News

November 2024

The Law Society web site – new careers advice content ‘Essential skills for law students’

I was pleased to be invited to be a contributor for this content creation project, a careers advice guide for aspiring solicitors. Topics covered are soft skills, networking, business etiquette, research, commercial awareness and negotiating and influencing.

Other content created by EnergiseLegal on the Law Society web site careers section include career transition case studies and webinars on various career management topics.

View the guide ‘Essential skills for law students’:

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/career-advice/law-students/essential-skills

October 2024

Article about Consultant Lawyers for Modern Lawyer magazine.

I wrote an article ‘The Rise and Rise of the Consultant Lawyer’ with Leonna Mora, EnergiseLegal’s Research Analyst for the October 2024 edition. The article includes quotes from various Consultant Lawyers and founders of Consultant Lawyer firms including Sarah Goulbourne co-founder of gunnercooke, Karen Bexley, co-founder of Bexley Beaumont, Andrew Waddell, founder of Winslows Tax and Bilal Farooq, founder of Greystone Solicitors.

October 2024 issue:

https://globelawonline.com/issue/64/issue-3

Link to an image of the first page of our article:

https://globelawonline.com/article/764/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-consultant-lawyer

September 2024

Book review in the Law Society’s Gazette published 13 September 2024:

Talent attraction, retention and engagement in the legal profession is a topic I know well having researched and written about it for over 20 years.

My articles on this topic for Managing Partner, Managing for Success, AWS Link magazine and the Future of Work Hub include:

• Are sharp legal minds killing hearts?
• Stuck in the middle
• Feeling decisions
• Talent quicksand
• Diversity for innovation
• Portfolio careers
• Rise of the employee value proposition
• The Shifting sands of talent management
• Talent management for lawyers: A hand’s on guide
• Fulfilment is the future of work.
• The productivity problem – how personal values are the key to reboot the psychological contract

Therefore, it was nice to be asked to do a book review for this multi-contributor book: ‘Talent in the Legal Profession: How to Attract, Retain and Engage Top Talent’ published by Globe Law and Business. Read the book review entitled ‘Seeding success’:

 https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/reviews/seeding-success/5120856.article

August 2024

New book Globe Law and Business – ‘Women lawyers and business development’, second edition, published August 2024. Women lawyers is an EnergiseLegal specialism, both career management and marketing/BD. I have written many chapters for Ark, Globe Law and Business, and articles for AWS’s Link magazine and other publications. Helping women and specifically women solicitors to market themselves is the event topic that I have delivered more times than any other for multiple networks.

As an expert on women lawyers, and having written a chapter in the first edition, it was lovely to be asked to write a chapter for the second edition of the book. Instead, I chose to write the foreword for the whole of the second edition and recommended different people in my network to contribute chapters.

Description of the book:

https://www.globelawandbusiness.com/books/business-development-for-women-lawyers-second-edition

Table of contents: https://www.globelawandbusiness.com/storage/files/books/1704-66c61de7bbb74.pdf

Here’s an extract from my Foreword:
“Many a time, I have asked the D+I manager at a law firm if they think women and men are different. The answer that they express is, ‘They are the same.’ I do not agree. How can men and women be the same? I believe we need to stop tip-toing around D&I political correctness, because it is not helping women lawyers to be themselves and do business development their way and excel. This multi-author book contains a wealth of different perspectives and insights. The topics explored include AI, networking, empowerment, mentoring and coaching, neurodiversity, overcoming blocks, rainmakers, social media, and technology.”

June 2024

Book review – I am looking forward to writing a book review for The Law Society’s Gazette about a new multi-contributor book about talent attraction and retention published by Globe Law and Business in 2024. Having written many books, chapters and articles on the topic of talent attraction, talent retention and talent management as a whole, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, has changed! For example, I don’t think that many law firms are embracing portfolio careerists as part of their talent management strategy, and yet this is a growing trend.

Career agility. How to future proof your career in uncertain times 

7-8pm GMT Tuesday 17 January 2023 (Zoom)

An interactive 1 hour careers webinar from Rachel Brushfield, founder of EnergiseLegal sharing insights, practical tips and examples to future proof your career and become more ‘career agile’.

We live in a ‘V.U.C.A. world’ – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. This is challenging, especially for lawyers who are trained to be experts in risk! Attend this webinar and ensure that you are on the ‘front foot’ not the ‘back foot’ and stay in the driving seat of your career.

This is a joint event for SEAL (Society English and American Lawyers), AWLL (American Women Lawyers in London), Westminster and Holborn Law Society and LegalWomen.

