Most law partnerships begin with a sense of shared aspirations, enthusiasm and trust. The founding partners and those subsequently added presumably maintain a fiduciary commitment to conduct consistent with the welfare of the other partners, as well as clients. The fact is that this is often not the case. The recent conclusion of a case… Continue Reading
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Law Firms Enjoy Positive 2018-What If Your Firm Didn’t?
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsAlthough the final numbers are not in yet, 2018 has been touted as a good year for law firms. Based on various reports including the 2019 Citi-Hildebrandt Client Advisory, revenues were up, billing rate increases held, and client demand increased. These improvements are not shocking as law firm performance has been ascending in recent years.… Continue Reading
Is Your Law Firm At Risk?
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning Signs, UncategorizedDon’t waste your time trying to control the uncontrollable, or trying to solve the unsolvable, or think about what could have been. Instead, think about what you can control and solve the problem you can solve with the wisdom you have gained from both your victories and your defeats in the past. – David Mahoney… Continue Reading
Five Warning Signs That Your Law Firm is Headed for Uncertain Times
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Succession, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsAs business organizations go, law firms are different because they can face greater stability challenges. Sure, law firms with iconic names seem to rock along year after year. But for every bedrock firm there are others that struggle to survive. And even some of the firms regarded for their steady state are like the proverbial… Continue Reading
Is it Time? Five Developments That Demand Action from Law Firm Leaders
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsRunning a law firm successfully is no easy task. It is a multi-dimensional effort that requires leadership, discipline, vision, and some luck. Getting all firm lawyers to row a boat in unison can be tough. Even if some of the oars irregularly go into the water, progress is still possible. When attentive leaders work hard… Continue Reading
Five Key Metrics for Grading Your Law Firm’s Annual Performance
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsA law firm report card is a good thing. Much like a child’s school report card telling a parent how school is going, a law firm report card can inform firm leadership about its progress, shortfalls, and areas that need improvement. In these days of industry disruption and heightened competition, periodic assessments can give a… Continue Reading
Law Firm Health in Turbulent Times
Posted in Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsStrength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. – Napoleon Hill As the economy begins to show signs of volatility, it may foreshadow risk for many law firms. Additional market disruption may lead to challenges for firms of all sizes and in most practice disciplines. In a Forbes article, Basha Rubin suggested… Continue Reading
Is Your Law Firm Exposed to Theft?
Posted in Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Warning SignsTime and time again the news includes another report of a law firm (most often small to medium in size) having been ripped off. The dollar amount involved in a majority of the reported thefts is a few hundred thousand, but in some cases millions of dollars have been misappropriated. In what I consider the… Continue Reading
Underperforming Law Firms Risk Failure
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsThe measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year. — John Foster Dulles Former Secretary of State We’ve Got Trouble…With A Capital “T” Most law firms go through a similar cycle. Initially partners share an almost blind… Continue Reading
Five Reasons for Law Firms to Think About a Merger in 2018
Posted in Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Merger, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Succession, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsThere is much to do when a law firm closes out its year. Getting bills out, collecting receivables, paying bonuses, and distributing profits are but a few of the things that get the attention of leadership. As long as the firm’s year has moved along normally, finishing up strong often is the main focus of… Continue Reading
Five Common Mistakes Law Firms Make When Entering a New Market
Posted in Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsA 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,… Continue Reading
Five Signs Your Law Firm Needs New Energy
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsLaw 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.… Continue Reading
Scoping Out Future Law Firm Upheaval-Four Places to Look
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning Signs, UncategorizedLaw firms perpetually are in transition. In our changing legal environment, transition can arise when business strategy requires adjustment, merger is considered, layoffs are implemented, lateral hiring is pursued, leadership succession is at hand (see Cultivating the Next Generation), crisis arises or firm wind-up is decided and implemented. In addressing any transitional event and the… Continue Reading
