innovators who write extensively on what the future of law may look like.
