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Helping law firms and lawyers lead, innovate and thrive

We specialise in legal sector-specific research and data, and take a human-centred approach to uplevel leadership, talent development, performance, and future-readiness.

We understand the structure and dynamics of law firms and the role of lawyer psychology to create results. But all too often law firms are navigating challenges with tools that are no longer effective or which are drawn from management theory that are ill-suited to law firms and lawyers.

It’s time to change this.

Law firms and lawyers have unique strengths and advantages which, with deep insight and informed action, can be harnessed to create leaders and teams that are invested, engaged and equipped to achieve the next level of success.

We bring together our insights and data to create tailored advice and solutions to help you lead through competitive pressures, manage multigenerational teams, secure your firm’s talent pipeline and succession, navigate shifts in partnership ethos and incentives, and ensure your strategy drives client satisfaction and profitability.

Our founder, Laxmi Jaishi, is passionate about supporting the legal profession in its future direction. She believes in the legal sector’s potential to represent the pinnacle in professional services, delivering impactful services for its clients and providing rewarding careers for its lawyers. Learn more about Laxmi here.

Lead & Ascend Consulting helps law firms and lawyers lead, innovate and thrive. We work with pioneering law firms and leaders who want to go beyond reacting and adapting to proactively shaping and leading the future - at the level of their firm, team, and/or career.

Our Services

  • We help leaders with bringing their firm strategy alive with insights and data into the enablers and blockers of successful realisation. Through harnessing evidence on lawyer psychology, we help with challenges such as talent retention and succession planning, navigating shifts in partnership ethos and incentives, managing the multigenerational legal environment and developing a pipeline of future-ready leaders.

    We work with cohorts of leaders through training on leadership skills designed for leaders in corporate law firms as well as providing 1 to 1 coaching. We also provide bespoke consulting including collecting and interpreting firm-specific data, and reviewing and advising on your firm’s approaches, policies and processes.

  • We help HR teams and management professionals enhance their impact and influence through evidence-based insights drawing directly from research with lawyers in corporate law firms. By accessing tools and approaches that are specific to lawyer psychology, HR and management professionals are equipped with what works and what doesn’t which can be applied to their talent recruitment, evaluation and development processes as well as in building their strategic position and influence with leaders and stakeholders.

    We work with HR teams and management professionals through training programmes as well as providing 1 to 1 coaching.

    Bespoke consulting is available for specific initiatives that include quantitative and qualitative data collection through surveys, interviews and focus groups, as well as data interpretation and reporting. We also provide review and advice on specific approaches, policies and processes.

  • The demands on leaders and lawyers are continuously increasing with changes in client expectations and relationships, the impact of AI and technology and the changing career expectations of lawyers.

    We work with HR and leaders to develop their lawyers and equip them with the skills and mindset needed for lawyers to perform and thrive, and help firms secure their talent pipeline. Programmes are available for talent at all levels, from pre-lawyer to senior leadership.

    Our approach is to help lawyers to assimilate business, innovation and leadership as part of their professional identity at an early stage in lawyers’ careers as we believe the future will be shaped by lawyers and law firms who master this combination.

    Talent development services are provided through training programmes and 1 to 1 coaching. Consulting is available for tailored advice on policies and initiatives and data collection and interpretation to identify and resolve any specific challenges as well as to optimise particular strengths and processes. 

  • Culture is one of the highest impact areas of law firms but can also be challenging to shape. Different sources present challenges to culture such as competitive pressures, economic shocks, changes in partners and associates, and mergers. We partner with leaders and HR in identifying the crux of the issue and providing a targeted approach. We work with you to implement your firm’s strategy, vision and values through appropriate solutions which may include obtaining qualitative and/or quantitative data, reporting on findings and designing a programme.

    Our approach to culture is multi-modal which may include aligning your strategy, policies and processes, training leaders and/or teams and providing 1 to 1 coaching.

  • What’s referred to as the wellbeing crisis in law is often reported on but what helps lawyers thrive and gain career satisfaction hasn’t received the same attention. We take an evidence-based approach drawing on research with lawyers working in corporate law firms to help your leaders and lawyers enhance their resilience and wellbeing. Research shows that partners and associates experience particular challenges to their wellbeing and our programmes and coaching are designed to target the specific areas that are relevant to them.

    Programmes are available that are designed to be firm-wide, cohort-based or team-based, as well as 1 to 1 coaching to provide individualised support.

    We also provide consulting to develop and enhance your programmes, policies and processes incorporating lawyer psychology grounded in research.