In our fast-moving modern era full of technological innovations and wide access to information, it has never been more important to build trust and great relationships while delivering high-quality service, say Kevin Kwasa and Rossana de Oliveira.
“Developing a deep level of trust is what will set a good lawyer apart from AI platforms, such as ChatGPT,” emphasised Kevin, who joined the partnership of CMS Kenya Daly Inamdar Advocates last July. “So-called ‘soft skills’ are extremely important. Being someone your client can trust stems from building your interpersonal skills – from the way you relate to and communicate with your client, to the way you manage your own day.”
Kevin points to fellow partner Julius Wako as a prime example of a trusted advisor; Julius will still be the first call for clients he advised on other transactions 10 to 15 years ago.
“AI can have as much buzz as it wants, but I don’t think it will ever be able to build that level of trust,” commented Kevin. “Sitting with someone you’re comfortable with, who you can share your challenges and problems with, who you’re willing to trust with finding a solution – that all comes from building those personal skills. It comes from thinking about yourself and strategising what kind of lawyer you want to be and how you want to act with people.”
Kevin attended last year’s CMS Africa Academy in Nairobi alongside many colleagues from across the continent, including Rossana who is an associate at CMS LBR in Angola. Rather than focusing on legal knowledge, the academy utilises CMS partners and outside experts to help staff learn and practice “soft skills” like service delivery, collaboration and leadership.
“The academy helped me understand the path we’re taking as lawyers,” noted Rossana. “Each session had aspects that really caught my attention, but for me the best one was led by Rorisang Mzozoyana on personal branding and networking for legal success. It was well presented, very interactive, practical and reflective, and the message passed on was very clear.”
Rossana and Kevin both shared that the CMS Africa Academy helped them understand more about communication and how to develop themselves and their practices, and pushed them to reflect on the kinds of lawyers they want to be, moving forward.
“I’m very interested in building relationships between people, and realised a lot of my successful transactions have been joint ventures or minority acquisitions where you’re balancing competing interests,” said Kevin. “In Kenya we have a lot of resources, but are suffering from funding and investment gaps. So finding ways to partner with outsiders – a lot of growth can come from that. By thinking through my personal brand over a few days at the CMS Academy, I realised I want to be a specialist in collaborative transactions.”
The academy was an excellent learning experience, said Rossana, who came away with a desire to better understand and improve in the legal areas she identifies with, raise her visibility outside the firm, and analyse the kind of lawyer she wants to grow into.