In the legal marketplace today, one that is increasingly client centric, legaltech enabled, data driven and where service/product delivery needs to be lean, nimble, and agile, having the right people, do the right things, at the right time and at the right price point is the only way a law firm gets to do what its clients want i.e. deliver its services and products effectively and efficiently. It's that easy and it's that hard!

The creativity, complexity and uniqueness of legal professionals has never been more important than it is right now but, so too is recognising their fragility. People aren't machines. And, if they are to be at their best, they need to be recognised, engaged, and empowered - that's where the new people, people come in - HR, talent management professionals, well -being and coaching executives collaborating and working in unison to support, guide, and connect the dots between individual capabilities and the achievement of legal business performance goals.

In this podcast on Reinventing the Legal Workplace – Meet the new people, people!, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific), was joined by an international panel of leaders and doers in this space from Australia and the USA:

Jan Christie, Capability + Development Manager, Gilbert + Tobin (Australia)
Louise Ferris, Chief People Officer, McCullough Robertson Lawyers (Australia)
Krista Larson, Director of Employee Well-being, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (USA)
Susan Manch, Chief Talent Officer, Winston & Strawn LLP (USA)

Topics discussed included:

Who are the new people, people and what exactly do they do?
The changing role of human resources and how it's combining with digital resources today
The impact of COVID-19 on workplaces, work cultures, mindsets, mental health and well-being, capabilities and capability development
Challenges and priorities just ahead…

Thank you Jan, Lou, Krista and Sue – your work and dedication is an inspiration – amazing!

If you would prefer to listen rather than watch this session, we'll also be releasing this session as a webinar as part of our FREE Reinvent Legal Business Series 2 webinars - you'll find the details and registration links as we add them here.

Breakfast With Beau | Monday 5th January 2026

The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters

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