Book using this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetI9XfQmd3PNjb-4fhBAHMEKMIhqD4GPl_B0IezY3z2xk2tw/viewform

Joint AWLL + SEAL event with EnergiseLegal

American Women Lawyers in London (AWLL) and the Society of American and English Lawyers (SEAL).

Th 8 September 2022

Where:       Zoom.

When:        7-9pm GMT Thursday 8 September 2022.

What:         “Blowing your own trumpet. 5 secrets to get you noticed in your career.”

Marketing yourself is a must-master skill. Whether you work in private practice or in-house, are American or English, male or female, 2 or 20 PQE, the failure to embrace and make time for this important topic can be career limiting.

An interactive careers event sharing insights, practical tips and examples to market yourself confidently, competently, impactfully and expediently to enable a career breakthrough. Opportunity to win one free draw prize of a gift voucher for a 1 hour career coaching session with Rachel Brushfield. All guests will receive a free copy of the EnergiseLegal white paper about career agility: ‘The new polymaths’.

Peter Wilford, EnergiseLegal associate and EnergiseLegal founder Rachel Brushfield are both speaking at this event = 70+ years of career coaching expertise combined.

FOXED? PODCAST: ‘THE CHALLENGES OF MAKING A NEW START’ WITH IVOR ADAIR, PARTNER, FOX & PARTNERS

Career crossroads?

I was recently invited to do a podcast on the challenges of making a new start with Ivor Adair, Partner at Fox & Partners. The Foxed? podcast shares insights and tips to help you if you are at a major career crossroads.

Read Ivor’s blog about the podcast below. The link to the podcast (20 minutes long) is towards the end of the blog. https://www.foxlawyers.com/the-challenges-of-making-a-new-start/

All podcasts in the Foxed? series including “The challenges of making a new start” are located at this link: https://www.foxlawyers.com/podcasts/

CHAPTER IN NEW MULTI-CONTRIBUTOR BOOK FOR GLOBE LAW AND BUSINESS  

I’ve been invited to write a chapter for a new book about changing roles and careers in law firms for Globe Law and Business. https://www.globelawandbusiness.com/

My chapter explores talent management and diversity and inclusion. Other chapters look at areas such as innovation, knowledge, business development etc.

The copy deadline is end February 2022, publication date TBC.

Love research, writing and changing trends and a good opportunity to interview experts in law firms, recruitment agencies etc.!

Previous chapters for Globe have been on work life balance and gender balance.

‘SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?’ OUR LATEST GUEST BLOG FOR LAWCARE

In our latest guest blog for LawCare, ‘Should I stay or should I go?’, we explore the pros and cons of making a career change, share 12 practical tips and self-reflective questions to help you make the right decision for you. https://www.lawcare.org.uk/news/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go

CHAPTER IN MULTI-CONTRIBUTOR BOOK PUBLISHED BY SALLY PENNI, FOUNDER OF WOMEN IN THE LAW

The chapter in this multi-contributor book by Rachel Brushfield is: “Portfolio careers – the agile career choice.”

The book is called “Talking Law And Skills. Skills for Lawyers of The Future.”

In this fourth book of the Talking Law series, Sally Penni MBE discusses the skills required for future lawyers in the 21st century beyond the Covid 19 pandemic.

As we build back better after the covid19 pandemic, what skills will the lawyers of the future need to succeed in Law and Business? What skills will their careers need to succeed?

With contributions on skills such as communication, negotiations, leadership and more from experts in their field in addition to Sally Penni MBE

Order from Sally Penni’s personal web site: https://sallypenniauthor.co.uk/books/talking-law-skills/

GUEST BLOG FOR LEGAL WOMEN

Is career agility the new intelligence?

This is the topic of our guest blog for Legal Women.

Read our guest blog: http://www.legalwomen.org.uk/RachelBrushfield.html

Have you read the Energise white paper about career agility ‘The New Polymaths’ yet?

Request your copy now:

NEW – MARKETING SEMINAR

Are you allergic to marketing yourself?

Energise Marketing Yourself Seminar: “Marketing me. Successful proactive marketing.”

6-8pm Wednesday 20 October 2021 on Zoom.

Early bird tickets end Saturday 16 October. For full details and to book, see EventBrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-me-successful-proactive-marketing-tickets-189693778197

It is clear from the various webinars that we have done recently, that there is a need for marketing support.

So, we have created this seminar:  6-8pm Tuesday 15 June 2021.

Energise Seminar: “Why me? What value do you bring?” This seminar will be on Zoom.

Book now via EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-154062857153

There will also be a seminar 6-8pm Tuesday 13 July: ‘Marketing me: Proactive marketing.’ Save the date!