Valuing and Judging Partners – Beyond the Elephant Test!
We tend to make informal value judgements all the time about our partners and potential partners. Questions like “Do I like him?”, “Do I respect her?”, “What is she good at?” all require emotional or, at least, unstructured responses. In recent times, these somewhat informal judgements have become more formalised as they often establish the […]
Leadership Links with Partner Performance and Profit Sharing
Partners in law firms are not easy to lead. They may be content to transfer a great many management and administrative tasks to a management team, but there is a raft of sensitive subjects which remains close to their hearts. In these areas, they often consider intervention by professional managers to be unwarranted interference. Additionally, […]
Linking Partner Targets to Profit Shares
The issues of partner performance and rewards are rising on law firm agendas, especially with the impact of new age discrimination legislation. Law firm leaders talk a good game about how the firm ‘rewards what it values, and values what it rewards’ but in reality many firms give scant regard to anything except seniority and […]
Putting a new Partner Profit Sharing System in place
Very few firms are entirely happy with their partner profit sharing systems. For any firm which is considering making any changes, a good starting point is to understand the extent to which the current system is failing to meet the needs of partners or the firm and the extent to which changes may be needed. […]
International Alliances
Sheltering under the global umbrella of a leading network or alliance has long been a favoured option for independent law firms. It gives them the best of all worlds by maintaining their own autonomies, their own brands and their distinctive identities at the same time as appearing to be part of something a lot bigger.
Enter The Swiss Verein
After years of anticipation, true global consolidation on a significant scale is finally occurring in the legal industry. The driving influence appears to be the availability of a structural vehicle that helps firms deal with the legal and functional hurdles of international mergers. That vehicle is the Swiss Verein.
Retirement Equity – Succession and Ownership In Law Firms
In the last thirty years, many firms have substantially grown or developed on the back of the efforts of one or more highly driven entrepreneurial partners, some of whom are now approaching retirement. These partners have enjoyed income rewards but it is understandably hard for them to contemplate having to hand over their firm as […]
Business planning for practice groups and individuals
Surveys and studies show a link between planning and performance: even brief, informal and straightforward business plans help firms perform at a higher level than those that make no plans. To reap the full benefit that business plans can deliver, follow these guidelines for the preparation and implementation of law firm, practice group, and individual […]
Control or Consensus
Every law firm starts life with a flurry of entrepreneurial adolescence and adulthood, the unmet demands of strategic and managerial decision making can cause the firm to plateau or even regress. Identifying the four phases of law firm development can be the key both to avoiding premature stagnation and to progressing toward institutional status. I […]
Criteria And Guidelines For The Promotion And Admission Of Equity Partners
This White Paper suggests some essential steps which law firms should take to establish promotion criteria to equity partnership/membership and suggests a framework for promotions.