Planning - any planning - is better than doing none at all. For this reason, I encourage lawyers to engage in whatever level of complexity of planning they can muster. If that means spending a lunch hour talking about business goals with your partners, or writing down a few goals on a napkin, so be [...]
Lawyers are intelligent, capable human beings who sometimes find it almost impossible to manage their time well. The reason could be that too much is expected of them; that they like to do things very well before moving on and that takes time; that they under-estimated how long an activity will take; that when activities [...]
A growing portion of my coaching business has been to help lawyers and law firm senior support staff to plan for their retirement. Traditionally, we’ve gone to accountants to help us plan for retirement because we’ve primarily been concerned about ensuring that once we stop collecting a regular pay cheque, we have enough money to [...]
While law firms tend to be a relatively flat structure, there is usually a management structure that helps to guide things along. Typically, this includes a lawyer leadership team (a Managing Partner and potentially, an Executive Committee), practice or client team leaders if the firm is organized into teams, and an administrative team comprised of [...]
Law firm managers need to be active, conscious and pro-active in their role. Management is not merely a title, it is a critical role that is seldom done well in a law firm. Law firms require a range of managers. These include professional managers such as Administrators, marketing or IT directors and the like. But [...]
Change is a reality of business. Client needs shift; legal expertise shifts due to retirements and new hires; legislation and case law create new opportunities and close down previous legal practises. Change is hard for most people, but particularly for lawyers. The lawyer personality doesn’t like change; it likes the expected, precedent and tradition. Lawyers [...]
Laterals can be a wonderful addition to a law firm. They can also be an incredibly expensive drain – financially, in terms of resources and with respect to morale. Here’s how to ensure your lateral hires can help rather than hurt your firm. It’s said that laterals have around a 70% chance of surviving in [...]
While Ronald Reagan wasn’t one of my favorite Presidents, he produced one of my favorite quotes about leadership: “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." The decision-making process most firms seem to use for selection of [...]
Most firms are under-utilizing one of the most effective marketing tools of their future: their Associates. This results in increased pressure on the rest of the firm to build business and may potentially jeopardize a firm’s stability in the future. Law firms need Associates to step up and market, for everyone’s sake. To steal from [...]
I am primarily a business strategist, but I often help firms move into implementation on various projects. So, it’s not uncommon for me to write copy for law firm websites. I’m about to embark on just such a project now, and in preparation I’m doing some personal homework to remind myself about good (and bad) [...]