Every successful law firm leader shares a common paradox: the very skills that made them a spectacular practitioner are often the exact traits that hinder their success as a leader. To become a top-tier lawyer, you must master the art of looking backward. You analyze precedent, anticipate worst-case scenarios, and maintain a healthy level of [...]
To encourage business development, many law firms track and bonus for origination credits. These credits can last anywhere from a single year to the entire lifetime of that client relationship. There is no doubt that the carrot of compensation helps to encourage the transfer of new work to other members of a firm. But this [...]
Partners are the financial engine of your law firm. They generally land the biggest clients, manage high-stakes files, and consistently hit their billable targets. To the rest of the firm, they can appear invincible. But behind closed doors, many of them are quietly burning out. Lawyers are trained to project confidence and stoicism. Because of [...]
My regular readers know I listen to a lot of podcasts, and that one of my favorites is Freakonomics. A recent episode was titled “Has America Lost the Plot?”. It is a great episode, but the title itself gave me the inspiration for this post. Frankly, I think most of the law firm leaders I [...]
When I first studied mediation, it was from the “win-win” camp. I was encouraged to look for ways to build relationships in a dispute by finding common ground, and actively looking for ways to accommodate interests on both sides. Often, this results in more positive outcomes that can, going forward, actually strengthen the relationship between [...]
Gary Klein can tell law firms a lot about working under pressure and uncertainty. He is a research psychologist and pioneer of the field of naturalistic decision making, as well as author of (among others) the book “Seeing What Others Don’t”. People pay attention to this guy: his work is used by the US armed [...]
Through a recent podcast featuring 24-year-old Harvard-educated author Adam Aleksic on the influence of internet language, I was reminded of the incredible speed of change we are all now facing. Take, for example, use of the phrase “unalive” as a way of saying “dead” which might result in algorithmic censorship. Similarly, a watermelon now represents [...]
Decision-making is a key component of most leadership positions. Yet it can often be the leader’s greatest weakness, especially if they believe their job is to have all of the answers. This is particularly true of law firm leaders, who might believe the whole purpose of their role is to make those calls. Ultimately, a [...]
I live in Canada, but as a strategist, I’m fascinated by the lessons arising from the recent election down South. Specifically, I was shocked by how divided America is between two radially different ideologies. Honestly, they couldn’t be more different. And we’re facing the same thing in Canada. In BC, where I live, we recently [...]
Much of my practice is coaching Managing Partners, so believe me when I tell you I’ve heard and seen it all. This includes helping MPs to deal with the many different tactics their Partners and Associates might throw at them. On reflection, it struck me that sometimes, managing a law firm is a bit like [...]