Supercharge your career: four lessons you never learnt at law school

Dye & Durham brought together law firm founders who are re-defining the legal landscape with fresh approaches.

At the event, Kush Birdi, Mel Kang and Elena Manukyan shared insights all lawyers can learn from.

Lesson 1: sales and marketing

"Sometimes I go to events and I see super intelligent but socially awkward lawyers in a room full of clients having a complete meltdown" – Mel Kang

Since launching Mezzle Law in 2021, Mel’s used LinkedIn Learning to train his team in sales and marketing.

Mel revealed, "lawyers are great at the law because they are trained at the law. But what we were never trained in is sales or marketing. It’s seen as being beneath lawyers, a dirty word that’s an alien concept for us. I don’t care what you tell me, lawyers are salespeople. Law is a people business."

Mel also acknowledged the importance of confidence when quoting for business.

"Let's say a lawyer prices a job at £10,000. But the client says that’s too expensive. In this instance most lawyers will defer to partners to reduce the fee to win the client.

"Instead, lawyers should directly ask the client why they think £10,000 is too much. This response will assert the lawyer’s authority and the client will doubt themselves for questioning the quote. This is the training lawyers don’t have."

Lesson 2: self-awareness

"You have to keep evolving and reflecting on yourself" – Kush Birdi

Self-awareness is essential to Kush’s work, "as lawyers we’re very habitual and like things in boxes. I used to be that type of lawyer when I was junior, but since becoming a leader my mindset has changed. I think about my own leadership style throughout the day, every day. I’ve learnt so much about leadership through trial and error and learning from what didn’t work."

But self-reflection isn’t just for leaders in law, it can benefit solicitors at any stage of their career.

Self-awareness is a process to analyse what does and doesn’t work. It streamlines efficiencies for optimal performance.

Kush sees self-awareness as a value that enables him and his firm to thrive: "I always want to be the best version of myself, so I keep trying to be better."

Lesson 3: look beyond the legal industry

"I look to successful businesses like Amazon and Facebook for inspiration" – Mel Kang

In three years, Mel has grown his start-up of two people to a team of 80.

He explained the key to this growth: "before we launched, I studied the legal industry. I looked at what everyone else did. But I also looked at businesses outside of law to understand how they were successful."

Professional awareness beyond law is helpful to all legal professionals. In a competitive industry having an edge is important.

Broadening your mindset is a great way to discover insights that make you stand out.

Lesson 4: be nice

"Being a genuine, nice person is important whether you’re dealing with clients or working with colleagues" – Elena Manukyan

This is a value that Elena prizes highly. It’s a simple sentiment that creates a positive company culture where staff want to work.

She knows it’s particularly important as the next generation join the workforce.

"The things Gen-Z look for at work are different to what previous generations expected. The difference is so stark. Company culture is important."

Elena knows that being nice has the potential to deliver huge gains with clients. "If you work closely with people, you have to get on, so you have to be a nice person.

"When you do that, you can 100% compete with bigger businesses.”