A coffee with Lorna Rose, Jayva’s Implementation Consultant

Established legal industry training specialist and technophile, Lorna Rose, is passionate about empowering people to embrace technology and revolutionise their businesses.

Technology features heavily in this Q&A as Lorna covers everything from artificial intelligence to webinars, interspersed with revelations about her Jayva and personal lives.

What’s your business/professional motto?

My advice to legal services organisations is: if you have technology, use it fully to get the very best out of it and achieve return on investment. This is the reason I do my job. I love bringing value to law firms by helping them introduce improved ways of working, and achieve their strategic and operational goals, thanks to the power of the technology they already own.

How do you make contacts which are useful for business?

Jayva’s been running a series of ‘Artificial intelligence (AI) in LEAP’ bootcamp webinars throughout February, March and April in association with LEAP Legal Software. These have brought together 1,500+ attendees from hundreds of practices globally. I’ve delivered the entire webinar series and it’s been a fantastic opportunity to meet new people. These webinars, coupled with regularly sharing useful content on LinkedIn, have seen my LinkedIn connections grow considerably.

Making new contacts, then, ultimately comes back to technology. Over the course of my 20-year career in legal software training and consultancy thus far, I’ve gotten to know people primarily via technology, be it webinars or LinkedIn. I also use technology to discover and attend face-to-face networking events in my area. So, technology presents so many options to build contacts for business.

Which individual has inspired you the most in your business life and in what way?

In a previous role within a law firm, I worked with an inspirational marketing lady who taught me lots about business development and putting myself in front of people by overcoming my fears and fighting against imposter syndrome. We were both believers in technology’s capabilities to transform businesses, as long as people get comfortable with change and don’t get scared by software. Her well-timed support and backing set me on the right course to become the experienced, confident trainer and consultant I am today.

What’s your proudest achievement in business?

To have upskilled over 1,500 people over the course of only eight weeks is a major achievement and something I’m immensely proud of. The sheer volume of attendees is staggering. All of these attendees have learnt about the latest, brand-new AI technology available right now in LEAP – such as Matter AI, LawY, Prompts and Template Generator – to supercharge their workflow. The positive impact this AI technology is having on these businesses is equally staggering.

What do you think makes Jayva different?

It’s the personalities, professionalism and attitudes of the employees that makes Jayva different and a truly fabulous company – both to do business with and to work for. Our founder and CEO, Nicola Moore-Miller, has surrounded herself with individuals who have a great work ethic and are personable too. As one of LEAP’s leading certified consultancy partners, we’ve forged solid relationships because of how well the two sets of people – Jayva and LEAP – interact and collaborate. This means customer relationships are enriched too, as combined Jayva-LEAP clients have a seamless experience throughout their technology lifecycle.

Within a lot of companies, when you ask for help from colleagues, answers given merely scratch the surface. There’s a tendency to hold onto knowledge. Jayva’s the opposite. You ask a question and get multiple, detailed responses. Knowledge sharing is one of our strengths. There’s no power play, just a desire to do the right thing by the client, by LEAP or by Jayva.

What’s Jayva’s greatest asset?

As already explained, it’s the people at Jayva who are its greatest asset. Each person’s skills, dedication and hard work contribute to our overall success. Our people drive our business onwards.

How does Jayva benefit from the unique skillset you bring to the business?

I bring to the table unique expertise in e-learning solutions and content creation, as well as an array of training accreditations. My experience covers training across the board, in technology usage, soft skills and leadership, and I have extensive knowledge in learning management systems. In terms of certifications, I hold City & Guilds and Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development teaching certificates. This fits well into Jayva’s existing skillsets, enabling us to offer training and consultancy services in every area of running a law firm or legal department.

Give one tip for a successful business.

It’s important not to have all your eggs in one basket, and look out for upcoming challenges and opportunities in your sector. By being prepared for what’s coming, businesses can pivot and stay ahead of the game.

Touching upon AI again, the legal sector as a whole is still getting to grips with this new technology. Upskilling on AI is beneficial for businesses and people alike as it puts them on the front foot. AI is a game changer but there’s nervousness around it, especially regarding its adoption by trainees and newbies. Human oversight of AI is critical. That’s where Jayva’s training services come in, to teach optimum and safe usage of AI and other innovative technologies.

