A few weeks ago I shared some thoughts on the pivotal role leaders play in a post titled, “The Role of Leadership in Law Firm Success or Failure.” In today’s post, in an effort specifically designed to help identify the quality leader, I want to point to what we believe to be clear
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
Improving the Odds with Law Firm Expansion
Virtually every week brings news about law firm expansion. The news is exciting and of great interest in and out of the legal services industry. Although the firms that report lateral hires, mergers and acquisitions and new office openings are pleased with their news to share, the passage of time proves that not all
Hoping Your Way to Law Firm Improvement
“Hope is not a strategy”
– Various –
Déjà vu
It seems like déjà vu all over again; demand for law firm services is down, but many law firm leaders expect their firm to see an increase in demand. Based on those expectation hiring and purchasing
Killing the Golden Law Firm Goose
The general approach to law firm billing rate increases continues to baffle me. The overall demand for law firm services has been flat to declining for more than a decade while the quantity of licensed lawyers continues to grow.
Continue Reading Killing the Golden Law Firm Goose
Growing A Law Firm Into Decline
Don’t confuse cause with coincidence. – W. Edwards Deming
In Jim Collins’ book How the Mighty Fall, he describes phase two of business decline as “Undisciplined Pursuit of More.”
When it comes to law firms, we might call this phase of decline a period of Ego Driven Growth. This type of growth
4 Ways Law Firms Grow Revenue
I had a recent discussion with Eric Fletcher, a talented marketing executive author of Marketing Brain Fodder about law firm growth and specifically revenue growth. The somewhat obvious conclusion was that law firms grow revenue in four ways, each with its own challenges and issues by.
- Raising rates
- Hiring “laterals” who
How Do You Measure Successful Law Firm Growth?
I have shared numerous posts focusing on the dismal performance associated with non-organic law firm growth — that is, growth achieved through merger or lateral hiring. An excellent recent post by Eric Dewey, has prompted me to focus on a critical aspect of the lateral/merger conversation.
Peter Drucker, (credited as the founder
Improving Your Law Firm’s Growth Prospects-The Importance of Discipline
For many law firms client expectations, increased competition (from traditional and non-traditional sources) and unreliable demand present formidable challenges. These challenges can be compounded as a firm’s senior lawyers age and succession gets added to a firm’s “to do” list.
Some firms have responded to these issues by growing through lateral hiring or merger