Case Study 3: Law Department Major US Firm The Senior VP Law of a major global company wants to cultivate a clear, compelling, client-focused communications culture Learning Solution "Law Skills School"
Comment from a participant: It
is the best program/training I have ever attended during 5 years with
this company. I would like to thank very much all people involved in
its development and implementation.
Need A Fortune 500 company with premier global brands and global
reach has an extensive Law Department to advise corporate decision
makers, support Sales and Marketing initiatives and protect intellectual property. The Law
Department has Senior Counsel and Counsel working in 160 countries who
need to quickly and effectively assimilate, analyse and advise on how
the complex and changing mix of local, national and regional
regulations impact the various business units. The Senior VP Law wanted
to develop the capability of his worldwide legal team to consistently communicate
with clients in a simple, clear, concise and powerful way.
Solution A
four day “Skills School” was implemented at the end of 2004, since then
running once or twice a year at a venue close to the company’s
international headquarters in Switzerland. 14 participants –
Senior Counsel or Counsel - come from across the globe. The program
is defined by short inputs, focused discussion and extensive skills
application and feedback. Modules include: writing with impact,
speaking with impact, effective client counselling. Guest speakers,
case studies and video feedback are integral to the program.
Results From the Senior VP Law to the Law Department: As
most of you know, we now have the results of our 2006 Client Survey.
The clients gave us strong ratings across almost all dimensions. And
we achieved very significant increases from the ratings we received
from the clients in 2004. In particular, the AGCs and I were very
pleased to see improved scores on several key skills that we worked on
together with all of you in the Skills Schools. For example, the
following percentage of respondents scored us as meeting or exceeding
their expectations in the following areas: 93%: Communicates well and clearly 91%: Produces quality work 89%: Understands my needs 88%: Provides useful documents 87%: Advice during business and staff meetings 86%: Quick legal advice
The program continues to run very successfully in 2010.