Transactional lawyer in the corporate team at Penningtons
Context and background
Charlotte* trained at Penningtons before qualifying as a solicitor specialising in company and commercial law in 2007. Charlotte now advises on corporate transactional work such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and shareholder investments or company restructuring.
In August 2010, her husband (who was in the Armed Forces) was posted abroad to Gibraltar for two years. At four years' post qualified, Charlotte faced difficult choices. Keen to continue her professional and career development, she started talking to her firm and the partners with whom she worked. Equally keen to keep Charlotte at Penningtons, they looked for and discussed various solutions.
Providing this solution enabled Penningtons to retain Charlotte's experience, knowledge and client relationships. 'My situation was unusual, the key to the solution is that it works for both sides, the solution emerged from lots of constructive conversations with partners about how we could make this work. If I had been a more junior lawyer, working in this way may not have been appropriate but this enabled me and the firm to keep my organisational knowledge and networks as well as my client relationships.'
Practicalities and challenges of working flexibly and remotely
Working remotely posed few technical problems as the law firm was already operating across three offices. 'This helped because the technology was already in place for senior management and business development people, with laptops and remote access software already set up.'
'Now I work and can run transactions and delegate just as if I were in the office.' Most of her corporate transactional role is done remotely. Although unable to attend meetings, Charlotte stresses the importance of good communication. 'This arrangement is highly dependent on having good communication between with me and the rest of the corporate team to ensure good workflow and efficient delivery. We used to have weekly teleconferencing between offices, now these are done via video conferencing so that I can join in.'
Charlotte now has a zero hours contract which means that she works according to the workflow and for an hourly rate. 'I have worked until the early hours to meet transactional deadlines; the only difference is that it is at a distance.'
Charlotte reports a very positive work/life balance as she can flex her life to fit her work schedule, ensuing that she responds quickly to any requests. From a firms' perspective, this arrangement provides highly efficient use of Charlotte as a key resource at critical times. 'Although this does ebb and flow as is normal in this area of practice, I was very busy in the run up to April with tax based work but then August is always quiet.'
'Workflow is good. Even if I am not in my office, I can keep an eye on work requests and can be very flexible. Working in this way has been a complete revelation - before I was working incredibly long hours as a typical transactional lawyer. This is still a big part of my life but no longer all of it. I had never imagined it was possible to combine really interesting work with the rest of my life. It can still be tough - as in this type of work the clients can be extremely demanding and I do work into the early hours to meet deadlines.'
Key learning points
Based on her experience working remotely, Charlotte highlighted communication as a critical element of successful remote working:
- Stay in touch with the team - especially when there are new team members, for example by weekly tele/video conferencing calls across teams and offices and trips back to the office.
- Reinforce your visibility and presence as a resource.
- Be very responsive, it is important to check emails and react quickly.
In addition, Charlotte highlighted other important areas to consider including:
- Ensuring that the necessary IT infrastructure is available.
- Make sure you take part in CPD training.
'Ultimately, working remotely (wherever you are) is about organising your time most effectively and efficiently - flexing to benefit the organisation and maximise your productivity and contribution.'
Conclusions
'By being able to work remotely as a transactional lawyer, I have chosen to work and be fully available (rather than working fixed times) and can be flexible according to client and team needs and deadlines.'
By Penningtons suggesting an alternate working arrangement, they effectively retained and maximised Charlotte's legal, organisational and client knowledge. 'Moving forward, I have remained an integral part of the team and provide a highly responsive resource for them, as well as maintaining continuity with the team and clients. It works well because I know the firm, I have good working relationships and trust with both my team and my clients - which are immensely valuable both now and in the future.'
*Names have been changed in some case studies to preserve respondent anonymity