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Looking after number one

13 October 2017 / Jonathan Goodliffe
Issue: 7765 / Categories: Features , Profession
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In the first of two articles, Jonathan Goodliffe explains why being incredibly busy is a great way to offload stress

How can you possibly cope nowadays with the pressure of being a top fee earner? You are expected to put in seven or eight chargeable hours a day. On top of that you have to turn up for endless internal meetings. These cover boring things like know-how, Brexit, appraisals, horizon scanning, marketing, directory submissions, financial targets, daily and weekly financial regulation updates, contact and client databases, negligence claims, drinks parties for trainees, unfair dismissal claims from incompetent former staff.

So what’s the solution? You could give up lawyering altogether and retrain as a ‘posh’ plumber or artisan baker. You would then endure the sneers and contempt of or be ostracised by your former colleagues. Or you could have a breakdown, scream and shout at your secretary (if you’re still allowed to have one) or trainee, or get help with (or get on with) your drinking problem.

“ The joy of being incredibly busy is that it allows

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
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