Michael Isaacs, director of legal – litigation at BT

Michael Isaacs leads BT's litigation arm and joined the telecommunications giant in 2018. Prior to that role, he had been a partner at TLT and head of banking and finance litigation at Pinsent Masons. Here, he discusses what law firms should be prioritising when they work with clients at the moment, the importance of weekends, and industry furloughs.

How does this crisis compare with the financial crisis?

That's a tough one. The 2008 financial crisis was something we'd seen before, so as bad as it was, there was a sense of it being 'part of the cycle'. Coronavirus is so novel though – we've not seen anything like this in a century, and not in such a modern, connected world. So, the uncertainty is what makes it such a challenge.

But unlike the financial crisis, there's more of a sense of this being a national challenge that we all have to face together – and that is certainly how BT is approaching this, by living up to its role as a national champion – whether that's the key workers out keeping business and families connected through our networks, or engineers helping connect Nightingale hospitals, there's a genuine feeling of wanting to help the country recover.

What's the first thing you'll do when the lockdown is lifted?

Go out for a really good meal! It is a kind of family tradition to have breakfast out on a Sunday morning, and as soon as the Guildford Ivy is open again, we'll be booking in.

What's the biggest challenge about working from home?

The boundaries between work and home are extremely blurred! As for many other businesses, Covid-19 has created a series of urgent issues, and the temptation has been to just plough through. I had a sense check when a colleague asked me a couple of weeks ago why I had emailed a document at 2am, which I hadn't clocked myself. So, I'm trying to be more deliberate in setting working hours, as well as telling my team that if they get something from me at an odd hour, they shouldn't feel that there is any injunction on them to reply until the next working day!

How many times a day are you interrupted by pets/ spouses/ children?

Thankfully only for meals – my fiancée works for a city law firm, and is also working from home, so we have a mutual understanding of the need to crack on during the day!

What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you on a video call?

Thankfully – nothing. I make sure to be properly dressed and follow the media advice of treating a microphone like a loaded gun!

What do you miss most about the office?

The personal interaction. There are so many water cooler or kitchen coffee moments which add to the day, both socially and for insights and intelligence about what is going on, what people are up to, or something which the busy-ness of your own day means you've missed.

How are you spending your weekends? Is there a Netflix recommendation you'd share?

Weekends are still precious. Working from home means that during the week there's no decompression time – one thing that commuting was good for was allowing time for the wind-up and wind-down at the end of the day, even if that was just zoning out on the train with your earphones in! So, Fridays still represent a big mental "phew" moment.

Netflix – we watched Ozark which was superb – but we got through 3 series quickly, watching one a night! We've since moved on to American Horror Story, also pretty good.

What are the best and worst remote working experiences you have had?

Remote working relies heavily on technology, and when it isn't working, things get tough very quickly. We'd moved into our new house just 2 days before lockdown, with no internet. For a few days it was a bit "how on earth is this going to work?", but then the Openreach guys came and installed our Superfast Fibre and hey presto!

Best experience was being able to conduct an online intra-panel tender for a large piece of litigation, evaluate it and award the work within a week using some of the new tech tools that we are using in BT Legal, which 6 months ago would have been difficult to achieve, even sat in BT Centre.

What would be your three top tips for others working from home?

I'm not sure I'm perfect here but I'd say (1) Set yourself up to have a normal working day, and try to stick to the timings, including switching off your PC at dinner time – otherwise you find yourself drifting back to it (2) Eat well, drink water and exercise – ( I'm doing ok with one of those!). Especially enjoy the lack of a commute and have a good breakfast instead – I used to leave the house earlier than I could face eating – and a good breakfast really sets you up for the day (3) Be understanding of things not being as they were (for both you and others) and be adaptable – things have changed and will probably not be the same again even when offices re-open. Different doesn't necessarily mean worse either!

What are the most helpful and unhelpful things external advisers can do for you at the moment?

The best of our litigation panel firms are in touch with things that are relevant, and when they talk about them, they have really thought through the "so what?" question – in other words, they've made their update 'BT relevant'. The best calls and emails I get are short and punchy "Have you thought about this issue, that will affect you in X, Y, Z ways? Happy to chat it though if you have 10 minutes" – that's the kind of panel value we need, with a relationship-based approach. Some firms don't quite get it though, even if the rhetoric is there, and there's still too much "we are top tier, so you'd be daft not to use us" showing through their approach.

How do you feel about firms furloughing staff?

Coronavirus and the Government response to it is presenting challenges for all businesses, and each business has to decide this issue for itself – I wouldn't presume to judge them. BT didn't make use of the furloughing scheme and committed to its staff on that and jobs for 3 months. But if furloughing saves jobs and gives hard-pressed businesses leeway, no business could be blamed for making that choice.

How do you think working from home when working in-house compares with those working in private practice?

I think the general challenges are the same – keeping focussed and engaged, staying in touch with your colleagues, and maintaining that work/home divide. The firms that are tech-savvy will be reaping the reward of investment in their systems too. I can imagine that for law firm partners, whose raison d'etre is to win work, it will feel challenging without the chance to get out and meet clients, especially those with incumbent legal advisers who have already got good relationships with their client teams.

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