35 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS – DECEMBER 2023 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM ROUNDTABLE rounded by amazing and like-minded colleagues. Finally, leveraging relationships and collaboration. I truly believe in the power of collaboration, and my law firm is designed around collaboration with other law firms who instruct and/or work alongside us. I know and recognise my strengths in courtroom advocacy and trust and value my instructing counsel and partners in other firms who work alongside me for their wide array of talents, including subject-matter expertise in certain technical areas of law, foreign law counsel who work with me on arbitration matters and some of my instructing counsel who have forged deep relationships with their clients and who want to work together to achieve the best possible result for their clients. The power of collaboration also allows us to structure our team leanly and therefore afford high quality, conflict-free representation at reasonable prices and accessible to a broader group of clients. Luo: A law firm leader needs to learn new technology as early as possible, so that you could decide if it is useful for your practice. Even if you do not intend to use a new technology or software, you need to know the impact of this technology on your practice. Adaptability is essential, considering that technological disruptions will change the way we practice. Younger lawyers prefer remote working arrangements, and with more video court hearings, law firm leaders will need to move away from the traditional in-person office culture. Some senior lawyers prefer that their associates work in office so that they could monitor them more effectively. It may be true that you would be able to monitor someone more easily if he or she were right in front of you. But, if you could change the way you supervise a junior lawyer, it could be more effective. In an office setting, you would have walked over to ask how the draft is and look at the state of the draft on the Associate’s screen. You could do the same in the virtual office, but in a different way. You could easily ask, how is the draft? Send me the live link to the document on the shared drive. In this document, you can assess the progress of a draft as well. A consultative leadership style is more effective and suitable for the new generation of lawyers. The old school training approach that we call “tough love” is bullying. Younger lawyers are not concerned if their CVs show short stints and will not hesitate to quit without having a new job. Effective communication with your team is essential before you buy the next technology. If your team members are not on board and are not keen to use the new technology, buying something that would not be used would be pointless. Finally, a positive attitude to embrace changes will help you lead your team.
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