Legal, Contracts, and Procurement
Advanced Legal Leadership Skills
A five-day course for lawyers and legal managers moving from practising law to leading a legal function, covering strategic legal leadership, team and talent development, influence and communication, legal risk governance and operations, and change leadership. Participants learn to lead a legal function rather than carry it.
Introduction
A legal department leader is judged on three things at once: the quality of the advice, the resilience of the team behind it, and the influence the function holds in the boardroom. Lawyers who move into leadership often keep practising law and neglect the second and third, which is where departments lose credibility. This Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Training Course gives legal directors, senior counsel, and legal managers a complete working method for leading the function. Participants learn strategic legal leadership, team and talent development, influence and communication, legal risk governance, and change and performance leadership.
Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Course Objectives
- Apply strategic thinking to legal function priorities and positioning.
- Translate business strategy into a legal service and risk agenda.
- Build and lead high-performing legal teams with clear accountabilities.
- Apply talent development, succession, and capability planning.
- Influence executives and boards with legal advice that is usable.
- Communicate legal risk in commercial terms rather than legal jargon.
- Apply legal risk governance, delegation, and escalation frameworks.
- Lead legal technology, process, and operations improvement.
- Lead change programmes affecting legal and compliance functions.
- Measure leadership impact with delivery, engagement, and risk outcomes.
Course Methodology
- Facilitated sessions built on real legal department plans, team data, and case studies.
- Case workshops on departmental restructuring, executive conflict, and crisis advice.
- Legal service model, governance, and performance design exercises.
- Influence, briefing, and communication practice labs.
- Group exercise on a personal legal leadership development plan with commitments.
Who Should Take This Course
- Legal directors and heads of legal.
- Senior in-house counsel and legal managers.
- Contracts and compliance function leaders.
- Government legal department leaders.
- Legal team leaders moving into senior roles.
- HR and talent partners supporting legal career paths.
Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Course Outlines
Strategic Legal Leadership
- • From practising law to leading a legal function.
- • Legal function strategy and business alignment.
- • Legal risk appetite and priorities setting.
- • Service model design: in-house, panel, and hybrid.
- • Legal operations as a strategic discipline.
- • Benchmarking legal function maturity.
- • Governance for legal strategy delivery.
Leading Lawyers and Building Teams
- • Motivation and development of legal professionals.
- • Team structures, spans, and accountabilities.
- • Goal setting, matter review, and performance conversations.
- • Coaching, mentoring, and technical supervision.
- • Succession planning and knowledge retention.
- • Managing remote and distributed legal teams.
- • Wellbeing, workload, and burnout prevention in legal work.
Influence, Advice, and Communication
- • Business partnering without losing legal independence.
- • Translating legal risk into commercial options.
- • Executive briefing and board reporting practice.
- • Advising under pressure and during crises.
- • Handling disagreement with senior stakeholders.
- • Negotiation and persuasion skills for legal leaders.
- • Reputation, ethics, and independence in advisory work.
Governance, Risk, and Legal Operations
- • Legal risk governance and escalation frameworks.
- • Delegation of authority and approval limits.
- • Panel and external counsel management.
- • Legal budgeting, cost control, and matter forecasting.
- • Legal technology and contract lifecycle management.
- • Process standardisation and template governance.
- • Compliance interface and regulatory oversight.
Leading Change and Measuring Impact
- • Change leadership in legal and compliance functions.
- • Restructuring, insourcing, and outsourcing decisions.
- • Managing resistance and building credibility.
- • Legal function KPIs and reporting design.
- • Personal leadership brand and development planning.
- • Career management and next-role preparation.
- • Building a legal leadership improvement roadmap.
Conclusion
By successfully completing the Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Training Course, participants will have acquired a leadership-level command of legal function strategy, team and talent leadership, influence and communication with executives and boards, legal risk governance and operations, and change leadership with measurable impact. They will leave able to lead a legal function rather than carry it, give advice that executives act on, and build the team and capability that sustains credibility. Gentex Training Center delivers this programme with legal leaders and executive development practitioners working in live organisations.
FAQs for the Advanced Legal Leadership Skills course
— What is the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course about?
