Law firm innovation. The idea of innovation is lauded, discussed and encouraged. When it happens, either through technological advances, the launch of a start-up alternative service provider, or the unveiling of an approach never thought about before, the legal services industry takes note. In an industry searching for a new stability after 10 years of
Finding the Right Law Firm Merger Candidate-Five Fundamentals
Law firm mergers are a regular occurrence in today’s American legal landscape. Large or small, they happen because law firms and their leaders see merger has meeting a perceived need. Whether seeking greater market share, pursuing untapped lucrative markets, responding to a demographic challenge, or fixing inadequate succession preparations, a merger can represent the right
Considering Law Firm Merger? Four Disciplined Steps to Getting It Right
In the case of many law firms competing in today’s legal environment, growth is important. Some growth is done quietly while other expansion is discussed widely. Growth in the form of law firm merger gets everyone’s attention-indeed announcements about law firms joining together in merger seem to be made weekly.
For every merger announced there
Five Keys to an Effective Law Firm Divorce-Being Smart When the Thrill is Gone
“A discord of personalities” sometimes describes the genesis for marital divorce. It also can be an apt way to explain law firm break-ups when partners decide to go their separate ways. Although law firm break-ups happen regularly, the low level of publicity surrounding most can be due to partners acting rationally even though they can’t
How to Thrive with Clients that Don’t Use Law Firms Like They Used To?
Despite today’s times being better for many law firms, the positive trends do not signal a return to the gilded pre-2008 days; unfortunately, those days are gone for good. Law firms are fighting for market share in 2017 in an arena vastly more competitive than the one that existed a short decade ago.
Competition is
The Important First Step in Law Firm Client Succession
Succession planning of client relationships at law firms requires a thoughtful examination of a law firm’s past, present and future. Managing the transition of a senior lawyer’s practice to younger counterparts is not easy. Poorly understood and executed, it can result in a loss of both valuable business and a cherished colleague. The stakes are
Five Leadership Steps for Confronting Law Firm Crisis
Law firm crisis can surface at any time. Its roots can be deep within the firm, or can be the outcome of unforeseen developments. However, or whenever it arises, the affected law firm must react promptly and strategically. A tardy reaction, or a misstep in action, can leave a firm in great danger and on
Five Common Mistakes Law Firms Make When Entering a New Market
A dynamic law firm growth tactic involves opening an office in a new geographic market. To move a firm into virgin territory requires careful thought about issues that go beyond simply hiring new lawyers. Indeed, expanding a firm’s footprint requires many considerations, including good intelligence about the new market’s practice characteristics, bar personality and mores,
Improving the Odds in Law Firm Merger
Law firm mergers remain popular as law firms everywhere seek an edge. Despite the high interest in merger as a difference maker, law firms considering merger need to be careful-merger can be fraught with risk. Indeed, it is reported that only about half of all law firm mergers succeed. So not only can a merger
Five Signs Your Law Firm Needs New Energy
Law firms that lack energy dim their prospects for the future. Too often law firms pass over the issue of their own vibrancy (whether by a failure of recognition or simple indifference) and plod along without taking corrective action. A becalmed law firm, especially in these times of legal industry disruption, is flirting with danger.