The Law Firm Merger: A Leader’s Guide to Strategy & Realisation

Published by ARK Group April 2014   THE LEGAL services market has undergone unprecedented change over the last decade. The Great Recession has been a catalyst to accelerate the pace of this change. At its core are structural changes in the profession and the deregulation of the legal services industry, leading to a fundamental reshaping […]
Read More

Leading a Shared Vision For a Law Firm Merger

Published in Managing Partner magazine April 2014   In a strategy which is merger based, it is important that there is a clear vision of the future, which is easily understandable and provides a strong rationale as to why merger is the best option – illustrating both the opportunities that will be created as well […]
Read More

Merger Chrysalis

Published in Managing Partner magazine March 2014 If you are tasked with delivering a merger, you have a huge amount of leading, persuading, cajoling and encouraging to do in order to realise your objective. Your audiences are both internal and external. Within your firm, you are responsible for understanding the mood of the wider partnership […]
Read More

Engaging the wider partnership in the merger process

Published in Managing Partner magazine December 2013   The manner in which the leadership team engages, communicates and builds consensus with its wider partner group is one of the most important opportunities and challenges in any merger. Without a strong collective will, focused on achieving a positive result and overcoming the inevitable challenges that will […]
Read More

A merger can be a ‘Trojan Horse’ opportunity to transform your firm

Published in Managing Partner magazine November 2013 Don’t worry about the implementation, that’s tomorrow’s problem. Just focus on getting the deal done” figures high on the list of comments which betray the naivety of those negotiating mergers. Of course, it is also fair to say that such sentiments are understandable given the context of the […]
Read More

Management opportunities and challenges in a merged firm

Published in Managing Partner magazine October 2013   Firms won’t become more commercially successful by being better at the law but, rather, by running a better legal services business. More proficient strategic thinking and better management, team working and communication are vital to ensuring sustainable performance enhancements, improved efficiency and increased revenues and profits. It […]
Read More

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 […]
Read More

How to win Partners’ Hearts and Minds for a Proposed Merger

Published in Managing Partner magazine An interesting point is reached in any merger discussion, at which the negotiating teams must set aside issues of market dynamics, strategy and positioning. Plans for operational change, efficiency improvements and rationalisation must also be sidelined. Even the development of compelling propositions to attract new clients and expand existing relationships […]
Read More

Develop a Strategic Framework for Merger Communications

Published in Managing Partner magazine It is all too easy for those focused on the consummation of a merger (and with a deep knowledge of the transaction) to assume that its strategic logic will be selfevident. It is always wrong to presume that the benefits flowing from the union will be apparent to the combined […]
Read More

The Power of Using Values to Drive Post-Merger Integration

Published in Managing Partner magazine Ignore the importance of cultural fit and strong shared values at your peril when merging firms. Cultural dissonance is one of the most common reasons that mergers fail to deliver their expected returns. Within law firms, for which common values and behaviours are crucial to creating cohesion, getting these aspects […]
Read More

Fit For Purpose

Published in Managing for Success, the magazine of the Law Society’s Law Management Section The legal services market is witnessing an unprecedented level of merger activity. The legal press is full of news of firms either in discussions or announcing a deal, but there is also a swell of activity behind the scenes of firms […]
Read More

Dealing with Deal Breakers in Merger Discussions

Published in Managing Partner magazine   In any merger discussion, there will be a limited number of areas which have the potential to be deal breakers. These range from issues of strategic significance to those of timing. In the first category are questions which challenge the longer- term logic of a deal which has few […]
Read More

Unlocking the Client Dividend in a Merger

Published in Managing Partner magazine   Any merger should seek to build a sustainable competitive advantage. What this means in practice is that vision is needed to create a client proposition which is more compelling than either firm could offer before and, crucially, better than other firms competing for the same work. A characteristic of […]
Read More

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 […]
Read More

Organic Growth Strategies: Back to Basics

Published in The Cambridge Marketing Review   The challenging market conditions of the last four years mean that organic growth is a significant issue for many organisations. My own practice is focused on the professional service sector and commercial law firms in particular. This particular market has suffered from the pincer squeeze of economic recession […]
Read More

Getting Profit-Sharing Arrangements Right in a Merger

Published in Managing Partner magazine A merger makes sense if the new firm is better able to compete than either of its antecedents. For some firms, ‘compete’ means that the merged entity simply has a better prognosis for long-term survival, while for others it will be characterised by more opportunities, an improved market position and […]
Read More

Strategies to unlock the merger dividend

Chapter 11 of The Law Management Section Merger Toolkit Panjat Pinang is one of the most popular traditions in Indonesia. It is a unique way of celebrating the country’s Independence Day and involves, quite literally, climbing a greasy pole. Tall nut trees are felled, denuded of all branches and bark, and placed vertically in the […]
Read More

A merger is an opportunity to bring about positive cultural change

Published in Managing Partner magazine A firm’s culture is both one of its core defining characteristics and, for better or worse, a driver of its longer-term performance. Changing a deeply-embedded culture is one of the most challenging and transformational opportunities for any leadership team. At a time of merger, it is one way in which […]
Read More

Mergers can be effective in moving partners out of their comfort zones

Published in Managing Partner magazine   Many merger business plans talk about creating a firm which is better than the sum of its parts by taking an external view. They wax lyrical, for example, about new markets, additional revenue streams, sweating the client base through broader and deeper practice capabilities and a strengthened brand. The […]
Read More

How to identify the ideal merger candidate that fits into your firm’s strategic jigsaw

Published in Managing Partner magazine   Absolute clarity is crucial at the outset of any search for a merger partner. Do you know what you are looking for? How you will know when you find it? While the firm’s overall strategy will have identified merger as the best means of achieving its vision, creating a […]
Read More

Are You Clear About Why Your Firm Is Seeking A Merger?

Published in Managing Partner Magazine   This is the first of my regular Managing Partner columns on law firm mergers. Over the coming year, I will be exploring mergers as a strategic option from a range of perspectives. Beginning by understanding the drivers that suggest merger as the best means of achieving objectives, I will […]
Read More

It’s time to compromise on merger candidates: start looking for a doable deal

Over the past four years, the ‘perfect storm’ of deregulation and economic downturn has crystallised issues for managing partners. Having drawn comfort from the belief that they had a strong and profitable business, albeit protected by regulatory barriers and driven by an exceptional period of bull market activity, firms have come back down to earth […]
Read More

Now is not the time to freeze…

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  Winston Churchill Big strategic plays are de rigueur! The first few weeks of 2012 have seen merger announcements aplenty, significant external investment in UK law firms, the launch of ABS models that will change parts of the market forever […]
Read More

Emerging Opportunities

Published in the Emerging Markets: Taking the Plunge review   An effective strategy for capitalising on emerging market opportunities is a standing agenda item for the boards of internationally-minded firms. Indeed, the topic is so enduring that some markets have moved from emerging to emerged in the time that the subject has been under consideration. […]
Read More

Fit for Purpose?

“I am not concerned that I have no place, I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.” Confucius As firms face the twin challenges of continued economic uncertainty and deregulation, those best equipped to prosper demonstrate clear alignment of vision, strategy, market positioning, target clients, internal structures and operational processes. They know what […]
Read More