DAC Beachcroft has won the Outstanding Training Innovation Award at Legal Week’s annual Legal Innovation Awards for its refreshed trainee development programme, developed in line with the principles of the O-Shaped Lawyer. The judges described the programme as an “imaginative and genuinely innovative leap in training”.
Through the new training programme, DACB’s trainees will develop legal project management skills by participating in a ‘trainee shadow board’, work on real business development projects, attend tailored client relationship management modules, and learn more about how the firm’s business operates through a series of placements into Business Services teams.
The programme, which went live in September 2020, also incorporates a data analytics diploma to aid commercial decision making, making DACB the first law firm to offer such a certification. The accompanying 13-month accredited data literacy diploma will prepare trainees to make better decisions using data, incorporating six modules: enabling great data conversations; storage, security and compliance; data integration and preparation; data storytelling; data-driven insights; and the growing digital world.
Kirsty Medway, DAC Beachcroft’s Head of Learning & Development, said, “We’re very proud to have received this award – it’s one of a number of recent successes which prove the merits of DACB’s culture of innovation.
“The O-Shaped Lawyer principles are a natural fit for our business, and this programme formalises the approach in our training. To succeed and give their clients the best possible advice, the lawyers of the future need a broad skill set that goes beyond technical excellence. Equipping our own lawyers with the right skills from the start of their careers is crucial.”
DACB was also shortlisted in two other categories of the Legal Innovation Awards. Its Reconnect: A Life that Works as you Return to Law programme was nominated for the Excellence in Human Resource Innovation Award, and Craig Dickson, Head of DACB’s Claims Solutions Group, was up for the Innovation Trailblazer Award.
