Book Review by Robert McKay

Lynne’s Laws of Leadership – 20 Big Lessons for Leading a Small Law Firm By Lynne Burdon

Reviewed by Robert McKay, Editor, Modern Legal Practice, Law Publishing Columnist at Slaw (www.slaw.ca/author/mckay) and Associate Editor, The Italian Law Journal.

Lynne Burdon is an English solicitor and former managing partner of her firm. She now offers her consultancy services to law firms on such matters as those addressed in her book. With 30 years of practice under her belt, setting up and making a success of the firm, chances are she knows a great deal about the job of successfully leading such a business. We know this because the book opens with a series of endorsements from a number of eminent people, some of them lawyers, including Professor Stephen Mayson “of this parish”. They testify enthusiastically to the author’s experience, expertise and closeness to her subject.

The book, which was published in England in 2018 by Practical Inspiration Publishing, is one of many in its portfolio, offering forms of self-help solutions in various business sectors and, occasionally, for personal development. It is not entirely clear how and at whom the book is targeted. Its 257 pages with, regrettably, no index, are housed within a somewhat na?ve, cartoonish cover design, with related images, each bearing visible cartoon-hearts, being carried over into the text. For those who assert that a book should not be judged by its cover, the evidence of their decision-making indicates that publishers think otherwise. It is presumably aimed at lawyers running or hoping to run small law firms and one hopes that the publishers’ research has confirmed the efficacy of their decisions.

It is something of a “Marmite” sort of work, whose supporters and detractors are likely to have formed their views prior to reading it. It plays strongly to the soft-skills side of law firm management, while still stressing the importance of expertise and experience in the law. Whether or not it achieves the correct balance may be what draws readers to or away from it. The author massively over-uses the words “passion”, “passionate” and “passionately”, which some working in the law might prefer to see confined to expressions of amorous affection or as defences to violent crime. They are words that may risk underpinning subjectivity over objectivity, that are the very antithesis of rationality and logic. They tend to play to the thinking of “what I envisage or desire, must come true”, regardless of the consequences, particularly to or against others. Likewise, there is substantial use of business-speak and clichéd phrases and metaphors, perhaps derived from some of the better-known business guru handbooks, combined, extremely occasionally, with unnecessary vulgarity in word choices. Yet, this will certainly appeal to some readers and may serve a purpose.

Why 20 lessons? I have no real idea. Why not 16 or 28? I make the point because one suspects that this book might not be read directly by practising lawyers. Rather, it may better be seen a support tool for the work of providing consultancy services to lawyers and/or as a device to present to prospective clients of a law firm, offering them an impression of what they might expect in terms of service. “20 Big Lessons” may be very much a marketing hook with which to go prospecting.

There is little wrong with “motherhood and apple-pie” messages, of which the book contains many. The choices of honesty, high ethical standards, treating people well, maintaining work- life balance, strategic and detailed planning, achieving one’s best and others are obviously vastly preferable to their opposites in each case. However, what can lie beneath is something akin to the notion of history belonging to the victors. Having the unchallengeable success which is properly attributed to the author, she understandably acquires the privilege of stating what are and are not correct standards. Thus, the many selectively chosen anecdotes used in the book to highlight or prove points put the storyteller and the firm, with few exceptions, on the side of right and proper. This extends to the often-seen myth of believing that when one person has fired (or perhaps, “let go”, “transitioned” or “helped them seek their fortunes elsewhere”) a lesser mortal, that they are blameless, to be praised and are doing the outgoing employee some kind of great favour which they will later understand. For the most part, this is simply not the case; the book seems to recount many instances of firm lay-offs over the years, but it remains largely correct in its own mind. However, this speaks to some extent about the current obsession with leadership, not always prefaced with such words as “good”, “humble” or “effective”. The use of such a word requires a clear and lawyerly definition to allow for its measurement. Trump, Putin and Kim Jong Un see themselves, as do many of their supporters, as great leaders. So too, many bullies, privileged aristocrats, sociopathic bosses and heads of crime families, claim ownership of the title. Likewise, some bosses, particularly at the end of their careers, use selective memory to allow themselves to sleep well at night. It goes not unnoticed that the book’s title is “Lynne’s Laws” and, despite its cosy language and well-concealed conservatism, can be quite top-down in its approach; perhaps small law firms need this form of guidance.

Of the 20 rules, some are inevitably of greater value or impact than others with, arguably, those which rely on objective measurement and relevant advice being easier to read than those which fall back to a degree on subjective statements and, maybe worse, on psychological and neuro-scientific language; around one page is allocated to “How our Brains Work”. The author calls up, in part, her experience and training in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to support her theories. However, experts are not united in their views on NLP. Indeed, some have described it as a key example of pseudoscience.

Overall, the book is an interesting and challenging read, particularly for those “left brain lawyers” to whom the author makes reference, who may find it in part counter-intuitive. Nevertheless, her success and experience cannot be denied and perhaps for those looking to develop small firms into larger ones, they would do well to study it attentively. Ms Burdon is correct, at the end of the book, to suggest to its purchasers that they pick it up from time-to-time when facing leadership issues and to focus on fundamental rather than temporary solutions. No doubt this wise counsel goes far beyond its application to law firms and indeed its home market.

This review was first published in Modern Legal Practice, MLP Vol 3 [2019]