General Legal Employer Resource Center

Simply put, if the job of a manager is "to make the trains run on time," the job of a leader is to ask where we should lay the tracks - or, perhaps, to suggest that it`s time to close down the railroad and start an airline. Most law firms are reasonably well managed but seriously under led. At a time of dramatic change in the legal market, this deficiency can be fatal. Having an effective leader as managing partner, though certainly not a panacea, can go a long way to helping a firm weather the storm of change going on all around us. READ MORE >

As law firms review their capitalization, they need to consider the costs of operations and strategic initiatives as well as those events that cannot be anticipated. READ MORE >

Nothing can create more tension and controversy in a law firm than partner compensation. At their best, compensation systems leave some partners feeling short-changed. At their worst, they misallocate financial resources, cause severe infighting, and set the stage for destabilizing defections. Although consultants admonish firms to use their compensation systems to further their strategic ends, only a few firms have clearly managed to do so. But given the current degree of upheaval in the legal profession, no firm can afford not to link compensation closely with strategy. The challenge is determining how best to accomplish that goal. READ MORE >

A partner’s retirement can have an adverse financial impact on a law firm unless proper planning is done. This is particularly true of a firm’s big rainmakers. Loss of even a few large clients when a rainmaker departs can have a severe impact on the firm’s bottom line. Failure to successfully transition management can also have disastrous consequences, leaving a practice group or the entire firm directionless and stumbling. A firm’s partnership agreement should clearly address retirement issues to plan for a successful, orderly transition. READ MORE >

There are as many variations of partner compensation plans as there are law firms. Most are well intended and targeted at rewarding those efforts that the firm values, or thinks it should value, most. READ MORE >

One of the most striking changes in the evolution of the American legal market over the last 20 years or so has been the extraordinary growth of law firms. READ MORE >

Has your firm identified its business goals for this year (and beyond)? Have you developed long-term strategies for securing your position in the market? Have you thought about your competitors and how they might be planning to take your business? The mid-size firm can no longer rely on the fact that they are “full-service” firms. Global mega-firms, accounting firms and other professional firms will prove to be intense competitors for work that has traditionally been dominated by mid-size law firms. To survive, mid-size firms need a focused strategic plan that clearly identifies long-term goals, present and future market position, and business development objectives. Mid-size firms pursuing rapid growth would do well to consider merger as a means of achieving long-term strategic goals in a rapidly consolidating market. READ MORE >

At too many firms around the country, the primary roles of the first-year associate are pretty simple: Generate a significant number of billable hours and learn how to be a good lawyer. For this, associates are paid handsomely and expected to thrive. Unfortunately, these twin goals often are placed in direct conflict, and young lawyers tend to focus on the more tangible goal of billing hours. It would be far more beneficial to law firms to adopt an approach advocating a more balanced commitment to the billable hour dilemma, one that emphasizes both billable and nonbillable contributions. READ MORE >

Don't be deceived. Unfunded retirement plans are antiquated relics that can drain valuable resources and severely limit a firm’s ability to execute strategic initiatives. An argument against unfunded plans. READ MORE >

The rapidly accelerating rate of consolidation in the legal profession continues to capture the attention and interest of lawyers everywhere. In recent months we have even seen an increase in the announcements of mergers in New York City. The question that we hear time and again from firms considering merger is whether these and other mergers have been successful. Some firms want empirical evidence of this success, or lack thereof, and look at areas such as increased profits, while others look for “telltale” signs such as partner defections. While these may be interesting, they cannot tell the whole story and can often lead to an incorrect conclusion. This article will define those success measures, although perhaps not in the black and white terms that some would like to see. READ MORE >

A few years ago, many were predicting that the legal industry would see an overwhelming number of mergers between U.S. firms and U.K. firms. But the flood of mergers did not occur, and some came to believe that there are fundamental differences between firms in the two countries that are difficult to overcome in the context of a merger. The termination of some high-profile discussions between London’s Bird & Bird and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, as well as between Latham & Watkins and London’s Ashurst Morris Crisp, supported this theory. READ MORE >

