Law school wasn’t enough for Husch Blackwell: partners are expected to go back for nine days of training, and so they’ve partnered up with Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, to get caught up on those areas law schools don’t teach enough about. The 9 days are broken into three three-day sessions, and will teach first, finance and accounting, second, client relationships and business development, and third, leadership skills and team building.
“[The first module] is really bringing all of our young partners up to the level of understanding we think is necessary regarding the business of our clients and the business of the firm itself,” Watson said, according to the National Law Journal. “Very few law schools require students to take courses on accounting or finance principles, but we want to make sure young partners understand how we assess the financial performance of the firm.”
That the law schools are negligent, and that nine bare days can supplement them, is incredible, but seems to work for Husch, and the program is tailor-made for their expectations. “This particular program is very customized to Husch Blackwell and its strategy and culture,” said law professor Hillary Sale.
They aren’t the only ones. Various law schools have given supplemental education for lawyers. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, for instance, began an 8-day program at Harvard Law School for executive lawyer training. As law schools seek new ways to net funds lost due to loss of enrollment, and as firms look for that cutting edge that will set them a bit above, perhaps this is a trend that could further expand?
“This program is an innovative way to offer high-level professional development to attorneys at a crucial time in their practice,” said law dean Kent Syverud. That, perhaps, is something that could be of interest to others as well.