At the annual Legal Marketing Association conference in Austin, a vendor conducted a survey that asked attendees what their ‘highest-priority growth initiatives’ were for this year. The leading answer was ‘improve cross-selling.’ I don’t doubt the accuracy of the survey results; they are the conventional wisdom in the flesh.
With the litigation market soft and the deal market at least momentarily out of breath, there may be more lawyers finding themselves leaving their firms sooner than they had planned. Law firm managers have started using the dreaded O word again – O for overcapacity – and such talk is often a prelude to firings …
Continue reading “Guest post: How to reduce head count without making new enemies”
There’s a fascinating article in the December issue of the Harvard Business Review that ought to be required reading for the leaders and owners of the world’s leading law firms. Called ‘Knowing When to Reinvent’, the essay describes what I think of as the Aetna Corporate Health Test, one that managing partners might start taking each …
Continue reading “Guest post: Knowing when to reinvent – the Aetna plan for business health”
Engineers and theologians know how to find out. I listened with great interest last week to a presentation about a soon-to-be released survey of client attitudes.
With the first wave of the Baby Boom about to turn 70, firms are asking the hard question, earlier and earlier. Guest writer Aric Press discusses the best way to have the Dirty Conversation.
I knew better and that only makes this worse. Recently, I needed a lawyer to review an agreement. There was some vague language that made me anxious. So I called an old friend who recommended one of the partners at his big firm. The partner gave me good advice, spotted an issue I hadn’t considered, …
Continue reading “Guest post: Tales of an Unhappy Client – The Search for a Smarter Way to Bill”
In a guest post, Aric Press, partner at the legal consultancy Bernero & Press and former editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer argues the path towards a high achieving culture in law firms turns out not to be money driven. It’s human nature, unleashed.
