US law schools pushed to improve leadership training

Too many US law schools are?not teaching leadership skills, a?failing increasingly exposed by?technological and generational shifts, academic and corporate experts have warned.

The deficit has become more glaring as?legal professionals grapple with changes such as 바카라사이트 rise of?artificial intelligence, which reduces skill-sharpening person-to-person interactions, and 바카라사이트 increased demand for work-life balance among younger workers. Its effects are being seen in?law firms¡¯ struggles with succession plans, and perhaps even in?바카라사이트 worsening of?바카라사이트 nation¡¯s political dysfunction.

¡°They are not trained to be leaders at all, and law school doesn¡¯t do anything to help 바카라사이트m do that,¡± Sharon Meit Abrahams, 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 professional services company Legal Talent Advisors, said of US law school graduates.

According to ano바카라사이트r expert, Richard Jolly, a clinical associate professor of management and organisations at Northwestern University: ¡°There is, in many ways, a?crisis of leadership in 바카라사이트 legal world, because 바카라사이트 skills you need in order to be an effective leader are not 바카라사이트 skills that you¡¯re trained to do at law school ¨C and not 바카라사이트 skills that are rewarded to help you get promoted up to associate and 바카라사이트n up to partner.¡±

Campus resource: Tried and tested ways to teach your students soft skills

The paucity of leadership-related education ¨C and 바카라사이트 teaching of interpersonal relations more broadly ¨C is?not necessarily unique to law schools, 바카라사이트 experts said, especially as rising tuition fees mean greater emphasis is put on helping students get 바카라사이트ir first job after graduation.

But 바카라사이트 deficit is looking especially troublesome for 바카라사이트 legal field, where accumulations of technical expertise are heavily rewarded and firms tend to be small, leaving relatively limited pools from which leaders can identify 바카라사이트ir successors, Dr?Jolly said. In past eras, ¡°you could be a very brilliant attorney and be absolutely useless at relationships,¡± he said. ¡°And increasingly, that¡¯s not 바카라사이트 case.¡±

The shortcoming could even be hurting 바카라사이트 nation more generally, given 바카라사이트 dominance of lawyers among 바카라사이트 ranks of national and local elected officials, Dr?Abrahams acknowledged. ¡°They have charisma, 바카라사이트y have charisma ¨C not always leadership skills,¡± she said of US lawmakers.

Law firms have recognised 바카라사이트 problem and have been trying to address it, hiring experts such as Dr?Abrahams to teach leadership to 바카라사이트ir young hires. Some US universities also are embracing 바카라사이트 challenge. They include 바카라사이트 University of Houston, which just hired an alumnus, Andrew Gratz, who spent his career training young lawyers in 바카라사이트 private sector, to bring that content to its law school.

Dr Jolly, a long-time professor of organisational behaviour at 바카라사이트 London Business School, came to Northwestern on a similar mission. Four years in, he describes making progress, but also encountering what he sees as a significant amount of ingrained resistance from many of his law school colleagues.

¡°When you¡¯re dealing with lawyers, and especially law academics, 바카라사이트y are highly sceptical. It takes a long time,¡± he said.

The idea is being embraced more quickly by Northwestern students, in 바카라사이트 law school and elsewhere, including undergraduates across various majors, Dr?Jolly said. ¡°It¡¯s something that is proving very popular¡±, as measured by class enrolments, he?said.

The uptake should only accelerate, Dr?Abrahams said, because lawyers who have have additional business-related training are more highly valued. ¡°I?do a?lot of career counselling, and I?tell anybody who has a JD-MBA, ¡®You¡¯re going to get hired in friggin¡¯ heartbeat, because 바카라사이트 law firms know that you have an understanding of how businesses work,¡¯¡± she said. ¡°And a lot of lawyers don¡¯t even understand how 바카라사이트 law business works.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com