When business development teams see themselves as business partners, it changes the way the role is approached. Laura Chamberlain tells Matt Baldwin how.
To take on a global business development role supporting a top-tier practice at one of the world’s largest and most successful law firms would, for many, be a career highlight. But to take this on and then add a further practice area not long after having relocated to southern Europe, well, that marks out someone truly extraordinary.
Laura Chamberlain’s seven-year career at Clifford Chance is without doubt quite remarkable. She is the firm’s Global Director, Client and Market Development for both the Litigation and Dispute Resolution and Tax, Pensions and Employment practices.
With a team of just 11 people in London, mainland Europe and the US, it is, as you might expect, a busy role, made perhaps more challenging having relocated to Spain during the Covid pandemic.
Being a high-performance business development professional is a given, but it is the generosity of her time, making herself available to her team and colleagues around the world, that is her superpower. It is, she says, the only way to deliver the very best support her colleagues around the world demand.
“It is a cliché, but my business development colleagues are by far the most important asset for someone in a role like mine. I invest a lot of time in helping them to help me deliver the support and direction our lawyers need. We are business partners to our fee earners, not just business development support.”
Laura joined Clifford Chance in 2018, having previously worked in pursuit roles at EY and PwC. Her first role at the firm – a global position for the Regulatory Investigations and Financial Crime group – was a gentle transition from Big Four to Big Law.
It was when the colleague who first hired her moved on that she stepped into the global lead role for Litigation and Dispute Resolution, also quickly ‘inheriting’ the firm’s Tax, Pensions and Employment practice.
Global and local
Large professional services firms are incredibly complex in the way they are structured. At Clifford Chance, there are local and regional teams working alongside those dedicated to practices, sectors and clients. It can, says Laura, be a beast to navigate.
“It is important for anyone going into a global role to invest time to build your network,” she explains.
“You may have direct reports that focus on the practice, but you need to be plugged into colleagues on the ground and those who support client relationships and sectors globally.
Those colleagues need to feel part of your community and of what you are trying to achieve.”
For Laura’s team, it is very much about being nimble and working smart, pulling in expertise from teams from across Clifford Chance’s global business development and wider business professional function as needed.
In practice, that means investing time with business development professionals around the world, bringing them together with regular calls and sharing strategy.
“It is not about knowing what is on their ‘to-do’ list or sharing what is on yours, but about making people feel part of something bigger,” she says. “It is about creating a community, sharing information and helping individuals grow and develop in their careers, even when you are not their direct line manager.
“We employ great people and need to give them space to thrive. It is incredibly rewarding to see individuals across the function developing and reaching their full potential. It is the most enjoyable part of the role.”
In the past 12 months, Laura, with her director colleagues and peers, the firm’s learning and development team and with external support, has co-developed and launched a leadership development programme for mid- and senior-level managers. It is already having considerable impact.
Accessible leadership
“We work for impressive individuals, and when you see yourself as a business partner to them it changes the way you approach the job,” says Laura.
“In a practice role, the opportunities are countless. Our lawyers bring ideas to the table, as does our business development team. How we qualify those ideas is vital. My team need to feel empowered to challenge and focus on what’s really going to make a difference.”
It also means encouraging her team to think actively about the potential solutions to challenges and problems and own their mistakes.
“The satisfaction in seeing the team work through challenges and find a way forward, is enormously satisfying. When I become a sounding board versus a solution, it makes me very proud.”
In high-performance cultures, business development teams will naturally want to be at their very best – and at Clifford Chance that means working collaboratively and sharing the load.
“It is incredibly important to me,” explains Laura. “We step in for each other. We don’t say ‘this isn’t within my remit’. And when someone is out of the office and a colleague steps in to cover for them, we make sure the rest of the team is aware and ready to provide additional ‘air cover’ if it is needed.”
The firm’s business development leadership team have a responsibility for working closely with their teams to shape objectives that are connected with global strategy. It means that accessible leadership is important, and it is no surprise that Laura invests a lot of time checking in with her
team to make sure everyone is OK, creating a “team ethos”.
“Very few of us want to be a small cog in a big wheel,” says Laura. “We want a nurturing and rewarding environment where we can make a difference, and that is what I hope has been the experience for those I work with at Clifford Chance.”
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