Editor's letter

As some of you may know, I have been working hard in recent weeks to launch a new edition of Managing Partner magazine, in the US. This will be published separately, and will be managed by Ark Group’s Chicago office, but the aim will be the same: to provide practical guidance to US firms on better managing their businesses.

The rationale for publishing two separate magazines was based on our ability to produce highly relevant content, designed to meet the specific needs of our readership. Managing Partner has now been published in the UK for over nine years and its readership comprises firms predominantly in the UK and Europe. While we have for some time enjoyed a smaller readership in the US and beyond, we found it increasingly difficult to match the magazine content to such a broad audience.

By publishing a US edition, we are confident that we can mirror the established successes of the UK magazine, while opening the doors to more US firms and management professionals to join the discussion on issues including risk and financial management; marketing and business development; knowledge and people management; and leadership and the implementation of change.

The US edition will also add a further dimension to the international legal marketplace. After all, while many firms in the US remain focused on national rather than international growth, some firms are competing hard to become global brands, extending their reach further than ever before. The issues this raises, both in terms of internal management demands and external competition, should provide plenty of food for thought for firms in the US and beyond.

And, of course, there will also be areas of overlap between the US and UK, where the same management challenges are faced the world over. Here, the publications can share best practices and combine insights to create even more useful guidance for practitioners.

Recently, for instance, I attended an Ark Group masterclass in Chicago on ‘Competitive Intelligence as a Legal Marketing Partner’. A key event objective was to find ways to get law-firm librarians, business-development/marketing professionals and lawyers to work together to use competitive intelligence (CI) more effectively to build better client relationships and, ultimately, competitive advantage.

The main challenge, however, revealed itself as potential inter-departmental conflict. For instance, which department should be responsible for which CI function? Who should take the credit for gathering CI (library or marketing departments)? And how can lawyers be better educated to understand when and how such research is useful?

The discussion on this area was enlightening, particularly in understanding how support departments can compete with and obstruct each other. It is also a familiar challenge faced by expanding firms across the globe. Most have wisely invested in developing their support divisions, which have undoubtedly helped transform the legal business. But many now struggle to integrate those functions to get them to work more effectively and efficiently.

By examining issues such as this that concern all firms, while providing a broader forum for discussion from firms across different regions, we hope that we can continue to provide the very best guidance to the legal profession, no matter where firms are based.

Caroline Poynton
Editor

Features

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