denotes premium content | Oct 16 2008 Managing Partner archive
Volume 4 Issue 5
Features
Freeing your IT department: Implementing PMS technology to increase practice efficiency
Exeter-based Bevan Ashford decided it was time to ring the changes. IT manager Mike West outlines the firm’s technology investment in a new thin-client desktop computing platform, and explains the reasoning behind its move towards an integrated practice and case management solution.
HR on a global scale: Comparing HR methods in the UK, Asia and Australia
Once regarded as an administrative process, human resources is now considered to be a discipline worth putting at the forefront of business development. Rhonda Livingston of Learned Friends assesses the impact of HR across three continents – UK, Asia and Australia – and compares the approach law firms are taking to flexible working practices, training, appraisals and the role of the human resources department.
Improving performance: Shifting from training to performance development
It’s all very well knowing that you need to develop partners, fee-earners and support staff. Jo Larbie discusses the essential elements of a successful performance development programme and the common problems to avoid.
The knowledge trinity: Are law firms really leading in the knowledge economy?
Law firms are at the very pinnacle of knowledge-based businesses, and they totally depend upon the knowledge and expertise of their fee-earners to create and maintain a profitable business. But are law firms really in the vanguard when it comes to using their knowledge and expertise wisely? Ray Jackson of Solcara tackles the issue of knowledge management within law firms by using the ‘knowledge trinity’ model.
The next generation: An insider’s perspective of the generation X lawyer
For the past decade many firms have been battling the ‘brain drain’ of junior lawyers taking advantage of the opportunities of a vibrant domestic and international market for legal talent. This has had a significant impact on many firms with fairly high levels of staff turnover. Given that the legal profession is a ‘people business’ and that clients are won and kept (more often than not) through personal relationships, a high turnover of legal staff can impact upon a practices ability to fully develop client relationships. James Bremen, a twenty-something construction lawyer with a major Queensland law firm, comments upon the trend and offers an ‘insiders perspective’ on ways in which firms may endeavour to combat this trend.
Structuring and managing a performance development programme
It’s all very well knowing that you need to develop partners, fee-earners and support staff. But what are the essential elements of a successful performance development programme? And what are the common problems to avoid? Jo Larbie explains.
