​I have been training our 6-month-old Siberian kitten. I had no idea you could train a cat, but it is amazing what you can do with patience – and treats! For example, he lives indoors but has learnt to wear a harness so he can go outside in the garden on an extending lead. He loves climbing trees, a characteristic of his breed, but coming down can be rather haphazard and sometimes involve a bit of a leap of faith. Hence the photo which my son created with some help from ChatGPT, which I must say is excellent at “creatively” editing photos. This week I used this image in a presentation I was privileged to make in London to the LILAC lawyers which is a supportive community designed for in-house legal advisers working in the life sciences sector. It was created by the law firm VWV and various in-house lawyers and encourages a community with common interests. I can really relate to this with my long time involvement with the SCLwhich “works to promote ideals of best practice, thought leadership, and the fostering of a global tech law community”. My topic was the relationship between in-house counsel and private practice lawyers and how this can be improved. It consisted of a talk followed by leading an interactive discussion. The session went well and I received positive feedback. 
 
However, on the train home I kept thinking how I had missed a couple of cues for questions I asked around various slides. I had notes in PowerPoint but was moving around the room and could not see these. Anway they were in very small print which I discovered PowerPoint won’t let you enlarge. Then I realised I was falling into a typical trap common to professionals. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, I should have been thinking more about, and learned from, why the session went so well. Then I came up with the following positive lessons I can take forward to future sessions, which may also help other presenters.
 
1 Practice. Rehearsed and improved presentation (even though my only audience was the cat!)
 
2 Subject Matter. Ideas already formed and set out in an article - International In-House Counsel Magazine Herding Cats – Engaging External Counsel.
 
3 Research. Read up on LILAC and VWV and researched attendee profiles. 
 
4 Plan for the Day. Organisers clearly conveyed needs for a structured interactive session which I followed.
 
5 Early Bird. Arrived early and made last minute changes in Starbucks to make the start (which is when you engage or lose your audience) more impactful.
 
6 Technology. Set up laptop with IT function before the session – backup slides sent by email.
 
I am not by the way writing this to extol my virtues or otherwise as a presenter, but rather to make the point about the benefits as professional practitioners of learning from the positives as opposed to dwelling on the negatives. AI suggests “Learning from positives rather than negatives involves consciously shifting focus toward strengths, successes, and desired outcomes, rather than dwelling on mistakes or failures. This approach, often rooted in Positive Psychology, leverages the brain's ability to rewire itself through deliberate focus.”  See this blog about Positive v Negative Thinking which discusses how  being positive affects how our brain works – “when we think positively, we feel good about situations, life and ourselves, this in turn allows our bodies to release hormones like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.”
 
I also like this blog Why a Positive Attitude Is Your Secret Weapon at Work which comments “Research shows that people with a positive mental outlook enjoy better physical health, improved mental wellbeing, and tend to live longer . The University of Pennsylvania tracked 350,000 people over 22 years and found that top performers kept their focus on goals and ways to achieve them.” It makes the good point that if you are positive then challenges are seen as opportunities and also “creates a ripple effect that changes entire organizations”. A number of “micro-actions” to achieve this are set out including:
 

• Avoid gossip and workplace negativity. Gossip creates toxic environments, reduces employee engagement, and breeds conflict.

 

• Set small, achievable goals. Large projects become manageable when broken into smaller chunks that give you regular wins.

 

• Celebrate others' wins. Team collaboration and creativity thrive when you recognize your colleagues' achievements

 
This all seems to be rooted in the concept of “positive psychology`’ which once again AI suggests is “the scientific study and application of strengths, positive emotions, and resilience to help employees flourish.” See this article from the Harvard Medical School which observes  “The history of positive psychology reveals that though ancient philosophers promoted different pathways to happiness, they believed it begins with knowing your true self, and acting in accordance with your virtues.” and “A more modern definition of positive psychology disavows the fleeting pleasures of materialism and "winning," to focus on the act of cultivating satisfaction and contentment.” 
 
I think this challenge is particularly relevant to my own profession as a lawyer where we are sometimes known as professional paid pessimists! We have to be seen to be in control and very serious minded to do our jobs. When reviewing and negotiating say an IT outsourcing contract we focus on looking for risks and what can go wrong, instead of how we can formulate an agreement to foster and encourage a successful delivery of the required service. I firmly believe that lawyers and other professionals can make this more advanced contribution and not just cross the i’s and dot the t’s. We should be positive and “learn to fly” not staying down in the weeds. 
 
And more generally outside of the workplace here is a fascinating YouTube video on an 85-year Harvard Study of Adult Development which found that positive relationships are the most important factor in maintaining long-term physical and mental health, often surpassing IQ, wealth, or social class in predicting life satisfaction. 

 
Abraham Lincoln advised “Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed.”
 
While Theodore Roosevelt said “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
 

And Barack Obama put it very simply: “Yes We Can”.