Four Signs Your Law Firm is Not Ready for Leadership Succession
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Succession, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsAt many law firms that recognize the need for succession planning, preparation for leadership succession receives too little attention. Succession planning can languish for various reasons. In some instances, the press of regular law firm business distracts existing leadership from the issue. In other cases, the topic is an uncomfortable one so discussions are avoided.… Continue Reading
Small Law Firms and Rough Seas-Navigating the Years Ahead
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsAs December ends and January dawns, report cards on the legal profession are issued and crystal balls are studied. This year is no different with many articles offering assessments of the industry’s current state and its prospects. Two pieces recently written about the industry’s present and the future are worth review. Mark A. Cohen’s Something’s… Continue Reading
Avoiding the Unplanned Law Firm Closure-Five Steps Every Law Firm Should Take
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Liquidation, Law Firm Succession, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsAs the calendar year comes to a close, there is a lot to do at most law firms. Activities like collecting bills, distributing profits and casting next year’s budget can occupy many a leadership team. The tasks at hand can be time consuming and all engrossing. Given the importance of these short-term issues, thinking about… Continue Reading
Denial and Turning Around The Troubled Law Firm
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsHope is the denial of reality – Margaret Weis As a law firm in decline continues to struggle, there are two primary scenarios in which denial furthers the rate, or degree, of decline: undervaluing the risk associated with a significant undertaking; or disregarding mounting evidence of decline. Denying the Risk Associated With… Continue Reading
Is Your Law Firm Slipping Into Trouble
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsOne ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never! Winston Churchill The first key… Continue Reading
Law Firm Capital Contributions-How Healthy an Investment?
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Warning SignsRecent commentary on trends among law firms has highlighted the increasing popularity of requiring greater capital contributions from owners. As Law.com‘s Nell Gluckman notes, instead of capital requirements in the 20-25% range as was common for years, law firms more frequently are jacking up the owner capital requirements into the 30-35% level. In some cases,… Continue Reading
Kirkland’s Attrition is a Case Study for All Law Firms, Big and Small
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsThe American Lawyer article about recent attrition at Kirkland & Ellis gained attention in no small part because Kirkland’s reputation for success runs counter to the idea that people want to leave. While departures from even the most successful firms is inevitable, the depth of attrition at Kirkland reported by The American Lawyer was surprising.… Continue Reading
Another Record Year for Law Firm Mergers-Reasons Your Law Firm Should Not Be Next
Posted in Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Merger, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsIn a newly posted piece, Casey Sullivan‘s Law Firm Mergers Reach Highest Point in Nearly a Decade reports that 2016 is to be yet another record year for law firm mergers. As the cascade of announcements show (as well as the Altman Weil research compiled in its Mergerline), merger as a law firm strategy has gained… Continue Reading
No Muss No Fuss Law Firm Closure
Posted in Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Liquidation, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsGrowth among law firms generates headlines. Legal publications report on a merger here, a planting of a law firm flag there and the lateral moves of significant practice groups. The thing about growth is that it is a planned exercise-an initiative that is a matter of choice based on strategy. The opposite of growth, a… Continue Reading
Law Firms that Focus on Growth-Where is the Focus?
Posted in Law Firm Growth, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsDentons and McKenna Long recently announced the intent to merge. Media reporting of the merger was substantial, including an April 8, 2015 article written by Sara Randazzo in The Wall Street Journal. In her Dentons, McKenna Long to Merge, Ms. Randazzo quoted Denton’s global chairman Joseph Andrew as stating, “[O]ur goal was not only to… Continue Reading
Law Firm in Crisis-Five Things to Know and Remember
Posted in Law Firm Crisis, Law Firm Leadership, Law Firm Repositioning/Turnaround/Restructuring, Law Firm Transition, Law Firm Warning SignsLaw firm crisis can pop up at anytime during the year, but if it had a “season” it would be early on in the calendar. As I wrote in Like Divorce, Law Firm Crisis is More Likely as the New Year Starts, the beginning of each year is when key lawyers cut and run, disappointed… Continue Reading
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