Becoming change-able is the key to law firm success

Published in Managing Partner magazine May 2015 I am often asked ‘what is the most important capability that any management team should focus on developing in its people?’ My answer is always the same: it is the means to bring about change – to behaviours, to practices, to systems and structures. Having the ability to […]
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Investing in the Partners of the Future

Published in Managing Partner magazine December 2014 / January 2015   There was a time when, in order to be invited to join a UK partnership, the prerequisites were good lawyering skills, a long tenure at the firm and to be seen as a ‘good egg’ by the other partners. An aspiration for partnership was […]
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Future Proofing Your Law Firm

Published in Managing Partner magazine September 2014   This is the first instalment of a new monthly Managing Partner column in which I shall examine how law firms can position themselves to create a future that is both profitable and sustainable – the concept of ‘futureproofing’. Achieving this future will mean being prepared to take […]
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Driving for Growth

My Editorial Advisory Board blog for Managing Partner magazine http://www.managingpartner.com/blog/driving-your-law-firm-towards-more-aggressive-growth Activity levels are on the increase in the UK legal market. Has the corner been turned? Can we now be more confident that the much-vaunted green shoots of economic growth have finally taken hold? For the past twelve months, a growing swell of firms have […]
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Right-sizing your merged law firm

Published in Managing Partner magazine   A merger provides a host of opportunities to right-size. Some arise directly from the merger itself. Others will be realised because ‘all bets are off’ in a newly-merged firm, providing a window to implement efficiencies that were previously denied. Right-sizing is generally assumed to mean moves to reduce costs […]
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Why merge? Forces driving consolidation in the UK legal services market

Chapter 3 of The Law Management Section Merger Toolkit A merger is a means by which a strategic objective may be achieved; it is not a strategic objective in itself. This is, perhaps, an obvious statement, but one which seems to elude many management teams when discussing strategy and the options available to them. A […]
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The Innovation Advantage

Published in The Future of Legal Services – Expert Analysise THIS ARTICLE is concerned with the ways in which innovative approaches have already changed the nature of law firm practice, and how they will continue to do so at an accelerating pace in the future. In particular it will consider service innovation and how firms […]
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Where did all the fun go?

In the brave new world of Six Sigma, LPO and BPR it is all too easy to forget that, for the vast majority, this approach to legal service delivery isn’t what was signed-up to when entering the profession. However, with pricing under pressure and a fixed-fee basis increasingly the norm, better management is needed.  But […]
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Client Service and Relationship Strategy

Published in Best Practices in Legal Marketing   Despite having been centre stage for almost two decades, it remains the case that the effective management of client relationships and the delivery of quality and consistent levels of client service are two of the key management challenges facing many firms. These obstacles are multi-dimensional since the […]
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The Role of the Partner in Delivering a Marketing Strategy

Published in Best Practices in Legal Marketing   While it may be self-evident that the law firm partner has a central role in the creation, development and implementation of a successful marketing and business development strategy, the nature of this role is less well articulated. This chapter considers the nature of this role and the […]
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Client Strategy in a Changing Market

Published in Professional Marketing magazine   Client strategy sits at the heart of all strategy. Without the ability to attract and retain clients, at a price which delivers an acceptable level of profitability, no business can be viable in the longer term. A firm’s client strategy should be under constant review in order to ensure […]
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Have we forgotten about clients in merger discussions?

Law firm mergers are fascinating things. They mix high drama and Greek tragedy as courting parties – initially with uncharacteristic coyness and latterly with a disregard to sensible decision making – waltz towards ultimate consummation. However, much of the discussion is tangential to the real issues at play. Understandably, negotiating teams are keen to present […]
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Resourcing Strategy

Published in Managing Partner magazine   For most law firms, a successful strategy must blend the concept of opportunity-fit with that of resource-stretch. This is because, having identified new client or market opportunities, it is often not a simple task to re-engineer the firm to provide an alluring competitive fit. Firms are constrained by relative […]
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Playing the Keeps

Published in Managing for Success, the magazine of the Law Society’s Law Management Section (www.lawsociety.org.uk/lawmanagement)   Programmes designed to support better management of a law firm’s most important clients have three distinct stages – acquiring, developing and managing. You start by acquiring the client and securing it from competitors; then move on to deepening the […]
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Chasing scale for its own sake is not a strategy

Published in Managing Partner magazine   If much of what has been written is to be believed, it could easily be assumed that strategic success simply hinges on the achievement of scale. Simply by being bigger, planting more flags in the map, increasing purchasing power over suppliers and improving the gearing ratio, all will be […]
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A New Approach for a New World

Change Management for Law Firms   LAW FIRMS continue to grapple with a number of shifts in their competitive environment as difficult market conditions show little sign of abatement. These issues create a maelstrom that will tax the skills of any leadership team to the limit. Here we consider some of the core drivers in […]
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Client Strategy in a Changing Legal Market – Executive Summary

Report published by ARK Group   Client strategy sits at the heart of all strategy. Without the ability to attract and retain clients, at a price which delivers an acceptable level of profitability, no business can be viable in the longer term. A firm’s client strategy should be under constant review in order to ensure […]
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Game Plan

Published in Managing Partner magazine   Alternative fee arrangements are here to stay. A combination of increased competitive sophistication and recession economics mean that clients of all hues are increasingly unwilling to pay their lawyers on the basis of hourly charges. Client demand means that legal services must be delivered better, faster and cheaper. Firms […]
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Competitive Force

Published in Managing Partner magazine   The book Blue Ocean Strategy challenges the primacy of competitive strategy theories. While originally developed to support longer-term corporate strategy, the principles of a Blue Ocean approach can be adapted to create new value propositions and strongly differentiate a law firm. Rather than simply dominating existing markets, it argues […]
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Land of Promise

Published in KM Legal magazine   The enduring market for legal services, with supply significantly exceeding demand, means that law firms are being challenged by their clients to deliver their services better, faster and cheaper than ever before. Impending deregulation seems set to be a further catalyst for this now established trend. A wide range […]
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The Role of Competitive Intelligence in Shaping Strategy

Competitive Intelligence: Improving Law Firm Strategy and Decision Making   “IF YOU are ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, then you are a fool and certain to be defeated in every battle. If you know yourself, but not your enemy, for every battle won, you will suffer a loss. If you know your enemy and […]
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Fit for the Future

Legal Week Student   What sort of world will the law firms of tomorrow inhabit? How will firms respond to changing client demands? What will the fundamental economics of a legal services business look like in ten years? What skills will be needed to succeed and where will they be acquired? These are some of […]
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Virtually reality

Managing Partner Magazine   Virtual Law Partners (VLP/www.virtuallawpartners.com) was established in May 2008 with eight attorneys and now has around 50. It describes itself as a “virtually connected and geographically distributed firm that provides excellent legal service at very competitive rates”. When it was established it made the news in the US legal press for […]
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Out of this World

Managing Partner Magazine   The past year has seen unprecedented turbulence for the legal profession, but is perhaps simply a portent of what is to come. Longstanding rules of competition and client relationship management have been cast to one side. A new, resolutely commercial, approach is to the fore, which is an anathema to those […]
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“Hitting the Ground Running” Business Development Masterclass

Published in Managing Partner Magazine   Many firms are coming to terms with a very uncomfortable truth: that growth is the only way out of the perilous position in which they find themselves. In many cases, costs have been pared to a point at which any further marginal reductions will have limited impact. Furthermore, the […]
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