Growth through lateral additions is a hit or miss proposition at best. Numerous survey reports indicate that far fewer that 50% of lateral additions meet the expectations of the hiring firm. There are a number of reasons for this poor performance. Three that almost always foreshadow disappointment in the near term include:
Following a pandemic driven drop in the number of law firm mergers in 2020, based on what our practice is seeing, 2021 will see a substantial increase in combinations. It seems like scarcely a week passes without an announcement of another law firm merger.
We have been particularly interested in the pending Thompson Knight
It has been a good while since I have written on this topic but two recent events prompted me to address it again.
The first: last week, Bruce Matson, former General Counsel of LeClair Ryan, reportedly (subscription required) admitted embezzling $2.5 million dollars from a client trust account.
The second situation relates to a
One of the most underappreciated factors associated with law firm success or failure is the effectiveness of leadership.
The fact is, no single factor has a greater impact on the success or failure of a business than the quality of its leadership. During a period of increasing change in the legal services industry a well-defined
First generation law firm leaders find themselves confronted by a classic “good news-bad-news reality.” The good news is that they are nearing the end of what for many has been a rewarding career. The bad? Most have no clear path of succession— for client relationships or leadership responsibilities.
There are a host of reasons
“Adaptability is the simple secret of survival.” – Jessica Hagedorn
The above quote from the writer and poet Jessica Hagedorn speaks to the incredible circumstances that most law firms have faced in the last year or so. In our practice we see clients responding to the environment in many ways, some are
For the last decade plus, merger has been a strategic choice for many law firms. The 2020 pandemic had a negative impact on the quantity of mergers but, many including our firm expect there to be a major uptick in 2021.
Given the probability that firms will at least be considering merger as part of
Most firms are in the final stretch of 2020, wrestling with collections, budgets, PPP loan forgiveness, 
promotions and compensation decisions. All of these are important activities. But, while focused on wrapping up 2020 let me suggest one more subject that deserves attention — something that stands a chance of making a real long-term difference.
I
“What gets measured gets managed” – Peter Drucker
I had the pleasure of serving as a guest panelist last week at a Managing Partner Forum webinar on “Which KPIs Are Best For Your Law Firm?” The program was a lot of fun and, I hope, beneficial to the participants.
The program was chocked full
Managing the delicate balance of law firm economics has always been a challenge. In serving any particular market (practice type and geography), firms struggle to find that sweet spot — the perfect formula of rates/pricing, productivity, cost, and resulting profits. Should any one of the particulars get far out of equilibrium, the consequences can be