One of my sons sometimes leaves his car on our driveway when he is on holiday. I park it out of the way in a side passage under a strawberry tree - yes there are such things. As a result, it gets covered in leaves and twigs - and worse still bird mess which I attempt to clean off. Finally realising this was a zero-sum game I invested in a £27 car cover to protect the vehicle which was delivered by Amazon on Monday. Without really thinking about it in this way, I had transformed my car caring experience into one of prevention rather than cure. By complete coincidence I attended a fascinating Harvard Business Review talk this week presented by the American management adviser and author Joe Pine on The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations. This builds on and develops his previous book The Experience Economy in which he advocated that “businesses must form unique connections in order to secure their customers' affections--and ensure their own economic vitality”. He now proposes that “A fundamental economic shift is emerging. Goods, services--even memorable experiences--are no longer enough to attract and keep your customers. Customers are clamoring to change, eager to reach their aspirations and to become better versions of themselves.” He argues that “To truly compete in today's marketplace, enterprises must create transformative experiences that guide customers to achieve their aspirations, whether that's improving well-being, increasing prosperity, developing knowledge, or finding purpose.”
 
As I listened, I realised that these economic or behavioural principles can apply not just, for example, to manufacturing business or the educational sector, but are capable of extending to the professional services we provide as lawyers, commercial advisers or even doctors. When clients or patients come to see us for professional advice the whole experience and the results impact them, not just the intrinsic quality of the advice or other service we provide. For visits to a law firm the experience from the receptionist to the meeting room suite is all a part of the impression we make and the impact on our clients. See this article from the law firm CMS Navigating Legal Excellence: Insights in Legal Operations & Project Managementwhich observes “…excellence in legal work is no longer enough. Clients demand a holistic experience that combines legal expertise with business acumen and efficient service delivery.” It suggests that “Modern legal service delivery encompasses the entire client experience, from initial engagement to matter resolution” and advocates a shift from “lawyer-centric services” to “client-centric services”. 
 
While this LexisNexis piece Client experience: the new battleground for law firms proposes that the client experience is “a critical differentiator” for the legal industry. It says that “This shift reflects a broader understanding that client satisfaction and efficient service delivery are more valuable than merely clocking hours. This evolution mirrors the changes in contract law, where the focus is increasingly on outcomes rather than processes.” 
 
And this trend is I know from my own experience happening with in-house legal functions as much as law firms. When internal “clients” think they can look up the relevant law using AI and businesses are increasingly seeking business and strategic advice from their lawyers, change is inevitable.  There is a lot of detailed and erudite information out there on this topic such as this A&O Shearman article Future of the in-house legal function: Why is now the time for transformational change? which commences with “The traditional operating model of the in-house legal function is coming under increasing scrutiny.” And rather pessimistically observes “Law firms and legal departments alike lack the expertise to enable them to analyse, at the necessary level of detail, the work they do and, within each work area, the tasks they perform, and to re-engineer their processes in the way necessary to become the legal function of the future.”
 
But I am far more optimistic. We just need to think more about and enhance our clients service experience – on a person-to-person basis. And make it transformational. This is not new. Dale Carnegie in his seminal book How to Win Friends and Influence People, first published in 1936, understood the importance in business of interpersonal relationships. His approach emphasised a genuine interest in others and active listening. He commented “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” His core idea is that it is possible to change other people's behaviour by changing one's behaviour towards them. In the context of a legal practice this would mean understanding a client’s real goals and not just their legal problem. I suggest we need to think more about what our clients want from us and what drives them. Then we can seek to provide a transformational service for them not just prioritise billable hours and profits. Great experiences will lead inevitably to more business.
 
And for me AI and other legal technology is not a threat to us providing transformational experiences to our clients, but rather an opportunity to do so more effectively. I like this apt quote I found in material from the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright aimed at recruitment for its graduate scheme. “As legal technology becomes more sophisticated, we are increasingly able to solve legal problems for our clients that we haven’t been able to in the past. We have moved away from manual processes to tech-enabled solutions that provide our clients with better project visibility and data-driven insights that inform their decision-making”.
 
Transformational services are more than just technical excellence and providing a good experience when clients visit our offices. As AI suggests: “Legal services can be a transformative experience for clients by shifting from a purely transactional, "document-processing" model to a client-centered, empathetic, and technologically empowered partnership. When legal services focus on accessibility, transparency, and holistic support, they move beyond solving a singular problem to empowering clients, reducing anxiety, and building trust.”  See this article The Digital Revolution in Uk Legal Practice: Comprehensive Transformation Strategies For 2025 which in the context of digital transformation comments.  
 
“Today’s legal clients demand transparency, accessibility, and real-time communication capabilities that traditional service models cannot provide. Consequently, successful firms redesign their service delivery models around digital-first client experiences.
 
Progressive firms implement comprehensive client portals that provide case updates, document sharing, billing transparency, and direct communication channels. These platforms create competitive advantages while improving operational efficiency through reduced administrative overhead.”
 
Furthermore, client experience transformation extends beyond technology implementation to encompass cultural change within legal practices. Staff training programmes must emphasise digital customer service skills alongside technical competencies.” 
 
As the American lawyer Brian Liu observed "The future of legal practice belongs to those who remember that behind every document is someone's dream, and that's worth protecting and nurturing with both technological efficiency and human care."
 
And we should take advantage of new technology like AI not fear it. As Socrates said "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new."
 
 
For an apt concluding observation from Joe Pine. “The reason for existence is human flourishing. Businesses should help this.”
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