Our Thinking
See you in Paris!
In just under two months' time, more than 5,000 legal professionals from over 130 jurisdictions will gather in Paris for the sector's leading networking and BD event - the International Bar Association's (IBA's) annual conference. Joining them will be two of Lextel's leadership team, Richard Forster and Stephen...
Why you should be upgrading your CRM system
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are software tools which help a professional services firm track communications to and from clients. They contain a record of the client’s contact details but also show all subsequent interactions by members of the firm with that client. They are like a phone book and...
Interview: Kathryn Szymczyk, Global Business Development Senior Manager IP at Gowling WLG
In the latest Lextel interview, Kathryn Szymczyk of Gowling WLG talks about moving from legal practice to business development, the importance of coordination, future planning - and her favourite cities. What is your background? My career has had three main stages. First, I practised trademark law for 12 years,...
Are billable hour targets hurting career development?
As has been widely reported, corporate lawyers' salaries have been booming since the pandemic, driven by growing volumes of work and shortages of qualified staff. One consequence of this is longer working hours and higher targets, as firms seek value for their investment. Unfortunately, this leaves less time for...
New office for Lextel
Lextel has moved to a new office in central London, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. The new address is 231-232 Strand, London WC2R 1DA. The nearest stations are Temple (underground) and Blackfriars (underground and main line). Our telephone numbers and other contact details are unchanged. The office is located...
Interview: Karen Morton, Chief Marketing Officer at Cleary Gottlieb
Legal MBD specialist Karen Morton has recently joined Clearly Gottlieb, having previously held various roles at Simmons & Simmons and Hogan Lovells. In this interview, she talks about the importance of analytics, the role of technology and the changing shape of the profession. How did you start work in MBD? I...
Lextel editor attempts world’s first expedition in Arctic
Lextel editor Mark Agnew will attempt to kayak the Arctic’s historic Northwest Passage in July and raise £25,000 for an outdoors education charity. Together with his three teammates (known as the Arctic Cowboys), Mark will embark on the 2,000-mile journey from Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada on 1 July. Each day, they...
It’s all about the Chat
In early April, social media platforms were being flooded with helpful posts by well-meaning techies on “everything you need to know” about AutoGPT, the latest iteration in an artificial intelligence race that you may be feeling somewhat overwhelmed by. Having just learned how to best phrase your ‘prompts’ to...
The four stages to building high-quality content for clients
A survey undertaken by Passle in April revealed some candid views from general counsel (GCs) on the content marketing that they receive from law firms. From a sample of 100 GCs split equally between the US and UK, only 8% said that their firms delivered enough timely and relevant content. Yet as the survey showed,...
The Great Resignation – threat or opportunity?
The Great Resignation (or the Big Quit) is a challenge for all professions, and especially the legal profession. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers are reassessing their priorities, while labour shortages in many sectors (including legal) ensure it will be a buyer’s market in recruitment for the...