I’ve received several requests to outline a good pathway to Partnership. (I’m referring here to Equity Partner). A pathway is critical because there are a lot of lawyers (and owners) set to retire in the coming ten years. Properly preparing for Partnership and being prepared to run what is often a multi million-dollar business was [...]
In my last post, I talked about predicting our shifting client base. Today I’m going to touch on the shifting demographics of our talent pool – lawyers and staff. I’ve been researching demographic shifts in the US for a client, and came up with some surprising statistics. For example: For the next 20 years in [...]
(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 [...]
(This article first appeared in SLAW) The line between bad strategy and a law firm collapse is as thin as a noose. Yet law firms practice bad strategy on a regular basis. Take heed from the lessons of a very public breakdown. A client recently gave me a copy of Norman Bacal’s book “Breakdown, the Inside [...]
Are you a lawyer considering retirement, or do you know someone who needs to start thinking about their retirement? If so, read on... It seems counter-productive to be thinking of an exit strategy when building a business; but that’s precisely what experts say you should do. This was particularly relevant during the .com era when [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Instead of business as usual this year, I invite you to consider managing your firm like it's a business instead of a law firm: through business goals and plans. Most law firms only have a general sense of what they want to accomplish this year as a business. Earn more revenues. Grow our client base. [...]
In this second segment of a two-part article, I focus on succession planning for practice groups and individual lawyers. In Part One (published here in October), I explained why proper succession planning is so important. I also touched on why senior partners might be reluctant to retire, and offered advice on how to overcome this [...]
Over half of my clients are focused on how to survive the transition from a first to a second-generation law firm. This is a critical and difficult business subject to deal with so I will explain the issue and its solutions over two postings. In this first one, I’ll seek to broaden your perspective of [...]