By Lindsay Griffiths on “Authenticity” has become a dirty word in the last few years. It’s right up there with some of the other most hated buzzwords and phrases – “at the end of the day,” “thinking outside of the box,” “synergy,” “value add,” “circle back,” “bandwidth.” Are you cringing yet? But even though the word “authenticity” might make … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Following on our last post about Steve Harmon’s trends to watch in legal, I wanted to share some of his other key takeaways from his session at the CLOC Institute in London. Each of these takeaways, while directed at the legal operations audience, is relevant throughout the legal industry and are key driving factors for … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’re a few weeks out now from the CLOC (Corporate Legal Operations Consortium) Institute in London, and I’m finally jumping into some recaps. There was some truly excellent content during the conference, and not just for legal operations folks, but with transferable lessons for everyone in the legal industry. Over the next few weeks, I’ll … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on It’s the post I know you’ve all been waiting for – as ads have gotten milder the last few years, each season, I wonder whether there will be any commercials worthy of the “ugly” moniker. This year, we had three! Before we dive into the ugly commercials, there is one interesting choice I want to … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Most of the commercials that I saw during the Super Bowl fell into what I’d call the “meh” category. They weren’t terrible, but they didn’t blow my socks off either. But there are a few that I’ve got squarely in the “bad” and “ugly” categories for you, and based on some of the YouTube comments, … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Most of us can agree that the Super Bowl this year was a bit of a dud. In a similar theme, most of the ads were a bit uninspiring too, though there were some notable exceptions to that. Considering how much money is being invested in these ads, I’m wishing for much more creative, exciting, … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Happy International Networking Week! We’ve talked a lot about networking here at Zen, and covered a lot of the traditional ideas: Use social media to prime your contacts before an event. Don’t skip anything. Don’t hang around with only the people you know. Use the event organizers to help introduce you to people. And more.… Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on I’m bringing you a treat today, Zen readers! A post from the ILN’s own Jenn Smuts – and it’s a good one. Prepare to get uncomfortable and start asking yourself the hard questions. *** Last week Lindsay asked the Zen audience about whether they were still feeling inspired with the arrival of the new year, … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on A few years ago, I wrote a post centered around the idea of needing a strong audience in order to make the content that you’re writing valuable. While content development is a piece of the overall puzzle, this idea is easily expanded, especially in today’s market. Something that I’ve heard a LOT from lawyers is … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’re almost through a full month in 2019 – are you still feeling fresh and inspired about the new year? Or are you feeling bogged down by your routine and flagging resolve already? If you’ve thrown your resolutions out the window, never fear – I’m not a big believer in them anyway. What I DO … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’ve saved the best for last – or potentially, I’ve just been avoiding this topic because time management is an area where I need to be taking my own advice. If you ask a lawyer what one of their biggest issues is, you’ll find that time management is top of the list. Especially when it … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Regular Zen readers will know that I’m a runner. When you first start running, you tell yourself that it’s the cheapest sport – all you need is a pair of sneakers, and you can head outside and do it. While this is (essentially) true, we runners love our gadgets and our products, and sharing our … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Has everyone got their “fa la la” on yet? While the holidays are often a mad rush for all of us, it seems that this year especially, everyone is behind with wrapping up their end of the year duties (and wrapping up their gifts), while we try to figure out shortcuts for how to manage … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’re so excited to officially welcome our newest member firm, Fenno Attorneys at Law, in Finland! A regional Finnish law firm, Fenno provides legal services for both corporate and private clients. For corporate clients, Fenno is called upon to assist with corporate law, mergers & acquisitions, company reorganization and/or insolvency, tax law, labor law, dispute … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on The International Lawyers Network’s Real Estate Specialty Group announces the third release of its publication, “Buying & Selling Real Estate: An International Guide.” This collaborative electronic guide offers a summary of key real estate law principles in 21 jurisdictions across the globe, serving as a quick, practical reference for those buying & selling real estate … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’ve discussed the idea of change extensively here on Zen, and although it’s a long time coming in the legal industry, there are pockets of exciting innovation. One such pocket is the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, or CLOC, which has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years (as in 40 members to 1800 members … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Successful communication comes in many forms, and we may be already convinced either by virtue of our training or personality that we’re naturally good communicators. Whether you’re confident in your communications skills, or looking for a refresher, there are four tasks you can undertake today to improve your business communication skills. Audit Your Communication How … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on A question I get ALL the time is whether using social media actually has any impact at all on referrals and business development. Actually, the way it typically goes is this: Come on, really. Tell me. Does anyone get matters or referrals because they post to LinkedIn?” The short answer is yes, sometimes, it does … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on As you’re reading this post, I want you to think about whether you’d consider yourself to be a fairly good networker and business developer. What does “networking” mean to you? Do you think of it as a complete waste of time? If the answer to that last question is yes, keep reading, and I hope … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’re continuing our series on soft skills that lawyers require in order to achieve success. We’ve looked at some suggestions for improving networking and presentation skills, and the next item in our series is raising the level of our business writing. You may feel that this is something that you’re already pretty adept at, since … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on As one of the largest networks of experienced attorneys in the world, the International Lawyers Network is pleased to announce that Martinez Berlanga Abogados in Mexico City, Mexico have joined the association. An independent, regional law firm, Martinez Berlanga Abogados provides clients with general corporate, restructuring, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, joint-venture, cross border transactions, … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on The ILN is delighted to announce the release of the fifth (and updated) edition of their corporate guide, “Establishing a Business Entity: An International Guide.” This collaborative electronic guide offers a summary of key corporate law principles in 40 countries across the globe (an increase of nine chapters over our 2017 guide), serving as a … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’ve been talking about the soft skills that young lawyers need to hone in order to become successful, and how these translate for more experienced lawyers. Another skill I reviewed for the ABA student law blog was that of presentations (and I think we can agree this is something that many of us can work … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on In addition to understanding the area of the law that you’ll specialize in, there are a variety of “soft skills” that will be essential to navigating the practice of law successfully. Your professional skills may need to be further expanded over the coming years as the industry itself changes and stretches, but for now, there … Continue Reading
