Succession strategy

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For law firm leaders, continuing a firm’s success is about constant monitoring, clear vision, perspective, and the willingness to act.

Well-run businesses, including law firms, stay abreast of changes in the marketplace by monitoring shifting client needs. Successful businesses track the initiatives of competitors and seek to secure the premium assets needed to compete. For law firms, that means keeping clients, getting new ones, and preserving the talent in the workforce.

There are many ways to achieve this, but for nearly all law firms it includes staying focused on the bottom line. If a law firm operates profitably, it can be more responsive to its client’s needs, it can respond to its competition, it can innovate where appropriate and necessary, and it can retain its most valuable attorneys. Call it “staying focused,” “being on top of things,” or “keeping your eye on the ball”—each speaks to operating as if nothing is assured. Yesterday’s success is no guarantee of tomorrow’s survival.

A successful law firm is a busy one. New clients are landed, matters are opened, and legal advice gets delivered. The success enjoyed may be traced to the principles that drove the firm’s formation, the drive of the lawyers that came together as a firm, or a little of both. A brisk practice might also be due to increasing client demand. Whatever the impetus for the good fortune, few law firm leaders are naïve enough to assume that present success is a guarantee of future prosperity.

But if the fleeting nature of success is recognized, why do some firms fail to sustain the momentum they worked so hard to build?

Sustaining a law firm’s success, or even just ensuring that a firm survives, is a challenge faced by every law firm—every day of every year. And wherever the significance of the task is understood, focused and dedicated leadership can act and plan in firm-sustaining ways. For some firms, however, finding a way to continue the good times escapes leadership’s attention. And a struggling firm is an unstable one, less and less able to sustain its reputation and market position and increasingly putting itself at great risk.

Four fundamental lessons, if followed, can reduce risk and improve a law firm’s chances of surviving.…
Continue Reading Thoughts on Building Long-Term Law Firm Health

Law firm succession can be easy, and it can be hard. It tends to be easy for the law firms blessed with talented people, a deep and repeatable client base, and a stellar reputation. Transition from one generation to the next can be natural and seamless. Unfortunately, not all law firms enjoy such a profile.…

While law firm change is scary, in today’s evolving legal services market the absence of change may be scarier.  Law firm leaders don’t need to read expert’s opinions about the quickly moving marketplace, they see it close-up as competitors proliferate and competition intensifies.  Simply standing still by relying on tried and true practices is not…

For a lot of law firms, “business as usual” is like a favorite pair of shoes-they seem to fit and sure feel comfortable. When that is the case, falling back on usual practices continues as long as there is no pressure to change.  But once a watershed event occurs that shakes the foundations of management…

In an earlier blog, Law Partner Retirement in Place—Solving Won’t Work/Won’t Leave (Part One), we presented the vexing problem of having a partner that slows down workwise but still draws a full partnership share.  Unfortunately, this upsetting situation exists at more firms than are willing to admit. While eliminating the awkwardness the abuse represents…

Let’s face it, the hugely important issue of law firm succession has a lot to do with senior attorney retirement.  Recognizing that, more law firms have prepared for coming retirements by infusing new leadership, transferring existing client relationship responsibility, and coaching the next generations to be business developers. When succession is done right, a firm…

Law firm succession is a huge issue for many of today’s law firms.  Not surprisingly, more firms than ever before are focusing on succession by adopting written succession plans that address leadership succession and client relationship transfer.  Despite the importance of succession, many firms have no written plan and remain unprepared for transitioning leadership or…

As more law firm mergers are announced, the idea of pursuing a merger crosses many a law firm leader’s mind.  The idea of grabbing greater market share, entering distant markets, bolstering capabilities, or addressing succession can spur thoughts of combination.  Those potential results or outcomes can seem compelling and cause a firm to jump into…

Law firm succession planning represents an important component to law firm longevity.  The two forms of succession most often discussed-leadership and client relationship transfer-should be top of mind to any firm thinking about being an enduring institution.  While leadership succession can be a significant challenge, creating an effective client relationship transfer strategy is among the most complicated things to achieve.

In client relationship transfer, it takes four different parties to make it work.  First and foremost is the client without whom there can be no client relationship transfer.  Surprisingly, too often the client’s thoughts and perspectives on relationship succession are not prioritized, at least to the degree desired by the client.  If the client’s interests are neglected, there is little hope for a successful plan.

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Continue Reading Law Firm Succession Planning-Thinking About a Realistic Client Relationship Succession Plan

The issue of succession planning at law firms is a topic of great importance.  The need to address succession won’t always wait until a convenient time and makes planning as important than ever.

Succession planning among firms, whether leadership succession or client relationship transition, is a mixed bag. Some firms have thought about it deeply…