denotes premium content | Nov 22 2008 Managing Partner archive
Volume 5 Issue 8
Change is a concept rarely embraced. For most of us, past experience is the best yardstick for predicting future events and the successes of earlier years become a model in which all future strategies are entrenched.
For law firms, steeped in the individualistic traditions of the partnership model, change is rarely desired and even less frequently achieved. A profession culturally averse to taking risks, it is proud of its professional rather than entrepreneurial status and many of those who chose a career in law, did so with a happy acknowledgement that they were rejecting the commercial constraints of the business world.
This is all well and good. A legal practice must retain its high degree of ethical and professional integrity and the idea of lawyers fighting the competition to sell their wares to the highest bidder is a grim prospect that should rightly be shunned.
In a competitive market, however, most practices have to adopt stratagems that will stabilise and sustain profitability. To achieve this, they have to operate the business as efficiently and effectively as possible – recruiting and retaining the best staff, giving them the opportunity to work to their full potential through effective support mechanisms, and winning and retaining clients through delivering a service that more than meets their expectations. Unfortunately, most law firms continue to miss out on the available opportunities to achieve this, because they cling on to the old ways of working, refusing to change even if that would mean vast improvements to the business.
Technology is an excellent example of this wasted opportunity. Most law firms have now invested in IT systems of one sort or another, but how many have really implemented them to change working practice throughout the firm? As Neil Cameron argues, on page 10, automating a process such as billing, could revolutionise the way lawyers manage their cashflow and their client relationships. Many partners, however, continue to scribble everything on a piece of paper before passing it over to their secretary to decipher and complete. The initial investment and potential might have been huge but in practice, nothing has changed.
Equally, the partnership model has worked well for many years, but it can also restrict the potential of the business as firms find themselves relying on fee-earners to the detriment of all others. Support departments are the first to suffer in an uncertain economy and managers, who are making vital strategic decisions for the firm, enjoy few of the rewards that the partners receive. Damian Greiff, of Berrymans Lace Mawer, explores some of these issues in his article on page 24. In particular, he explores the role of key personnel in support departments and how firms could better integrate them into the management of the firm.
A successful practice will adapt and change as necessary. But most of all, it’ll make the most of the opportunities that are there for the taking. Those that are failing need to remember a key lesson: profitability isn’t just about fee-earning.
Caroline Poynton
Editor
Features
What price is a good leader?
Law firms everywhere are experiencing change, which for the most part is being forced upon them by the market. Clients expect value-added services and better value for money, and, as a result, the competition just gets tougher. Peter Scott, a management consultant at Horwath Clark Whitehill, examines the role for leadership in these dangerous times where firms must quickly adapt to a changing world.
Organisational management and the re-alignment of services
Many firms have invested huge amounts in IT and marketing initiatives, but some are now realising that better service means a complete organisational restructuring. Jacquie Macdonald, head of corporate development at Blair Cadell, examines how law firms are responding to the competitive climate and asks whether they could learn anything from the organisational make-up of other professional firms.
Support departments: An essential component of the firm’s success or a drain on the drawings?
Lawyers, respected professionals of an earlier, more deferential age, now have to work harder than ever to see off aggressive competitors and meet the expectations of clients. In the search for competitive advantage, Damian Greiff, head of business development at Berrymans Lace Mawer, argues that lawyers could do worse than look at the expertise within their own support departments. They are the ones that can release lawyers from time-consuming work and enable the firm to deliver a more efficient service.
Change management and client investment
Many law firms have now implemented some kind of CRM system. However, that is far from the end of it. The system is only part of an ongoing process aimed at improving a firm’s relationships and services to clients. Dr Tom Kennie, a director at Ranmore Consulting Group and Rachel Collins, head of business development at Osborne Clarke, assess the ongoing development of CRM and how firms should manage the consequences of such a long-term investment.
Internal and external efficiency: Making a success of IT at Ashursts
In their use of technology, law firms may be some steps behind other businesses, but they are learning fast and in some areas, digital dictation for example, they are positively leading the way. Chris White, global information technology director at Ashurst Morris Crisp, assesses the use of IT at Ashursts with a particular focus on their roll-out of digital dictation.
Control of working capital: Every managing partner’s nightmare?
Billing and cash collection are essential components of the successful business. Law firms, however, have a long history of getting it wrong due to a lack of fee-earner accountability and a piecemeal approach to the billing process. Laurence Harris, chief executive at D J Freeman, examines the steps his firm has taken to streamline and control the firm’s working capital.
Information technology: It’s all about working practices
What do most lawyers want from IT? A likely response would be improvements in productivity, without too much disruption. Neil Cameron, of Neil Cameron Consulting, argues that such an attitude fails to appreciate the real difference IT can make to working practice and, ultimately, to the success of the firm.
Regulars
Web article: Giving law a public face
Law is a profession, not a trade, so it’s little wonder that many senior partners have felt uncomfortable in the past about adopting the methods of the tradesman and stridently hawking their wares in public. Robert Fenner, director at Grayling Public Relations, explores how many law firms have, however, changed their attitudes to become more open and competitive.
Interview: the corporate structure vs. the partnership
Barnetts Solicitors has enjoyed steady growth over the past ten years and has recently enjoyed the tenth anniversary of its chief executive, Joe Whelan. When the firm decided to move to a corporate structure, however, it was a small partnership with only 25 staff members. Caroline Poynton talks to Joe Whelan about the decision to abandon the partnership model, his experience as chief executive, and the business development of the firm.
