October 2024: Philip Cooney is a Senior Manager in our Practice Technology team in London. He tells us about his career path, the opportunities at White & Case, the lack of hierarchy in a law firm and how he works directly with clients.

'Open door' policy is a reality at White & Case
Lots of firms say that they have an 'open door' policy, but it's genuinely the case here. Especially in AI, the area that I work in, there's a great culture of asking questions, sharing ideas, collaborating and being open to new ideas.

I'm a qualified lawyer, but I've always been drawn to the tech side of law
I previously worked as a paralegal but wanted to make the move to legal technology. It's such a fast-growing and exciting industry. I moved to White & Case four years ago because of the Firm's forward-looking approach to innovation.

You get a really wide range of experience
Traditional tech firms often focus on one industry or sector. In a law firm, every partner has their own clients, with unique challenges that span many countries. You get a level of multi-sector exposure that you won't get anywhere else.

There's very little hierarchy here
In a conventional business, you might have a hierarchical pyramid structure, but at a law firm, every partner essentially runs their own business, so It's like working with multiple entrepreneurs and it makes for a much more interesting place to work. My team doesn't have to work through an extra layer of management; we work alongside lawyers every day, often embedded directly in their teams.

We work directly with clients
There can be a misconception that business services roles are all internal-facing. Of course, some jobs are, but in my department we work with partners, with lawyers at every level and also with clients directly. We go to the pitches, and we coordinate directly with the end-users. We're the eyes and ears of what's happening in the tech space, and we are best placed to advise on how to adapt that for our teams and our clients.

You can grow your career and change roles here
There's a lot of movement between my team and the Innovation team, as one example. Project management is another common crossover area. You're not locked in to being a software engineer or practice technology analyst here. The Firm is keen to retain talent and that can mean supporting you to make a lateral move, or to moving to the next level in your current team.

Learning and development is an important part of your trajectory here
In my experience, it works best as a two-way conversation. You need to discuss with your line manager where you want to go and they need to take 50 percent of the responsibility to help get you there. The rest is up to you. There are so many courses, training opportunities and resources available internally.

This is a Firm where you can make things happen
If you have a good idea, then there's a real open-minded and supportive attitude to making it happen. Our lawyers look to the Legal Technology team to identify ways for us to grow and be more efficient. We know that what we do is valued and appreciated.