Gardner, Heidi K
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(Article) Smart collaboration: increasing the odds of productive lateral hiring
01.01.2018
One of the biggest challenges in today's law firms is recruiting laterals into the firm and then finding ways to integrate them, retain them and help make them sustainably productive. Many of today's law firm leaders agree that the war for talent is at least as brutal as the battle for clients. Yet, once hired, firms mismanage and ultimately undervalue their newly acquired partners because they do not have an actionable, data-driven strategy to help them flourish. In this article, I draw on years of empirical and qualitative research to show how cross-practice, smart collaboration is one of the essential elements for increasing the odds that a lateral hire will be successful and productive in their new firm. -
(Article) Smart collaboration for lateral hiring success
01.01.2019
One of the biggest challenges for today's law firms is recruiting partners, experienced associates and senior business professionals into the firm - and then finding ways to integrate them, retain them and help make them sustainably productive. Firm leaders agree that the war for great talent is at least as brutal as the battle for clients. Yet many law firms mismanage and ultimately undervalue newly acquired talent because they do not have an actionable, data-driven strategy to help them flourish. -
(Article) Leading law firms in the digital age
01.10.2019
Law firm leaders must figure out how to guide their organisation through the inevitable process of digital transformation. Leveraging outsiders' experiences, modernising systems and piloting new approaches, and instilling a learning culture are all essential - but not easy - steps for digital leaders. -
(Article) Smart collaboration with external stakeholders
01.07.2020
Collaboration is increasingly important to in-house legal teams which are familiar with the range of complex issues manifesting in business. But it's important to select the right experts, at the right time. Often, this means venturing outside the corporation to collaborate with external counsel, regulators or in-house legal peers in different companies. Gardner's article discusses how the traditional selection criteria used by many legal teams may be flawed. What will be more reliable than considering knowledge and longevity with the company will be starting by evaluating both the level of innovation needed and the apparent project stakes.