Working in the Legal Sector Without Being a Lawyer - a podcast by Frances Ridout, Kerry Jarred, Simon Reichwald, Nigel Spencer

The legal sector is vast and has so many career options.  The legal system and private practice involves a lot of talented, professional individuals who do not work as lawyers earning fees from clients. This episode shines a light of the various roles in human resources, information technology, business development, marketing, and learning and development.

The Re-Imagine Law team meet Abena Poku, Head of Marketing and Business Development for Africa at Hogan Lovells and Deborah McCormack, Head of Early Talent at Pinsent Masons. They explain their roles, the departments they work in and how they support the business of law firms. 

In this episode we hear about Abena’s journey into the legal world, what attracted her to marketing, her journey with big corporates and smaller firms and how she ended up in the legal sector; as well as what is involved in her role. For Debs, she will share why she chose to stop working as a corporate lawyer, and how so many of the skills she learned stood her in good stead for a role not directing practicing law; how she followed her values to then work in early talent with the support of a colleague she had always admired.  Our guests highlight the transferable skills generated through legal studies and career, and how these can lead to a world of rarely considered and too often overlooked, opportunities. 

And as with so many of our episodes key themes shine through whoever we talk to, and from this one…if you really want to find a career and role where you will be happy and grow you need to match your values to the right culture & environment of the company you work with.  

We always encourage listeners to undertake practical actions after listening to the episode. 

1. Visit 3 large law firm websites and look at the different careers which are advertised (other than as a lawyer).

• https://www.hoganlovells.com/en/global-careers/careers-in-birmingham/career-categories/business-services-professionals-pa-support


• 
  https://www.pinsentmasons.com/about-us#3 

2.  Reflect on the pandemic period.  What have you learnt about yourself and what you enjoy during this time? For example interacting with people and so does this rule out some roles? How have you adapted to the changes that Covid19 has brought to us? Does this impact your career choice?

Useful resources:

• What is business development? https://www.indeed.co.uk/career-advice/career-development/business-development-skills 


• Learning and Development in Law Firms – a benchmark: https://www.thelawyer.com/reports/learning-development-benchmarking-2020/ 


• Explore the world of marketing at Marketing Week: https://www.marketingweek.com/ 

Further episodes of Reimagine Law

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Website of Frances Ridout, Kerry Jarred, Simon Reichwald, Nigel Spencer