US firm Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo has taken the unusual step of introducing a formal etiquette training programme for its associates, in a bid to ramp up the social skills of its junior lawyers.
The one-day course, which was piloted in the firm’s Boston office last year and is set to be rolled out across all its domestic offices, will put associates through their paces on a range of issues they might encounter when wining and dining clients.
A statement from the firm said the new course would address awkward social questions including ‘Where do you place your napkin when excusing yourself from the table mid-meal?’, ‘What if my glass is soiled?’ and ‘Is it OK to apply lipstick at the table?’.
Commenting on the initiative, healthcare partner Deb Daccord, who co-chairs the firm’s hiring committee, said: “It is cliché but true: you never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
She added: “A young lawyer may have an excellent academic pedigree and know the law down to the letter, but all of that may go unnoticed if he or she lacks confidence in personal and professional interactions or appears awkward in social settings.”
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Talkback: Would you be offended if your firm sent you on an etiquette course? Or do most lawyers need help with their social skills? Click here to have your say.
Based on the type of smooth-talking idiots that make management these days, I would be highly offended if they decreed my manners needed addressing. And why would anyone listen to what the fork-stabbing, gum-chewing yanks have to say about etiquette anyway? If your mother didn't teach you not to talk with your mouth full then I doubt one day with some manners "guru" is going to sort you out.
I completely disagree. This sounds like a great idea and only people with a chip on their shoulder would have any objection to being given these kind of etiquette lessons. Some people genuinely feel out of their depth at client dinners but for those of us who already know which fork to use and how to behave at the table it would just be a bit of light-hearted entertainment.
I am heading for a law carreer in the City, and being a foreigner, could do with some more sophisticated manners, to be perfectly honest. Can anyone tell me where i can get a quick tour around British etiquette? You know, for beginners (training contract applicants)?
Is there a rule about kissing female colleagues and clients on the cheeks - especially when you meet at corporate events such as dinners etc? I'm a bloke and I find it quite awkward sometimes, especially with women I have got to know quite well. Any suggestions?
Manners are irrelevant to the quality of work a firm or associate brings to an engagement and the innovation of its legal solutions. This class is a waste of money and time, the latter being better spent on relevant, work-related training. Using the wrong fork is not going to lose a firm a real, normal client.
It sounds like an excellent idea. If people are not confident in social situations they will worry so much about how to eat, what to say etc that they will be unable to focus on the object of the event, which is normally to network with clients. In the City, intelligence and legal skills to a certain level are pretty much a given; often what makes a difference between remaining an assistant or making partner is one's smoothness and ability to deal with awkward situations, so the course is a good plan because it will enable bright people who may not have learnt many social skills when they were growing up an opportunity to avoid having their brightness overshadowed by their social ineptitude (or yes, inability to behave properly - people who say it does not count probably do not realise how much business they have lost through uncouthness).
These lawyers need to be told that it's not ok to put lipstick on at the table?! What next? Don't play with your food?
Well done Emily. Us public school types really need to roll our sleeves up and demonstrate to those who have managed to fight their way from the slums of the less desirable postcodes (where they still use the same knife to spread butter and eat one's main course) how they should behave in order to cross the threshold from associate to partner. Bravo.
I agree that this is an excellent idea. I think that most people in the modern age are a little unsure of what is or is not good etiquette. I would like to see this rolled out at my future firm!
Forget your skills provided you know it's NOT OK to pick your nose in front of clients - classic. Sounds like IBM c.1950
In response to one post, don't confuse etiquette with manners. They are not one and the same thing and good manners should always be expected.
There is a place for cultural etiquette courses - I went to Japan recently and found such a seminar very helpful, not only in trying to make a good impression but also in not inadvertently giving offence.
But some of the topics on this course do seem rather basic. I select and interact with external counsel regularly and, quite frankly, so long as they are bright, give clear and constructive advice and are pleasant to work with, I couldn't care less about their "appropriate napkin placement" techniques.
I think this is a great idea. My only thought is why is it limited to junior associates? I have seen some partners who are in good need of table manners...
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