Category Archives: Strategy

Strategy for Law Firms – Nine Tips for Management

Let’s face it, putting an effective strategy into place isn’t easy! Just mentioning the word ‘strategy’ can bring grown partners out into cold sweats! When we ask, most firms tell us that they’ve got a strategy. But we sense that … Continue reading

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Are some of your lawyers a bit bored? Might this cause some under-performance issues?

If they are bored, let’s start by exploring what might be causing the boredom? One of the subjects that one of my partners Sally Woodward and I are really interested in is motivation – in particular, what motivates and demotivates … Continue reading

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If Tesco ran a Law Firm…..

When you get right down to it, law firms buy hours from their staff and then go out and try to sell them. Just like Tesco buy and sell apples. It’s a crude analogy but it’s essentially a similar activity. … Continue reading

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Coaching Support for Salaried Partners to Become Equity Partners

We recognise the challenges that partners face making transitions in their roles. Partners you have promoted have hopefully successfully transitioned from being senior associates and are now taking greater responsibility, particularly on matters and with clients. Lateral hires have hopefully … Continue reading

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Take the Time Recording Challenge

You can’t bill what you don’t record! Most firms recognise that the largest source of leakage of chargeable time is the time that should have been recorded but wasn’t. Take this test to see what you would record. The answers … Continue reading

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Lawyers – Don’t Focus on Selling – Help Buyers Buy!

I think it’s a shame that most law firms feel uncomfortable using the word ‘selling’. But I can understand their reasons. After all, there’s lots of empirical evidence that suggests that it’s more effective to focus on helping the buyer … Continue reading

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Why Most Mergers Fail to Deliver on Their Promises

The title of this article seems a bit brutal. Surely most mergers work. After all why do so many firms do them if they fail so often? The cold statistics tell another story. These three studies were based on mergers … Continue reading

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To Those in Management Roles Running Law Firms – Some Support!

First of all let’s acknowledge the challenges and frustrations inherent in your role. You knew it wasn’t going to be easy – but this? There are good days and bad days but it’s a tough role. More than anybody else … Continue reading

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How Effective is Your Team? Is it like a well-run Arsenal or more like Rangers?

Law firms are made up of lots of teams. They spend hours in meetings. But how effective are they? There’s the board, perhaps with the role of looking at the strategy of the firm, looking for appropriate firms to merge … Continue reading

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Why Partners Don’t Do the Business Development You Want Them to Do

I’ve recently been approached by a big law firm asking me to deliver a speech to get the partners ‘out there doing more business development’. I told them that this approach was unlikely to work without understanding what the ‘blockers’ … Continue reading

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