In brief:
- Our Academy is designed to prepare lawyers for the complex, high‑stakes and often uncertain situations our clients face, focusing on judgment, clarity and commercially relevant advice.
- Through practical training, external perspectives and shared client conversations, it ensures advice reflects not only legal considerations, but the wider business, personal and global context.
- Continuous learning, coaching and wellbeing support enable our lawyers to deliver consistent, thoughtful and forward‑looking advice, even across long-term and sensitive matters.
- Our clients bring problems that do not follow a fixed path. They involve risk, uncertainty, and competing priorities and require advice that is clear, considered, and grounded in the wider picture. Our Academy is designed with this in mind. It shapes how our lawyers think, not just what they know. It builds technical strength, judgment, and the ability to act when there is no clear answer.
This is developed through practical, real-world training. Lawyers work through real scenarios, not theory. Sessions include complex drafting and negotiation challenges, where they learn how to manage risk, avoid common pitfalls, and deal with competing interests in live situations.
They also build commercial awareness through topics that reflect the environments our clients operate in. That includes sessions where legal decisions intersect with broader business and governance issues, helping to ensure advice is not only technically strong, but aligned with the wider context in which clients are operating.
They also develop how they communicate. In sessions on client-focused writing and personal impact, lawyers practice giving advice that is clear, concise, and commercially relevant, so clients can act on it quickly and with confidence.
Alongside this, our New Thinking series brings external perspectives directly into the firm and into shared client conversations, helping to ensure our advice reflects not only legal considerations, but the wider context in which clients are making decisions. Speakers have included Nicola Sturgeon on leadership and political decision-making, Julia Gillard on leading in complex environments, John Amaechi OBE on leadership, culture and performance under pressure, and Simon Court on growth and decision-making in business.
We also bring in voices such as Eliza Filby, whose work on generational change shapes how businesses and families think about wealth and succession, a key consideration for many of our clients, and Prof Keon West, who uses data to examine behaviour and bias in society and decision-making, offering insights that inform how complex and often sensitive situations are approached.
These conversations are open to clients, bringing together legal, commercial and wider perspectives so both clients and lawyers can engage with the same issues at the same time.
This wider exposure feeds directly into how our lawyers approach client work, enabling them to think ahead, spot issues earlier, and provide clients with clearer options and a more informed view of risk and consequence.
We also invest in how people perform over time. That includes structured wellbeing support. Sessions cover areas such as managing anxiety, improving sleep and sustaining performance, and supporting colleagues and clients with complex personal circumstances such as caring responsibilities or health conditions. For clients, this means working with lawyers who consistently bring energy, clarity and sound judgment to complex situations, even where matters evolve over extended periods or involve sensitive personal circumstances.
Topics are practical, focusing on how to recognise pressure before it affects judgment, and how to stay clear-headed when dealing with sensitive or high-risk client situations. This is supported through coaching and mentoring.
Mentoring and progression panels give insight into how experienced lawyers navigate complex career and client challenges, including how to manage relationships, risk and commercial pressure over time, helping to reinforce consistent and considered decision-making in client work.
Clients work with lawyers who are well prepared, aware of the broader context, and able to make considered decisions in complex situations. That comes from continuous learning, regular exposure to different perspectives, and practice in applying that thinking to real problems, ensuring advice remains practical, well‑judged and aligned with the realities our clients face.
Conclusion
The Academy plays a central role in how we prepare our lawyers to support clients in complex and evolving environments. By focusing on practical application, broader perspective and sustained performance, it ensures our advice is not only technically strong, but considered, relevant and aligned with the realities our clients face. Clients benefit from working with lawyers who are equipped to anticipate challenges, navigate uncertainty and provide clear, confident guidance when it matters most.
Find out more about the Academy and explore upcoming sessions and events.