The economic downturn has caused many businesses to reconsider the viability of their strategic direction. This is especially true for law firms that primarily deal with business clients and are impacted by both the global decline in business transactions and clients’ overall desire to reduce costs by using less legal services. For many law firms, [...]
The term “acquisition” is used quite often to describe the manner in which law firms bring in experienced lawyers. Sometimes firms describe the hiring of lateral partners as an acquisition and bringing in groups of lawyers or a whole practice group from another law firm is viewed as an acquisition. When the consolidation of two [...]
Technology is a huge part of all of our lives. One common feature of almost every technological gadget we own is that when it hiccups, the first thing we have to do is hit the reset button. Whether it’s an iPhone, Windows Vista, or your TV cable box, it seems the answer to every problem [...]
Law firms are unique creatures. On the one hand, lawyers seem to hate working in teams. Most view themselves as licensed professionals and have trouble being dependent upon anyone else. Some feel this solo operating style is instilled by law schools where students directly compete with each. As a result, lawyers as a profession are [...]
Occasionally firms are presented with a unique opportunity to attract a senior in-house lawyer or governmental official as a lateral partner. If such a person becomes successful, the rewards to the firm can be staggering. But the failure rate of lawyers who intend to build a practice from scratch, regardless of their credentials, is high. [...]
A primary long-term strategy for a lot of U.S. law firms is the establishment and growth of an office in the U.K. or continental Europe. But such global aspirations are becoming much more expensive and risky as the value of the U.S. dollar falls against the British pound and the euro. For firms looking to [...]
It comes as no surprise to anyone who has ever worked for or with a law firm that taking action to implement any form of decision or plan can be a major problem. Whether it involves a sophisticated strategy or enforcing the most routine practice requirements, some law firms seem to have a tough time [...]
The biggest factor in most law firms’ success is the quality of their client base. In large measure this is because different clients have differing volumes of work, complexity of legal needs and price sensitivity. Appropriately, therefore, many law firms’ strategic plans are built, at least in part, around improving their client base. Unfortunately, there [...]
We are seeing a significant roll up among smaller and mid-sized law firms in the U.S. Evidence of the consolidation of law firms can be seen in Of Counsel magazine’s annual survey of the 700 largest U.S. law firms. In 1994 the 700th firm had 51 lawyers; in 2006 the 700th firm had 20 lawyers. [...]
In many law firms it is politically incorrect to say that any practice area is of greater value to the firm than another. But the truth is that there are some practices that, by the nature of their position in the marketplace and how they react with client’s businesses, deserve a greater allocation of the [...]
I was speaking with the managing partner of an AmLaw 200 firm a couple of weeks ago. He casually mentioned that, year in and year out, he spends about 25 percent of his time involved in merger discussions. I thought he was kidding but he assured me he was completely serious and had the non-billable [...]
Most law firms want to grow. Whether to gain depth of capability or achieve the credibility among clients that comes with critical mass, growth in the number of attorneys is a strategic priority for the majority of law firms in the U.S. Of course, firms have several growth options. They can grow organically by hiring [...]
If you have been involved in the practice of law for 20 years or more and listened to yesterday’s Sunday morning news shows, I’m sure that the talk of a bailout of banks and the creation of a resolution trust to manage and dispose of distressed real estate seemed like déjà vu. It certainly reminded [...]
When law firms go about attempting the implementation of strategies that involve some aspect of change for the firm, there is frequently a lot of talk about “burning platforms.” The concept is that people, particularly lawyers, are resistant to change. Therefore, even the most logical and rational justifications of change don’t seem to work unless [...]
It’s common wisdom that voluntary turnover is a bad thing for law firms and should be avoided. But what if it can’t be avoided? Suppose that, like forest fires, turnover is a natural part of the environment necessary to clean out underbrush and give the strongest saplings the room and sunlight to grow. Does it, [...]
I had occasion to be on a panel with several other consultants and some managing partners recently. One of the consultants said, “As you all know, every law firm loses money on associates during their first three years of practice.” The panel (me included) smiled and nodded acknowledgment of this commonly accepted belief: all young associates cost more than they produce in revenue.
The economy is making a lot of firms nervous about the future of their traditional practice areas. So, it’s not surprising that firms want to look at “emerging” practices – areas where they might be able to establish a position of strength before competitors are even aware that the practice exists. But new niche practices [...]
The recession provides an excellent opportunity for law firms to achieve strategic objectives through a series of small mergers that are effectively acquisitions. Increasingly, smaller firms with less than 50 lawyers see “being acquired” as the best means of surviving the economic downturn. For larger firms, picking up lawyers in small groups enhances the likelihood [...]
A great deal has been written about why associates, and even young partners, have a different set of aspirations and values than previous generations. It is further suggested that law firms must adapt themselves to these generational shifts if they want to successfully recruit and retain lawyers and staff. But suppose that the issues we [...]
For many law firm partnerships, the default solution in dealing with underproductive partners is to fire them. Presumably, the reason firms immediately choose the “nuclear option” is not because it is particularly attractive. Rather, they simply don’t have the confidence that any other option will work. This is unfortunate because they pass up a potentially [...]
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