Group Work in Legal Skills Course - Essay Example

? MLO2 REFLECTION ON GROUP WORK FOR LEGAL SKILLS In this reflection, I wish to focus on personal learning on group work. I find this a good occasion to note down my progress in education through the group dynamics method being applied in this course on legal skills. Of course I foresee that group work will come throughout my professional life as a future lawyer. This will come in many ways as the legal profession does not exist in a vacuum. And as my professors have pictured it, lawyers hardly work alone, but must rely for example on a support staff, co-counsels and experts. Most importantly, they must work closely with the clients they serves. Therefore I see the need to rise above myself and learn to interact with people. As I join a student firm, I know that I can perform various tasks like collaborating with others to reach certain goals, share information, and cultivate relationships. Following the Belbin theory on Team Roles, I know that I can also determine my distinctive contribution to my group, and at this moment I feel my giving stress to being an implementer, a vital cog in team work. Last year was my freshman year’s first encounter with a group. I recall how I tried to find a place in my student firm. We did various tasks which taught me a lot, particularly in making concrete the abstract legal skills learned through readings and lectures. However, I think that we could have done better, achieved desired outcomes such as in exercises in doing interviews and negotiating with other firms. But there were behavioural difficulties in the team. Of course, theorists on organizational behaviour like Keith Davis say that no one can be totally blamed for failures in an organizational setting. Team efforts, he noted, result in team results. And so, I think this was precisely our main difficulty—we were not fully a team. Individually, we were too conscious of protecting our self image and self esteem. And feeling threatened by problems which faced us, teamwork did not fully surface. Of course, the desirable outcomes could have been achieved. And Davis says conflicts should not be bad at all for organized groupings. It can stir a search for approaches to get the desired results, also allow problems to become more crystal clear so that these can be faced and resolved. But this was not the case last year. Our conflicts caused the issues to become muddled. We could not face what were unknown and so we could not fully resolve them. In my joining a group this year, my team members and myself seemed better prepared for team building and team success. In spite of the failure of most firms during freshman year, there is a common agreement among my classmates that we are no longer greenhorns this year. We can learn from whatever mistakes we made, and build on the failures last year. Naming our firm came to my group as the great test to the social process of group dynamics which we were tasked to do. And we were prepared this time to forming a firm with scientific tools for learning the different roles we can play. We also assumed different kinds of leadership which can be listed under the Belbin theory of Team Roles namely: as Plant, Monitor Evaluator, Coordinator, Resource Inventory Communicator, Implementer, Complete Finisher, Team workers, Shaper or Specialist. And through our group interactions, we disproved a mathematical logic by showing that “two plus two equals three.” Our firm did have individual members who can be singly counted and added to form the whole team. However, our relationship was an added factor to count such that the team, aside from the individuals, was an additional count. Of course, I have much to thank my group members, especially our chairperson who proved to be an able Coordinator. He led us to focus together on work objectives, drew out our individual strengths, and delegated work. Reflecting on myself as being naturally silent and shy, my Coordinator delegated me with tasks which I could well perform. More importantly, the whole team gave me a listening ear and accepted my language difficulties as an Asian. Assessing other team members, I can pinpoint several of them who played the role of Plants by showing us creative ways to solve problems, even if solutions seemed rather out of what were conventional. Others showed being good Shapers as they gave the necessary drive to keep the whole team moving, and not lose focus on goals or momentum on the work to be done. On my part, I initially saw myself as a Team Worker who can perform required tasks and complete them for the team. Later on, however, I saw myself as an implementer, as I can also be good in the area of planning and mapping practical work strategies, which can be carried out the soonest time possible. If I may again recall last year’s freshman firm, I now see that our team leader was over enthusiastic. I don’t blame him though since it was his first experience to chair and coordinate team work. Excessive enthusiasm, however, had its negative outcome in that there was hardly any delegation of power, and his leadership style was not democratic and more bossy or authoritarian. Among the freshmen firm members, there was the difficulty in arriving at decisions since there were no compromises as each wanted to assert his or her own way to face issues. In the aggressive behaviour of team members to get things done, the Shapers in the team hurried to get things done, not allowing objections to be expressed by the group. Both as a Team Worker and budding Implementer in my present firm, I know I have also been playing a part in managing conflict. My modest opinions were heard, and this allowed the situation to simmer down for us to