Having worked in or with law firms for over 30 years now, I can say that in my experience, law firms have a hard time being honest about certain things. I’m not for a minute suggesting that lawyers do not tell the truth. The foundation of every firm I’ve worked with is the personal integrity [...]
The retiring baby boomer generation includes lawyers who were founding partners of their firm. It’s understandable that as they bow out of the profession, they would want to protect the legacy they spent so many years building by ensuring their clients would be well taken care of in the future. It also makes sense that [...]
Most law firms I know are very giving from a charitable perspective. This could include altruistic monetary donations, support for client events, support of charitable initiatives involving the firm’s lawyers or staff, or in-house events in support of a charity. I’m always interested to see where in the budget these activities reside. It says a [...]
When you decided to become a lawyer, you took the time and energy to plot out a pathway. You took the right courses and got the grades needed to get into law school. You participated in extracurricular activities that would look good on your resume to secure summer positions and later, a good articling position. [...]
Over the next ten or so years, we will see a marketplace-shifting change in law firm ownership as baby boomers retire and decide what to do with their practice. This is a time of high angst for those about to leave the law, and potentially a remarkable opportunity for the more entrepreneurial and thick- stomached [...]
Increasingly, law firms are learning to appreciate the value of individual lawyer marketing plans. But paperwork is only the first step. A plan is useless without implementation. Yet how does a firm convince a busy lawyer to implement on those plans? Too often, in firms that require personal plans, lawyers will begrudgingly prepare them but [...]
Partners wrestle with this question: when do we make the difficult decision to part company with one of our own? This action goes against the very fibre of a typical law firm. Partnerships are based on undying loyalty, nurturing the next partners, and being there for each other through thick and thin. We understand that [...]
Most firms understand the value of having their lawyers market: they just don’t know how to make it happen. So, they rely on the lawyers. They create a marketing plan requirement (or tie in marketing activity with compensation review) as a motivator for action. Then they sit back and wait until the end of the [...]
Business coaching provides a supportive environment in which to admit to and work on challenges and weaknesses that are holding us back at work in some way. These weaknesses rarely relate to legal knowledge. More often, they involve practice management concerns such as delegation, financial management, file management, time management, leadership, how to deal with [...]
The most powerful marketing is honest, consistent and meaningful to your firm and your target audience. Because of this, it makes sense to ensure that how we market ourselves reflects our firm’s values, goals and differentiators. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Some firms spend time in a retreat or hire a consultant to take [...]