Within Jayva, we like to promote our additional services whenever possible to showcase our portfolio and be robust all-rounders in the legal training and consultancy space, thus living and breathing the diversification ethos which is the opposite of putting all your eggs in one basket. Our solutions are assisting law firms in thriving in an increasingly challenging arena.

Another tip for business owners is getting the balance right between working in the business and working on the business. Of course, the reason you go into business in the first place is to do the things you’re good at. But, all the back-office and management responsibilities still need to be handled too.

Do you dress up or down for business?

My dress rule is to wear clothes appropriate to the people I’m in front of. If people are wearing professional attire and I’m in casuals, I won’t connect as well with them. If people are wearing casuals and I’m professionally dressed, it’s similarly awkward. To avoid the embarrassing feeling of inferiority or superiority, I always ask what the office dress code is before I arrive on site or meet online. Even when dressing down, however, I still like to wear a smart top or Jayva-branded hoodie.

If you hadn’t gone down your chosen career path, what would you be doing instead?

My favourite thing in the world is gardening and I always wanted to be a landscape gardener. Way back when, I was told I wouldn’t make enough money in this career. Instead, I started working for a law firm, who later installed new case management software, so I moved into the IT team in a support capacity and progressed into software training. I’ve been extremely lucky as I absolutely love my job and I’ve been training and consultancy for 25 years.

Watching people have lightbulb moments during training sessions gives me a huge buzz. I once had a delegate cry during training as she was overcome with what she’d discovered and the time-saving advantages the newly acquired software knowledge afforded her. It’s not an exaggeration to say that people are always pleased to see trainers as they recognise they’re going to gain something from the meet up. This gives me immense pleasure.

What item(s) do you always have with you?

Slightly old school, I always have a pen and notepad on me. While I do use my smartphone and laptop for note taking too, the process of handwriting notes cements my understanding so much more. In truth, I rarely look back at these notes. It’s enough to simply write them in the first place.

At what time of day are you most creative or inspired?

I’m not an early morning person as I don’t fire on all cylinders at the very beginning of the day. 10am to midday is my sweet spot. By mid morning, I’ve consumed enough coffee to power me through to 7pm in the evening.

When delivering the AI webinar programme, the morning sessions were the prime slot as it fell within my sweet spot, and attendees were alert and tuned in. The afternoon sessions were a little harder for attendees as they’d eaten lunch and were occasionally struggling to maintain concentration.

When do you take your coffee break – morning, afternoon, evening? And where do you take it?

I make my coffee and it bring it back to my desk. I’ve lived on coffee for years but recently I’ve been cutting back a little and drinking more tea. My coffee/tea drinking times are usually at 7am, 8.45am and 10am, with two or three drinks in the afternoon. These hot drinks serve two purposes, in giving my body fuel and heating me up when the weather’s colder.

Espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino, macchiato, flat white, frappe – what’s your coffee of choice?

It’s black americano all the way from my espresso machine, although I’ve become a tea drinker recently too.

Who would you most like to have a coffee with?

If I was able to have a coffee with anyone living, it’d be the adventurer and author, Simon Reeve. I saw him perform live a few weeks ago and find his career truly remarkable.

If I could choose to have a coffee with anyone who’s no longer with us, it’d be the musician, Prince. I loved his music and flamboyant style.

How do you relax outside of work?

I have a Miniature Schnauzer called Ellie so relaxation involves lots of dog walking. I also watch films, do gardening, work out a little at home and go to gigs including at least one music festival each year.

What’s the most inspirational book you’ve ever read?

The War of the Worlds by H G Wells and 1984 by George Orwell are two of my all-time favourite novels. The human race can be full of its own self importance. We get put in our place in these books. They give perspective at a time when we need it more than ever.

What’s your favourite film?

My favourite film is Moulin Rouge. I’ve seen the stage show version too. As a fan of the literary classics, another favoured film is the adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Time for another coffee?

Take a look at more of our ‘coffee with’ blogs on Olivia Johnson, Jude Smith, Leanne Pearson, Jacqui Bettio, Piet Bourke, Will Penrice, Joe Sclafani, Chris Nelson, Viona Retkowska, Rosa Pelaez-Vinuela and Susan Rodgers.