As the economy changes pace, more firms than ever are shifting their focus from acquiring new associates to procuring partners and the client relationships that accompany it. As a result, the interest in law firm mergers is higher than ever, and there are a growing number of merger discussions occurring in California. READ MORE >

Long before most mergers are put to a vote, merger committees define and analyze the new firm's financial prospects, practice opportunities, governance structure, technology needs, marketing plan, and a host of related issues. Unfortunately, some firms thoroughly analyze the merger; agree to merge; but then stumble through the integration process. READ MORE >

Recently, it seems that most publications focusing on the state of the legal industry include a line or two on firms that are looking for merger partners, that are involved in merger negotiations or whose partners have voted to merge. For many firms, the desire to merge stems from one of two forces operating outside the legal market. READ MORE >

Changing Market for Legal Services Places New Focus on Practice Management

Law firms are recognizing that the days of operating like a regulated industry are fading fast. Like the airline, telecom, and rail businesses in prior years, forward-thinking law firms understand that they are operating in an increasingly competitive marketplace and that they must transform themselves in order to thrive. Practice management is one of the key components in this transformation for law firms to be successful in the long term. Today’s law firms face significant internal and external challenges as they strive to increase net income per partner and compete for both clients and lawyers in the legal marketplace. Traditional models for law firm success that are outdated and law firms are realizing the need to reinvent themselves in order to survive. Common pressures facing law firms and law firm management today include: READ MORE >

It's no secret that there is an intensifying rush to consolidate within the legal profession. And of course, we expect the future to bring larger and increasingly complex mergers to the legal profession. Those are likely to include transatlantic combinations—and even multidisciplinary ones. READ MORE >

Firms that take the time to address business fundamentals now will be stronger now than they were before.

This is an ideal time to look at the fundamentals underpinning a law firm's business. We see four areas – costs, lawyer performance, client relations, and strategic focus – as requiring the most attention from firm management right now. Addressing these will ensure that a firm can take full advantage of what is available to strengthen it for the future. READ MORE >

• Firms need to think strategically to remain competitive while also retaining strong management systems.
• Strategic thinking entails constant evaluation of the firm and its attorneys.
• Many professional firms enter into growth planning for the wrong reasons.
• Read below to find out more.

In the early 2000s, in the midst of an extremely strong legal market, a surprisingly large number of law firms failed or restructured every year. Today it is more of the same; numerous firms with varying practices, geographic positions, and sizes, collapsed. Now, as they prepare to enter 2012, an uncertain economic climate has many firms concerned about their short- and long-term survival. READ MORE >

One of the most significant challenges for law firms in the current economic and competitive climate is managing effectively both their strategic development and operational performance. The strategic development is concerned with achieving agreed mid-long term strategic objectives and a future market position which provides a platform for building some form of sustainable competitiveness. Operational management, in contrast, is essentially concerned with the current, more immediate, financial and economic performance achieved including the servicing and winning of clients and achievement of other key related performance targets (covering, for example, HR, service standards, etc.). READ MORE >

How can you know if your firm is at serious risk? And, what can you do to avoid trouble on the horizon? The following are some important short- to mid-term warning signs: READ MORE >

In the past, many law firm leaders proclaimed, ''Last year was our best year ever.'' Now, after years of double-digit revenue growth, the leaders are asking, ''How can we position ourselves?'' Partners at law firms of all sizes are becoming anxious about their firm's performance. Firms are beginning to re-evaluate their expense structure as well as their revenue production capabilities. READ MORE >

As law firms review their capitalization, they need to consider the costs of operations and strategic initiatives as well as those events that cannot be anticipated. READ MORE >

Some of these warning signs are economic based, and are thus ''measurable,'' while others involve intangibles and perceptions (e.g., a low level of trust among the partners, lack of leadership, or lack of planning), which are more difficult to detect from within. Here are a few economic based warning signs to watch in your firm. READ MORE >

Just what is going on here? Consider these headlines: READ MORE >