A client's guide to getting it right

There's a lot of pontificating about how lawyers should get those all-important client relationships right (or at least a little less wrong than they often manage). Personally, I suspect the main ingredients are mutual respect, good communication and an understanding that a relationship is a two-way thing. But the purpose of this blog is not for me to come up with an answer. Instead, I'd like to flag up the answer of someone more qualified at a recent industry debate I attended on the future of the profession. These things are usually pretty turgid, but I thought it turned out pretty well in this case. And the standout comment came when a senior lawyer with a major UK bank was asked how external advisers get the relationship right. I thought his response was one of the best answers to that familiar question I've heard. So here it is:

"It's incredibly difficult to define. The analogy I would draw is in The Guardian on Saturday - there is an interview with an individual and the same question is always asked: What does love look like? And there are obviously a huge range of answers. I'm not saying that this is love, but it's the same sort of relationship - it is very difficult to calibrate. You know the relationship is right when it happens. I can go through our panel and I can probably pick my top three people that I know, (individuals within the firm rather than firms themselves), who will be advising us, will be advising me in the years to come, because they get it right. To put it at its bluntest, it is about making me look good - never, ever causing any issues in terms of billing, offering to provide a secondee when they know I really need one rather than with me hawking around and getting on bended knee. It's those sort of things and just having an insight into where the department and wider group is."

If you want to read more, click here. Meanwhile, while we're on the subject of clients, Legal Week last month tried to do its bit to help in-house lawyers network with the launch of a dedicated group for employed lawyers on LinkedIn. Since then the group has attracted more than 500 members (out of 1,100 who requested membership). Obviously it's early days for us, but it's a venture we hope to build on considerably over the coming weeks. Any feedback on how the network should develop will be greatly received  - contact me by emailing alex.novarese@legalweek.com.