Augusr 2026
From lawyer to leader
Stepping into a leadership role is one of the biggest transitions an in-house lawyer can make. The skills that build a successful legal career remain essential: technical expertise, sound judgement, attention to detail. But leading a high-performing legal team requires a different mindset. It means shifting from solving every problem yourself to creating the environment, capability and confidence for others to succeed.
That was the focus of a Front Foot CPD webinar featuring Tiki MacLennan and Dan Cootes, exploring why being a great lawyer isn’t the same as being a great leader. The discussion highlighted several practical leadership principles that can help legal leaders build stronger, more capable teams.
Create capability, not dependency
Many lawyers progress into leadership because they’re technically excellent. The challenge is recognising that what made you successful as a lawyer isn’t necessarily what will make you successful as a leader.
Great leaders don’t become the answer to every question. Instead, they create an environment where their teams have the confidence, judgement and support to solve problems independently. Coaching, trust and empowerment don’t just develop people; they also create capacity and allow leaders to focus on the bigger picture.
Culture requires intention
As legal teams become increasingly dispersed across offices, states and countries, creating a strong team culture requires far more than regular meetings.
Connection, collaboration and trust are built through deliberate actions that help people feel part of something bigger than the matters sitting on their desks. Whether it’s creating opportunities for informal connection, encouraging collaboration across teams or investing in face-to-face interactions, culture is something that needs to be designed.
Develop people for the future
One of the most valuable roles of any leader is creating opportunities for others to grow.
Helping team members build new skills, broaden their experience and take on different challenges strengthens both the individual and the legal team. As technology takes on more of the repetitive, routine work, it frees up space for higher-level thinking.
Create capacity through better ways of working
Leadership isn’t only about people. It’s also about improving how work gets done.
The most effective legal leaders continually look for opportunities to simplify processes, remove repetitive work and use technology to create capacity. Rather than asking lawyers to simply work harder, they focus on helping their teams spend more time on the strategic work that delivers the greatest value to the business.
Leadership is personal
There is no single leadership style that works for every team.
People are motivated by different things, communicate differently and bring different strengths to their roles. Great leaders take the time to understand what drives each individual and adapt their approach accordingly.
The takeaway
Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating the conditions for others to succeed.
The most effective in-house legal leaders build capable teams, foster strong relationships, continually improve the way work is delivered and create an environment where people can perform at their best. As legal teams continue to navigate increasing workloads, changing expectations and rapid technological change, those leadership skills have never been more important.
To hear the full conversation and gain additional perspectives on leading high-performing legal teams, watch the webinar recording below.
At Front Foot, we work alongside in-house legal teams every day and see these leadership challenges firsthand. To find out how we can help your legal team to achieve more, with the right capability and capacity, please get in touch with Jahnna McKeag, Associate Director – Resourcing, by emailing jahnna@frontfootlaw.com.
