What future legal leadership might look like

Steven Moe

Billed as “leadership principles for legal professionals”, a new book The Heart of Practice has been released by New Zealand author Simon Tupman, a consultant to lawyers and law firms.

The book, packed with insights from Tupman’s work and interviews with lawyers from around the globe, has been endorsed by thought leaders such as Richard Susskind, the English author of Tomorrow’s Lawyers, who described it as “a highly readable and much-needed primer on legal leadership”.

A key theme is how the law can be used as a catalyst for positive impact. Back at law school, some part of us probably wanted careers like that but along the way, the business of law can take over. So this book might cause us to rethink the reasons many of us got into this profession in the first place.

It is divided into two parts. The first half focuses on leadership in principle and discusses what a new era in the law might involve, including Tupman’s thoughts about leadership

Junior Barrister position

I am looking to employ a junior barrister with 1 to 2 years’ PQE, starting in late March or April 2023.

I have a specialist practice at Britomart Chambers, Quay Street, Auckland with a focus on employment law, professional misconduct and human rights. My practice spans advocacy in the Courts and before various Commissions and Tribunals, mediation and acting as independent counsel in public and private sector reviews and investigations.

The role will include assisting in client liaison, interviews, reports, submissions, and opportunities for advocacy and research. The ideal candidate will have excellent legal writing skills and be a good communicator. I look forward to hearing from you.

Please send your CV, cover letter, academic transcript, and any supporting documentation to josh@mariadew.co.nz as it applies to yourself, your people, your business and your community. The second part covers 10 interviews with lawyers from Canada, Australia, England and New Zealand. Four of those interviews are with Kiwi lawyers so there is real local context here (disclaimer: I am one of them!).

Applications close on Monday 6 March 2023.

In my view, Tupman has done a great job of distilling some important concepts for busy lawyers. There will be challenges to the status quo but the book provides a roadmap for what the future might be.

If you want to continue to think deeply about your career, your role as a lawyer and what a future firm might look like, it’s a good read. It would also benefit law students. As the foreword by Simon J Slater says, “This is the stuff they do not teach at law school.”

I agree and hope the concepts and principles set out in this book begin to inform a new generation of lawyers about what they can do with their careers.

The Heart of Practice is out now and can be ordered here Steven Moe is a partner at Parry Field Lawyers ■