Business Academy for Lawyers is a project designed with the change in what it means to be a lawyer today in mind, which focuses on developing new skills and mastering other realities beyond the law.
The programme was co-created entirely by Morais Leitão and Nova SBE Executive Education, integrating itself with the firm's career plan.
For Nuno Galvão Teles, managing partner of Morais Leitão, "we thought of the programme as a provocation, throwing our teams "off their feet" and confronting them with totally different realities in the scope of project management, financial management, conflict management, client management, innovation and leadership, to give a few examples. Any of these has a direct impact on motivation and productivity rates, helping to build a culture of innovation and customer cooperation."
For Pedro Brito, Associate Dean for Executive Education & Business Transformation, "The role of lawyers is changing rapidly. There are new expectations from their clients, new challenges arising from different angles and new skills to develop in this new and strange context. Those who do not evolve and lead the way in learning will become irrelevant in the future. It was with this premise that Nova SBE Executive Education designed a continuous learning journey for Morais Leitão, with the mission of preparing its talent not only to survive, but to continue to innovate."
The 1st edition, about to end, had as its theme the project manager lawyer, and took place in a classroom context with case studies, debates, role-play, discussion and sharing of ideas at Nova SBE's facilities in the Carcavelos Campus. The success and interest were great, so new editions will follow, always adjusting the themes to the audience and the specific needs and new challenges of the sector.
The programme was highlighted in the annual report of the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards 2020 as an example of a focus on improving the training of lawyers.
To better understand the initiative, we suggest watching this video.