(This article was first published in SLAW last year) Based on a SLAW post I wrote in 2017, I was recently asked to speak at a conference for women lawyers on leadership. The article focussed on how to effectively lead practice groups and client teams. The date of the original article serves as evidence that [...]
I was recently asked how a law firm management philosophy relates to the strategic planning process. It was a great question, because how we manage a firm (or plan to manage a firm) must either be aligned with firm culture, or set out to consciously adjust firm culture. So how we plan sets the tone [...]
(This article first appeared in SLAW. While it's no longer a "first of the year" piece, it still have value for those firms wondering if the pandemic will ever end, what business will look like on the other side, and whether they should be doing things differently now). Despite hiccups on vaccine receipt and distribution, [...]
(This post first appeared in SLAW) Most firms have come to appreciate the value of practice groups in their management and marketing; but not everyone knows why they are more powerful than operating without them, which may result in their under-utilization. In this post I’ll explain the evolution of practice groups, what they look like [...]
Like most writers, I get inspiration from real-world events. Currently, I’ve been observing as the President of the United States refuses to concede the election to the President-Elect. While in many ways we’ve come to expect this kind of behavior from the current President, it reminded me of the importance of removing ego from leadership [...]
I have a lot of time for Law Firm Marketing Researcher Michael Rynowecer. So, when his blog “The Mad Clientist” arrives in my inbox, I usually read it. The latest edition highlights recent research his company, BTI Consulting, regarding the current US law firm mood, seven months into the pandemic. For fun, I thought I’d [...]
(On October 21st, I’ll be presenting a session on how to use the pandemic as a catalyst for positive change in law firms, through CLEBC. Find information on that session here: https://store.cle.bc.ca/productdetails.aspx?title=Using-COVID-19-and-other-Challenges-to-Progress-Your-Firm&cid=1821 . In this blog post, I’ll highlight one element of that presentation). When he first took office, Obama suggested that the only time [...]
I’ve taken advantage of the relative quiet of the end of summer to take the free University of Alberta Indigenous Canada course. The course provides a summary of life and history in Canada according to those where were here first. I’m about halfway through as I write this blog post, and I’m finding it both [...]
In my last post I provided a few tips to help firms prepare for the pandemic. Well, it’s here now, and while we figure out how to live through it we’re all getting bombarded by Covid 19 email messages ad nauseum. Most of the emails I’ve received have told me absolutely nothing except that the [...]
(This article is for individual lawyers but especially for Managing Partners and Executive Teams, Marketing Partners and Directors, and leaders of practice groups and client teams). We all know that a law firm is hardly the ideal environment for marketing. Typically, lawyers are more on the introverted scale: they don’t like socializing with people they [...]