Lawyers face a conundrum. Clients increasingly need them to tackle problems so complex that only teams of multidisciplinary experts could adequately address them. Yet, many law firms have carved up their partners and associates into narrowly defined practice areas, and collaborating across these silos is often messy, risky, and costly. Dr. Heidi Gardner, Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School, will share findings from her best-selling book and ongoing research about the benefits of smart collaboration and the obstacles that make collaboration so difficult. She will also offer powerful prescriptions for how junior lawyers can use smart collaboration to jump-start and accelerate their careers.
This session will help up-and-coming lawyers develop an understanding of:
- When collaboration is truly smart—or not
- How collaboration differs from networking, and how to optimize it as a junior lawyer
- How collaboration helps associates enhance their business development prospects, which is essential for career advancement
- How to manage “star” partners who built their own reputations on individual success, and are now blockers of collaboration