see what the issues we were facing were really all about. For the future, I think of the following individual efforts I will be exerting, not only for student firms I will be joining, but for the legal skills formation I need to prepare me for the high standard of law practice I wish to render in the legal industry. Honing of my oral communication The English language is a basic tool in the legal profession. I am thankful for the opportunity to take my law studies here in the U.K. as this is a chance for me to develop my proficiency in oral language along the following outcomes: conveying information in a clear, logical and concise way, speaking to persuade not simply to inform, defending a position or cause, mastering legal terminology, and developing keen listening skills. Improving written communication In team work, there was not much of written communication tasks, even during the times for example when we simulated court proceedings, both for civil and criminal cases. But in real legal work,, I know I will be doing a lot of writing of letters, legal documents, briefs, memorandums, resolutions and legal agreements. My mastery of legal writing style and preparing effective documents will be needed. I know that readings, note taking, journal writing, and portfolio-making will help me along this personal goal. There is no alternative to accepting the fact that writing is an integral part of my student preparation and future work. Legal research Apart from listening and absorbing concepts from teachers, I am now aware that there is a need for me to personally discover new theories, trends and practices in the legal industry. Legal research has its own techniques, and I need to learn these, including the mastery of legal interpretation. Today, the Internet offers a quick search library in addition to many legal software which make legal research easier, quicker, and more effective. This leads to my exploring the new landscape of technology which means my familiarity and use of the e-mail and other related systems in the Internet. Time management Student life is rather leisurely paced, but I know that professional legal work demands efficient work within set time frames or deadlines. In my student firm, team work introduced us to multiple tasks divided among team members. But as a solo lawyer or an associate lawyer, I will need to show superior multitask skills. I may have to shift priorities, speed up work to meet deadlines, and live up to the efficient lawyer’s calendar management skills. More Capacity for Teamwork Working solo or in a partnership firm, I will still need teamwork skills. I shall be collaborating with co-counsels, with my clients and my staff, while developing the professional relationship to achieve goals. Looking at the opposite outcomes, theorists see ways I can sabotage a future legal career. I can miss deadlines, work leisurely and only for short hours, rest on my past successes, be a negative factor to my associates, fail to avail of opportunities in the modern world of technology. Briefly, I need to raise the bar of my competence, which I can start to do now, so that later I shall prove that I am of great value to my future firm. Looking forward, I hope to be a cultural link in what may now be said to be a global legal industry. The world is like a pseudo community, which shows a lot of chaos and emptiness. Worldwide, human and civic rights and liberties are violated. At the same time, the legal organizations have expanded such that law firms serve the interests of the East in the West, and those of the West in the East. UK has law firms which are one of the world’s largest legal firms serving not only the UK and the US but also Asia. These firms employ thousands of employees and so these are considered multinationals. On a personal vein, I like to look at David Feldman, as my model. Recently, he joined a well-respected global corporate and securities firm. He is also a legal authority in the Internet. Interestingly, Feldman will be joining Chinese speaking lawyers as his firm operates in China. Who knows? My preparations in the UK may just take me to the same heights of professional work as Mr. Feldman. And my group team work as a student may just provide the needed expertise to put me to the level of competence I will need to work in the global law industry. True, I may be thinking too way ahead, but my UK education should be the best vehicle for such a professional goal. I look forward to more team work without however complaining of “mitingitis” which means fatigue or anxiety for too many meetings. I shall be at home with my team, contribute to the firm, for the moment as implementer. In time, I know I can be more expressive without being aggressive. I can be part of conflict management with my team searching for approaches to solve problems. Theorist Elton Mayo was first to show that groups, either formal or informal ones, have an impact on human satisfaction and effectiveness. He also pointed at different leadership attitudes which can be developed through team work. Of course, team work can have its admitted weaknesses such as slowness and division of responsibilities. However, these weaknesses do not compare with the rewards in team work which build a total climate of human cooperation, trust and productivity within any organization or firm. References Davis, Keith, Human Behaviour At Work. NewYork: McGraw Hill Book Company, 1982. 174-195. Balbin Team Roles. Retrieved from http://www.belbin.com/rite.asp?ed=8 Group Dynamics. Retrieved from http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Group-dynamics Legal Careers. Retrieved from http://legalcareers.about.com/od/career advancement/ tp/Career.Mistakes.htm Read More