Clara Rose Consultancy

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Looking Backwards to Look Forwards

“So here it is Merry Christmas”, well not quite, but it is December and everyone is looking forward to the break that comes at the end of the month and the year.

This month: Looking backwards to look forwards

As we get stuck into festive season with all the Christmas parties and client lunches that that entails, don’t forget to make the most of your break too. Over Christmas and the new year it always feels like a great time to properly down tools. Because most people get to take a break, it means that most things are on hold, or at least on a ‘go slow’ until January. So be sure to take advantage of this and make sure you really switch off and take time to refresh your batteries.


Lots of people during this time sit down to think about the year that has just happened, and the year ahead of them. In terms of your career it’s a great time to reflect on what you have learnt, and how you have progressed over the course of the past 12 months. It’s also an ideal opportunity to think about the year ahead and what direction you want your career to take in 2025.


A great way to capture these thoughts is to update your CV. Make sure you add in:·

  •  any matters of specific note, interest or value;·        
  • any achievements of significance; and·        
  • anything which you are particularly proud of.


This makes sure that you don’t let these achievements slip by without recording them and harnesses them for use in future. Having an up to date CV never hurts, even if you are happy and content, because whether it’s internal promotions, or a sudden change within your current firm, you will be ready to go in terms of presenting yourself for any opportunities.

Keep an eye out for our 12 days of Christmas CV drafting tips in the run up to the big day. Across all our social media platforms, these tips will help you make the most of your CV as a document. We will also be gathering all these top tips together in the new year for our YouTube channel.

As always we will be making a charity contribution instead of sending Christmas cards, this year we have selected Lighthouse Women’s Refuge a local charity doing really important work.

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Are you looking for Career progression?

As we come into some lovely summer weather (sort of!) I wanted to talk about the final part of the recent Lexis Nexis survey of associates and senior associates.

Career progression was stated as both a reason for staying and a reason for leaving at the same level – 36% of people in each instance saw it as a driver to go or a motivator to stay.

This month: Are you looking for Career progression?

The report was very much focused around what this means, in a world where partnership is not always seen as the end goal. 25% of associates wanted to be a partner at their current firm within 5 years, 26% wanted to be promoted, only 7% wanted to stay in the same role. So, of people wishing to remain it is still clear that the vast majority need to be on an upward trajectory to fulfil their ambitions.


Firms have addressed this in various way, creating roles of legal director, managing associates, principle associates etc. What I hear from people is that they want to be recognised for their years of experience, for what they can bring to the table, but that they don’t all want to lead people, manage people or take on all the other responsibilities of partnership.


It is a unique system in law where so many ambitious people are put together, sometimes problems will occur as everyone strives for the “top spot”. As is often the case the start of a rewarding career is to understand your own motivators.


What do you want and why? What are the realities of your life, your time, your energy. The report used phrases like ‘disloyal lawyers’ moving roles and ‘are half of all associates happy merely coasting in their careers?’. But what if lawyers are just wanting a role that works for them, something where they can enjoy the work they do and the life they have at the same time? 

Disloyal = choosing a role that is right for them according to their own criteria, not that of their current firm
Coasting = choosing not to take on all the pressures of partnership in order to sustain a healthy balance 

So long as 25% of associates want to be a partner in the next 5 years then surely that is enough of the profession to supply the leaders and mangers of the future? If it was 75% wanting the top job, then we would all need to run for cover!

Underneath all the figures about who wants partnership, not to be forgotten are the others – 13% not sure what they want in the next 5 years. 4% moving in house (in the market it feels like this number is higher when I talk to people!) 3% leaving law, 4% going freelance. Added altogether there are 25% of associates and senior associates who don’t want to remain in private practice. So, if one in 4 of your colleagues is ready to leave then the profession needs to make sure they are bringing in all the new, enthusiastic talent they can to replace that quarter of your firm and provide growth.

Whatever your career plans get in touch to talk them through and understand your options within the market as well as within your current firm.

Feel free to book a time to talk in my diary, pick up the phone or reply to this email to discuss any aspect of your legal career.