It is a five-day programme for lawyers and legal managers moving from practising law to leading a legal function. It covers strategic legal leadership, team and talent development, influence and communication, legal risk governance and operations, and change leadership.
— What are the key benefits of the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course?
Participants lead a function rather than carry its caseload, give advice executives act on because it is framed commercially, and build teams with clear accountabilities and a succession plan. They also manage legal risk governance and operations with measures management trusts.
— What skills will I gain from the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course?
You will gain legal function strategy and risk agenda setting, legal team leadership and talent development, executive influence, advisory communication, and governance management, and legal operations, change leadership, and performance measurement.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course?
The course works with legal function strategy and business alignment, legal risk appetite and priority setting, in-house, panel and hybrid service model design, legal operations as a strategic discipline, legal function maturity benchmarking, motivation and development of legal professionals, team structure, span and accountability design, goal setting and matter review practice, performance conversation technique, coaching and technical supervision methods, succession planning and knowledge retention, remote legal team management, wellbeing and workload management, business partnering with legal independence, translating legal risk into commercial options, executive briefing and board reporting practice, advising under pressure, stakeholder disagreement handling, negotiation and persuasion skills, reputation and ethics in advisory work, legal risk governance and escalation frameworks, delegation of authority and approval limits, panel and external counsel management, legal budgeting, cost control and matter forecasting, legal technology and contract lifecycle management, process standardisation and template governance, compliance and regulatory oversight interfaces, change leadership in legal functions, restructuring, insourcing and outsourcing decisions, resistance management, legal function KPI and reporting design, personal leadership brand development, and career management planning.
— How is the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course applied in real-world practice?
Teams apply it when setting a legal function strategy for a new financial year, restructuring a legal team after an acquisition, briefing a board committee on a major risk, managing panel counsel cost against a budget, leading a contract lifecycle management rollout, and preparing a personal development plan for a senior counsel role.
Scheduling in Progress | Training Arranged Around Your Needs
Our team can coordinate this program based on available dates and locations. Contact us to explore training options that best fit your needs.
Introduction
A legal department leader is judged on three things at once: the quality of the advice, the resilience of the team behind it, and the influence the function holds in the boardroom. Lawyers who move into leadership often keep practising law and neglect the second and third, which is where departments lose credibility. This Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Training Course gives legal directors, senior counsel, and legal managers a complete working method for leading the function. Participants learn strategic legal leadership, team and talent development, influence and communication, legal risk governance, and change and performance leadership.
Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Course Objectives
- Apply strategic thinking to legal function priorities and positioning.
- Translate business strategy into a legal service and risk agenda.
- Build and lead high-performing legal teams with clear accountabilities.
- Apply talent development, succession, and capability planning.
- Influence executives and boards with legal advice that is usable.
- Communicate legal risk in commercial terms rather than legal jargon.
- Apply legal risk governance, delegation, and escalation frameworks.
- Lead legal technology, process, and operations improvement.
- Lead change programmes affecting legal and compliance functions.
- Measure leadership impact with delivery, engagement, and risk outcomes.
Course Methodology
- Facilitated sessions built on real legal department plans, team data, and case studies.
- Case workshops on departmental restructuring, executive conflict, and crisis advice.
- Legal service model, governance, and performance design exercises.
- Influence, briefing, and communication practice labs.
- Group exercise on a personal legal leadership development plan with commitments.
Who Should Take This Course
- Legal directors and heads of legal.
- Senior in-house counsel and legal managers.
- Contracts and compliance function leaders.
- Government legal department leaders.
- Legal team leaders moving into senior roles.
- HR and talent partners supporting legal career paths.
Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Course Outlines
Strategic Legal Leadership
- • From practising law to leading a legal function.
- • Legal function strategy and business alignment.
- • Legal risk appetite and priorities setting.
- • Service model design: in-house, panel, and hybrid.
- • Legal operations as a strategic discipline.
- • Benchmarking legal function maturity.
- • Governance for legal strategy delivery.
Leading Lawyers and Building Teams
- • Motivation and development of legal professionals.
- • Team structures, spans, and accountabilities.
- • Goal setting, matter review, and performance conversations.
