How to run a discussion

What is a discussion?

A Hotshot discussion is a live training session — in person or on video — where a partner or senior lawyer facilitates a structured conversation on a topic covered by Hotshot. Attendees prepare in advance by watching Hotshot videos and reviewing a short exercise, which means the session itself can focus entirely on discussion, application, and the facilitator's own experience.

Discussions are designed to be low effort. A partner can run one having reviewed the facilitator guide for around ten minutes. There's no scenario to build, no materials to create, and no separate expert to recruit. Hotshot has done all of that.

What you'll need

You'll need a facilitator — typically a partner or senior lawyer who knows the subject — and a group of attendees. In some firms, someone from L&D or Professional Development handles the logistics and communications while the partner focuses on running the session. For smaller firms or informal sessions, the facilitator often handles everything themselves.

Step 1: Choose a topic

Browse the available discussions on the Hotshot Experiential page. Each one is linked to a Hotshot topic, so you can find sessions that match what your team is working on or a skill you want to develop. If you're not sure where to start, your Customer Success contact is happy to suggest discussions that work well for first-time facilitators.

Step 2: Read the facilitator guide

Every discussion has a short facilitator guide covering how to structure the session, what questions to ask, and how to wrap up. Allow around ten minutes to read through it beforehand. You don't need to memorise it — it's there to support you during the session if needed.

Step 3: Invite attendees and send the prep materials

Send attendees a calendar invitation and include the attendee link for the discussion, which gives them access to the videos and exercise to review before the session. We recommend sending this a few days in advance. A short note is all you need:

"We're running a Hotshot discussion on [topic]. Please complete the prep materials before joining."

Step 4: Run the session

The facilitator guide walks you through the session. In broad terms it moves from a knowledge check, to a group exercise discussion, to a conversation about your own experience — firm practices, war stories, things you'd tell a junior lawyer on a deal. That last part is what makes it distinctly valuable and something no pre-recorded content can replicate.

Step 5: Follow up

After the session you can share a link to the relevant Hotshot topic so attendees can review related Hotshot courses on demand.

A note on cadence

Firms that get the most out of discussions tend to run them regularly rather than as one-off events. Tying a topic to something timely — a recent deal, a new regulation, an AI development — helps with attendance and engagement.