During a self-described mid-life crisis, Karen Seward accidentally found herself on an extreme skiing holiday as a total novice – and in the hands of a guide who was new to the job.

She managed to successfully navigate the slopes in Jackson Hole, Wyoming though, and now has a house there as well as a love of the sport.

Manoeuvring through her first year at the helm of Allen & Overy's litigation practice has also proved challenging at times.

At the same time as acting for clients, Seward has managed to visit every A&O office with a litigation offering since she took up the role last May.

It was an office tour that uncovered a few issues that needed to be addressed. One was a need for her department to address an issue that is affecting a wide range of commercial law firms: younger lawyers' growing desire for non-linear career trajectories, which may not involve becoming partner.

"People want to meander a bit and be open to opportunities, so the challenge is to manage that – we have to change our mindset," Seward says.

In order to fully engage its junior lawyers, reverse mentoring is used within the department in London and is set to be introduced across other international offices too. Seward herself has two reverse mentors at the firm, and mentors lawyers at clients too.

Seward has also introduced 'flash secondments', where lawyers can desk swap with others in different jurisdictions without having to present a formal business case to do so.

Preparing for proceedings

As well as attempting to keep hold of junior staff, the department is also preparing to bring in more lawyers as it prepares for an expected increase in work. Last year, Seward said she wanted to grow the firm's employment offering and international arbitration ranks in response to market demand. Those areas are still priorities for her, as well as investigations and financial crime.

"We're focusing on a more rounded litigation offering – if you can have a top-end employment practice married up with arbitration and litigation strength, then you can cover all areas of crisis management for companies," she says.

She adds that the firm expects to make lateral hires in financial crime and corruption this year, and that it is actively recruiting for heavyweight arbitration talent in Germany after country litigation head Daniel Busse left last autumn.

In terms of global reach, key areas for growth include Luxembourg, Asia-Pacific and the US.

While Seward firmly refuses to be drawn on the firm's ongoing merger discussions with O'Melveny & Myers, she is equally firm in her opinion that the litigation team needs to be bigger in the states, saying: "I am a huge proponent of having a larger practice in the US."

Department diversity

Another issue Seward is keen to address is improving diversity within her department, and the industry at large. She recalls forcing herself to learn everything about rugby and cricket before "interminable" lunches with male clients when she was younger – and is relieved by her impression that nowadays "women have been released from that sort of pressure".

But she remains one of few women to reach the upper echelons within the magic circle and believes change may take a while.

"We need more women around to get to a tipping point"

"It has become a big commercial driver – I think we'll see a big change but it will take a while. We need more women around to get to a tipping point," she says.

Seward adds that the real challenge is keeping women in the pipeline.

"The more flexibility you can afford people, the more chance you have of keeping them. I think partners could also do more to show they enjoy being partners, to encourage people to stick with it."

But one thing young female lawyers can do to help themselves in their careers is to identify what they admire in other women, she explains.

"Women like to look at someone who's perfect and say, 'that's it, that's the goal'. We should encourage them to borrow bits of personalities from women they admire instead."