National law firm Browne Jacobson has become an official partner to O Shaped, an innovative movement with a mission to drive positive change within the legal sector.

Browne Jacobson are the first law firm to become part of the initiative which has been spearheaded by former Network Rail General Counsel (GC) Dan Kayne. Dan, set up the organisation in 2019 after delivering a thought provoking and engaging speech at a GC conference on how private practice and in-house teams could work more collaboratively as one team when advising their business clients. He highlighted that the legal profession needed a  cultural shift to become a more modern and progressive profession for those that work in it, those who use it and those who are entering it.

O Shaped has rapidly developed since its inception three years ago. Alongside Browne Jacobson, it is also partnering with three of the leading law schools and there are plans to bring  more private practice firms into the O Shaped community.

In partnering with O Shaped, Browne Jacobson will embed O Shaped’s purpose and vision into its own culture, including the Five Os Mindset and the 12 O Shaped Attributes.

The firm will also actively support O Shaped events, including knowledge and best practice sharing, workshops and toolkit development for clients and participating in product pilots with the O Shaped network.

Browne Jacobson Managing Partner, Richard Medd commented: “The values and purpose of O Shaped really resonates with our own firm strategy and we have built a very collaborative culture, understanding the benefits it brings to our clients, our people and our work. It made sense that we further build upon that approach and join O Shaped’s campaign to make the legal profession a more connected, engaged and inclusive environment. This relationship will have a positive impact on the way we work together, the way we work with our clients and the way we work with the wider legal community in the future.”

Claire Stripp, Head of Talent & Knowledge at Browne Jacobson added: “We are delighted to be joining the O Shaped journey, believing the strong strategic synergy between us and them will make this partnering the perfect fit.

“We want to learn and bring new ideas and fresh thinking to not only our clients and connections but to our lawyers, future lawyers and business professionals. We are committed to sharing our own learnings with the rest of the O Shaped community members which will contribute to making the future of the legal sector a positive and bright place for those entering the profession, working in it and using it. We are excited to be working with them.”

Dan Kayne, former GC at Network Rail and founder of the O Shaped Lawyer said: “Browne Jacobson has an excellent reputation for providing straightforward, commercial legal expertise to a diverse and long-standing client base which includes a broad range of GCs in the corporate and financial services and insurance sectors. They are also known as a firm that advocates positive change across the legal system. It is these qualities which mean they are absolutely the right fit for O Shaped and why we chose to collaborate with them. We feel this is a great opportunity to start creating a more modern, human-centric and customer-focused profession that will benefit  its’ people, clients and society more broadly.