- • Coaching, mentoring, and technical supervision.
- • Succession planning and knowledge retention.
- • Managing remote and distributed legal teams.
- • Wellbeing, workload, and burnout prevention in legal work.
Influence, Advice, and Communication
- • Business partnering without losing legal independence.
- • Translating legal risk into commercial options.
- • Executive briefing and board reporting practice.
- • Advising under pressure and during crises.
- • Handling disagreement with senior stakeholders.
- • Negotiation and persuasion skills for legal leaders.
- • Reputation, ethics, and independence in advisory work.
Governance, Risk, and Legal Operations
- • Legal risk governance and escalation frameworks.
- • Delegation of authority and approval limits.
- • Panel and external counsel management.
- • Legal budgeting, cost control, and matter forecasting.
- • Legal technology and contract lifecycle management.
- • Process standardisation and template governance.
- • Compliance interface and regulatory oversight.
Leading Change and Measuring Impact
- • Change leadership in legal and compliance functions.
- • Restructuring, insourcing, and outsourcing decisions.
- • Managing resistance and building credibility.
- • Legal function KPIs and reporting design.
- • Personal leadership brand and development planning.
- • Career management and next-role preparation.
- • Building a legal leadership improvement roadmap.
Conclusion
By successfully completing the Advanced Legal Leadership Skills Training Course, participants will have acquired a leadership-level command of legal function strategy, team and talent leadership, influence and communication with executives and boards, legal risk governance and operations, and change leadership with measurable impact. They will leave able to lead a legal function rather than carry it, give advice that executives act on, and build the team and capability that sustains credibility. Gentex Training Center delivers this programme with legal leaders and executive development practitioners working in live organisations.
FAQs for the Advanced Legal Leadership Skills course
— What is the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course about?
It is a five-day programme for lawyers and legal managers moving from practising law to leading a legal function. It covers strategic legal leadership, team and talent development, influence and communication, legal risk governance and operations, and change leadership.
— What are the key benefits of the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course?
Participants lead a function rather than carry its caseload, give advice executives act on because it is framed commercially, and build teams with clear accountabilities and a succession plan. They also manage legal risk governance and operations with measures management trusts.
— What skills will I gain from the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course?
You will gain legal function strategy and risk agenda setting, legal team leadership and talent development, executive influence, advisory communication, and governance management, and legal operations, change leadership, and performance measurement.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course?
The course works with legal function strategy and business alignment, legal risk appetite and priority setting, in-house, panel and hybrid service model design, legal operations as a strategic discipline, legal function maturity benchmarking, motivation and development of legal professionals, team structure, span and accountability design, goal setting and matter review practice, performance conversation technique, coaching and technical supervision methods, succession planning and knowledge retention, remote legal team management, wellbeing and workload management, business partnering with legal independence, translating legal risk into commercial options, executive briefing and board reporting practice, advising under pressure, stakeholder disagreement handling, negotiation and persuasion skills, reputation and ethics in advisory work, legal risk governance and escalation frameworks, delegation of authority and approval limits, panel and external counsel management, legal budgeting, cost control and matter forecasting, legal technology and contract lifecycle management, process standardisation and template governance, compliance and regulatory oversight interfaces, change leadership in legal functions, restructuring, insourcing and outsourcing decisions, resistance management, legal function KPI and reporting design, personal leadership brand development, and career management planning.
— How is the "Advanced Legal Leadership Skills" course applied in real-world practice?
Teams apply it when setting a legal function strategy for a new financial year, restructuring a legal team after an acquisition, briefing a board committee on a major risk, managing panel counsel cost against a budget, leading a contract lifecycle management rollout, and preparing a personal development plan for a senior counsel role.
Partners in Learning
Our Partners in Learning include leading companies and organizations that trust Gentex Training Center for high-quality training courses and professional development programs. Together, we deliver impactful training programs that support skills growth, leadership development, and organizational excellence.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Gentex provide this training course in-house training?
Yes. Gentex Training Center can deliver this course as an in-house training program for your organization. The course content, schedule, and delivery can be customized to meet your team’s specific needs and business objectives. Learn more about our In-House Training solutions.