How can legal specific training help your firm grow?
Author – Sarah Mian, Leadership Learning & Development Partner at the Access Group
Compliance legal training can sometimes feel like a necessary but time-consuming task, on top of already-heavy workloads. According to our own research, almost three-quarters of legal professionals say they struggle to find time for essential training. On top of this, young lawyers and fee earners starting to come through have a wide range of skills and different ways of learning compared to many older legal professionals. This means a law firm may need to adopt multiple methods to their legal training to ensure they're engaging their staff. Our survey found that 75% of respondents list engaging content as their top requirement which further evidences the importance of understanding learning habits of individuals.
This is clearly worrying from a commercial perspective. Not only is a breach costly in terms of fines and reputational damage, inadequate legal training is sometimes the reason why fee earners are not as productive as they could be. Junior lawyers, in particular, may be putting in excessive hours because they’re ill-equipped to move cases forward quickly – which impacts both the client experience and their own work-life balance. Furthermore, the legal sector has a strong focus on competency which is a fundamental requirement for lawyers and solicitors in the provision of legal services.
One survey found that by increasing staff productivity by just 1 per cent can lead to a £30,800 increase in turnover and profitability1. That 1 per cent is the equivalent of six minutes per fee earner, per day and can be achieved with targeted training. It could include laywer AML training so due diligence takes less time or a session on how to use your legal tech software more efficiently and take advantage of the latest features to reduce admin. All this seems imminently possible. At Access Legal, we have a Customer Success Team and legal e-Learning courses specifically designed to support our clients make the most out of their software. Resources such as these can provide great value and improve the adoption of legal technology across the firm.
Digital learning is generally more efficient than face-to-face training but is it as effective? Our research suggests 96 per cent of firms want law-specific training yet online compliance courses, whether they be on AML, GDPR or soft skills training tend to be generic. They’re less relevant and engaging, so often feel like a tick-box exercise. A training provider who works solely in the legal sector understands the unique challenges facing legal professionals and can deliver the right content, in the right place at the right time. If you create a lawyer training programme firmly within a legal context, where learners can centre themselves in the experience and leave with deeply practical knowledge, then the time they spend completing the activities will be worth it for the benefit of being able to do the job better and faster which in turn will increase staff productivity.
Content should reflect the requirements of a role and include interactive elements to engage learners, rather than simply being a run-down of the latest legal regulations, and include holistic training such as managing mental health in legal firms or risk management for law firms. Investing in legal training delivers value beyond fewer complaints and solicitor negligence claims, though these are important. It reduces time-to competency and enables your staff to achieve more, without adding to their workloads. These additional efficiencies through appropriate legal training will improve the overall law firm profitability.
Download our report, The Lowdown on Learning for law firms.
1 Source: https://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/fbs/the-law-management-section-financial-benchmarking-survey-2020-report/6000926.article