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Most important aspects in a legal career

Looking at the latest Lexis Nexis report on associates and senior associates has got me thinking, about the 3 areas which come up time and time again, in terms of importance for people working at that level within law firms.

Top reasons for moving: 71% most important factor is work life balance, with 69% wanting higher salary/ better package and 36% selected career development.

The same three reasons, are the reasons that people would stay, just in a different order, increased money first (71%), then joint second (36%) Better work life balance; better career progression.

Over the next few months I will look at each of these in turn.

This month: Focus on Work / Life balance

Work life balance is a personal choice. How do you approach it to be sure that individuals are not taking advantage of a firm, or on the other end of the spectrum to ensure that firms are not grinding their fee earners into mental health problems?

The fact is that everyone is different, everyone has a different level of tolerance, resilience and all approach things differently. A quick task for someone who likes to fly through drafting a document, might take someone who is overly cautious with meticulous attention to detail a long time, even if they are told not to take too long. They key is to think about each person in a team and help them to perform to their strengths. Within a team you need people with different strengths to ensure all angles of a task are met. I employ some fantastic attention to detail administrators to ensure that my systems are run smoothly and routinely without having to remember everything as I jump from task to task. This provides balance within the team.

Looking at one person and the balance in their life is again very much a personal thing. Whereas one person will appear to glide over difficulties in life, another person might seem to stumble on the smallest hurdle. That is the uniqueness of people and the experiences they bring to a role come from their whole life, not just their working world. Again there needs to be the ability to look at each individual and see how they work best, without changing all the rules or systems to suit them, they need to be supported within the structure that is there.

It can be a really political part of running a firm, but open and honest discussion and appreciation of others is the starting point to ensure that everyone is happy and performing well, in roles they enjoy, with the balance that they need for their life.

Finding your own work life balance within a team, role and firm is a keen consideration in your legal career and one that can change dramatically from firm to firm.

Drop me a line if you feel that the balance is wrong in your life and we can talk about the variety and options out there for you.

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Statistics on moving to London and partner hires

With the year well under way we have lots to report on this month.
Starting with some interesting statistics on moving to London and partner hires.
Then, some exciting news about our newly launched locum service.

This month: Statistics on moving to London and partner hires.

Firstly then a recent article highlighted lateral partner hires amongst all law firms. Things that really jumped out to me were that the most successful partner hires were into firms who have a single tier partnership structure. Stability, equality and perceived fairness are all important factors here.
Also interesting to note is that on average lateral partners bring 22% of their books of business with them. A real reminder that clients are free to come and go in a world where anyone can be found online. You cannot make anyone move with you, nor can you stop them moving! The reasons for moving were many and varied, however most common were finding a more attractive position at another law firm/ overall a better opportunity – stated by 23% of partner moves; then being unhappy with the firms culture at 15%; unhappy with the firms leadership at 14%; with another 14% being unhappy with their current compensation. All valid reasons to move and all factors that can often be resolved by finding a better fit of firm. Secondly, we did some analysis (based on Pirical data) on moves in and out of London in the East Anglia region to see what the real pull to London is and whether it actually lasts. 
Overall since January 2018 there is a remarkably small net movement of 4.38% into London. That is to say that of the total number of people moving in and out 4.38% moved and stayed in London. Which is interesting as it shows that whilst there is a large turn over of people moving in and out, especially from Cambridge, overall the legal world remains quite stable in terms of numbers in the regions and in London.

Our New Locum Service

Lastly, our new locum service is now up and running. With a specially commissioned online platform, you can record your hours and get paid simply and easily every week or month depending on the assignment. So if you are a locum, or you are thinking about becoming one, then do get in touch to see how we can help you. We can let you know about locum opportunities that we are working on and promote you to our clients to help them fulfil their temporary needs.
If you know that your team has a need for a locum coming up in future then equally let us know so that we can support you and the team through the period of cover.

If you are looking for a partner move, moving the geographical location of your role, looking for a locum or have any other career question then do get in touch!
Feel free to fix a time in my diary to talk.