O Shaped Lawyer strikes first law firm deal

Browne Jacobson joins soft skills movement

National law firm Browne Jacobson has partnered with the O Shaped Lawyer, becoming the first law firm to join the soft skills movement.

The initiative, founded in 2019 by former Network Rail GC Dan Kayne, is based on a framework of five ‘O competencies’ – optimism, opportunistic, originality, openness and ownership – representing the mindset of a well-rounded lawyer.

Browne Jacobson says it will embed O Shaped’s purpose and vision into its own culture as well as support O Shaped events, including knowledge and best practice sharing, workshops and toolkit development for clients.

Commenting on the tie-up, Browne Jacobson managing Richard Medd said:

“The values and purpose of O Shaped really resonates with our own firm strategy and we have built a very collaborative culture, understanding the benefits it brings to our clients, our people and our work. It made sense that we further build upon that approach and join O Shaped’s campaign to make the legal profession a more connected, engaged and inclusive environment. This relationship will have a positive impact on the way we work together, the way we work with our clients and the way we work with the wider legal community in the future.”

Though this is the first law firm the project has teamed-up with, it follows a string of recent tie-ups with law schools including BPP, BARBRI and the College of Legal Practice.

Kayne stepped down from his position at Network Rail last month to focus on the project full-time.