The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/96072
that Fullbridge was doing. They delivered this training to Skadden Arps in New York, and I discussed the training with colleagues at that firm over a two-year period. Skadden's experience with putting their new associates through the program was very favorable. They reported their new associates who went through the training program were able to understand business language and the environment in which their clients operate better than those without such training. Skadden's associates were able to add value immediately, so we took that as a great recommendation for the Fullbridge Program from peers that we respect. Getting the Program Off the Ground With any new or novel program, there's going to be a learning curve, and education needs to take place. We had to work through change management, budgets and scheduling in order to launch the program. We also embarked on an extensive educational campaign early on, explaining to our partners and other attorneys why this training program was necessary and how it would benefit the participants. This was something new. Everyone's curious about something new, so we received myriad questions, such as: • Why does it need to be three weeks? • Where are we holding the training? • Who is delivering this training? • Can we work with the trainers to make sure they deliver the materials in a way that's symbiotic with our firm's culture and clients? The wonderful thing was we were able to answer all of these questions to the satisfaction of our firm leadership. So our biggest obstacle was educational. After learning about it, people got really excited. As with anything new, start education early and repeat the benefits often. One other thing to note is that we had a firm leader, a wellrespected corporate securities attorney, get behind the idea of providing this training, so that helped move us in the right direction. Peer to Peer 33