The Focus Challenge – Part 2: Your Clients
1. The Legal Matter Here are some of the essential lessons I have learned after several decades of listening closely to clients, conducting my own research, and reading a myriad of surveys and research studies by others: a) Clients do not have legal problems. They have personal or business problems that may require them to […]
The Focus Challenge – Part I: Your Practice
1. Substantive Practice Gone are the days when some level of specialization in an area could sustain a practice over a lawyer’s lifetime. Things are changing too fast and new competitors will emerge – some of them not even law firms. In the meantime, what you can do is think about the future of both […]
Knowing the Enemy – and Setting up Battle Lines
All over the world, the legal profession remains a fragmented sector with a bewildering choice of possible legal advisers facing every client. It is very difficult for law firms to be truly differentiated or set apart from competitors in terms of developing and marketing unique products or services or being or becoming the only show […]
The Death of Deference
Lawyers have always been a distrustful bunch, but in the last twenty years the growth of larger law firms on the back of increased accountability and performance management seems to have repressed independence of thought amongst professionals, who have been encouraged to focus much of their effort on fee generation and to leave leadership decisions […]
The Power of “How”
I propose that you join the most effective law firm leaders in the world and start asking “how,“ rather than “whether.” Let us start with an illustration. Here are two questions that a managing partner might ask a practice group leader. Which do you think will lead to better results? How do you think you […]
Why Operational Reviews in Law Firms Are a Must
Written on the basis of my two decades of work as a manager and consultant with international and local law firms across APAC and the Middle East, this article provides insights into operational reviews (ORs) – explaining what they are, and why all firms should consider embarking on them periodically. What Is an Operational Review? […]
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – Privacy Protection for EU Citizens
We currently retain your email address for the purpose of sending you our Edge International Communiqué (EIC) as well as occasional insights and reports. Whether you are in the European Union or outside it, we respect your right to privacy and believe you are entitled to all of the protections offered by the GDPR. Therefore, if either now or upon […]
Slicing and Dicing Survey Results with Demographics
In the course of our work with law firms, we have occasion to do many kinds of surveys. Here are two simple examples: In the context of strategy assignments, we may survey partners as to their aspirations and their views about their marketplace(s). In the context of conducting a cultural assessment, we may survey all […]
Lateral Hires and the “Slam Dunk” Myth
This is an edited extract from the second (and much expanded) edition of Ark’s best-selling report Tackling Partner Underperformance in Law Firms by Nick Jarrett-Kerr, released in April, 2018. It seems logical that both law firm growth and the plugging of a skills and market gap can be met by hiring a partner with […]
Gerry Riskin’s Immutable Laws of Law Firm Success
When Edge International was formed, I was optimistic that by this century, we could all make the following statement – and it would be true: Dateline 21st Century: Most professional firms today and their practice groups are led by individuals who have not only mastered practice skills but are equally adept in organizational behaviour. They understand […]