♫Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way its always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way its always been.
Just open your heart
And thats a start…♫
Words and Music by Graeme Edge and Ray Thomas, recorded by The Moody Blues.
At the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico that is happening on May 14-17, 2008, there was a panel discussion by Jamie Spannhake, Mark Komer, Ed Flitton and Diane Costigan on Living a Life in the Law. This panel presentation was all about achieving a life-work balance while practising law.
To begin with, the panelists had to draw a definition of what is living a balanced life. The definition that was put forward was “Using your time effectively so that no one area of your life is neglected”. To place this in context, Ed Flitton noted that at his firm, Holland and Hart, partners are expected to log 1700 billable hours/year and associates, 1800. On top of that are pro bono hours, education time etc to bring every lawyer’s total logged (billable and non-billable) time to 2500 hours/year.
If lawyers worked a normal number of days/year (231 is typical taking into account statutory holidays and 14 days/vacation/year) that means that lawyers have to log 10.8 hours/day in the office. This clearly implies that lawyers are clearly spending long hours and weekends in the office to meet their billable hour requirements. The situation is further compounded when you realize that there are many law firms out there that have even higher billable hour requirements from partners and associates alike.
So how do you start living a life in the law? The suggestions that were put forward were to build in a sabbatical of 3 months every 5 years for partners. For one, this adds to the motivation to become partner! Furthermore, clients are shared among the lawyers in the firm, as no one can simply leave their practice for 3 months. This promotes a cultural change in the firm to regard clients as firm clients and not to horded clients by partners. This cultural change is seen as being very positive and team-oriented.
Other suggestions were to choose your law firm carefully and try to work with lawyers who share your values. Furthermore, exercise personal leadership in defining what success is and a successful life are to you and not allowing others to set these definitions (and your schedule) for you.
Lastly look to creative ways to rework your time/career relationship with your firm. Jamie Spannhake brought forward her personal story to reduce her time requirements by 30% at her firm, in order to allow her to build a personal practice as a holistic health counselor (www.thenourishingbalance.com). She was the first lawyer at a major New York firm that brought in a reduced hourly rate requirement for someone for reasons that had nothing to do with family and child needs.
The first step is to open your mind and your heart … and that’s a start!
♫Don’t take the bait,
Don’t seal the deal,
Don’t buy the hype..♫
Words and Music by The Neighborhoods
The New Jersey Law Journal has posted an article online:
Businesses Hit With E-Mail Blast of Virus-Carrying Pseudo-Subpoenas by Mary Pat Gallagher on Wednesday, April 16, 2008. That article reports that thousands of executives received e-mails on Monday April 14, 2008 purporting to be US federal court subpoenas but which appear to be part of a “phishing” scam to capture sensitive data.
This is another example of a phishing attempt by impersonating a law-related entity, in this case the U.S. District Court. The fake subpoenas bear the seal of the court and docket numbers from real cases, though apparently closed ones, without party names. Mary Gallagher reports that they command an appearance on May 7 before a grand jury in a particular room at the U.S. courthouse in San Diego.
They identify the originating e-mail address as “subpoena@uscourts.com” and contain a link with an instruction to “download the entire document on this matter … and print it for you record.”
“As is typical with these phishing attempts, those who click on the link infect their own computers, and those networked to them, with a virus aimed at gathering passwords, account numbers, credit card numbers and similar information. Matt Richard, of VeriSign’s iDefense Labs, a cybersecurity group, estimates that 1,800 recipients have clicked on the link.”
The phishing emails bear the name of “O’Mevely & Meyers,” a fictitious law firm. But there is a real firm of “O’Melveny & Myers LLP” in LA and the phishing email incorporates the real firm’s address. The name is close enough that O’Melveny has posted a notice on its Web site stating it is not the source of the subpoenas.
Aiside from the usual spelling and grammatical errors, the most significant tip-off was that “federal courts will never send you a subpoena by e-mail,” stated Scott Christie, a former assistant U.S. attorney who once headed up the New Jersey office’s Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section.
Gallagher quotes Christie as stating that lawyers should be warning their clients, and because unexpected future variants are likely, people should “review their e-mail messages carefully and if there are misspellings or other indicia of impropriety or fraud, immediately contact their attorney.”
http://www.law.com/jsp/nj
It will only be a matter of time before these attempts spread to other jurisdictions and other courts. Lawyers should be notifying their clients of the proper method for informing them as to real court notices and subpoenas. If they do receive such a notice directly, they should be informed to contact their lawyers prior to clicking on any suspect ‘notice’ sent to them directly to avoid taking the bait of the spear phishers.
♫ It’s good for all my people
it’s good for all my people
it’s good for all my people
and it’s good enough for me
Gimmie that old time religion…♫
Words and music anonymous, first published by Charles D. Tillman.
Think of a lawyer and an image of a solo warrior heading off to battle springs to mind. Unfortunately, like most stereotypes, it is increasingly out of touch with reality. Law firms have discovered that to survive and thrive in modern society, they have to reach back to the old-time concept of teams and leaders. Firms have discovered that groups led by effective leaders possessing so-called ’soft’ skills: coaching, counselling, mentoring, tutoring, and motivating – are much more effective than just groups of lawyers and staff working together. A group of people is not a team. A team comes together for a shared goal or task, such as handling a particular client, a file or area of law. What are the benefits to firms and clients from building teams? First, teams outperform groups, team members support each other’s growth and learning, teams maximize the use of human and other resources, there is continuous improvement and knowledge sharing amongst the team members and the output of a team is synergistic – greater than the sum of the individual parts. Furthermore, teams are willing to push work down, allowing firms to not only mentor and grow juniors, they provide head-room for senior counsel to tackle higher-value work and allow a firm to transition to alternate billing methods – having work competently performed at the lowest cost to the firm while maximizing profitability.
So how do you evolve from individuals to groups to teams? Here are some suggestions put forward by Donald Clark and others in this area:
Build the team: The first duty of a leader is to ensure that the foundations for team development have been put into place. This is based on the work by Herzberg on Hygiene and Motivational factors. Any issues lying within the following topics that affect the team must be resolved to the satisfaction of the members in order to take them to the next level: Working conditions, Policies and administrative practices, Salary and Benefits, Supervision, Status, Job security, Fellow workers, Personal life. For example, including someone who for one reason or another will not fit within the dynamics of the team will only frustrate the other members and prevent the team from moving forward. This last factor is so important that elite military teams themselves select their future members from potential recruits.
Communicate the vision: What is the goal to which you are striving? Let the team members know how each of them plays a role in reaching that goal.
Be Passionate!: One of the greatest motivators is seeing a leader’s passion to accomplish the goals of the team. Conversely, a lack of passion sends a message that “this doesn’t really matter all that much”. Get behind your team and radiate energy!
Enable others to act: Give your team members the tools and the space to get the job done. Then get out of the way – micromanagement is not a leadership style. Trust your members to do what is right.
Get Dirty!: You are encouraging the team members to reach beyond their current abilities into new and unknown territory. Leaders are willing to be the first to try something and show that not getting it right the first time is just fine. Stretch and pull others along with you.
Encourage: There are three distinct styles of leadership: Authoritarian, Participative and Delegative. Note that each of these styles is used in different situations and with different people. The Authoritarian tells people what they want done and how. Typically this is used in crises situations when time is short and the team members are already well motivated. The Participative leader involves people in the decision-making process, reserving the right to make the final decision. Typically this style is used where the leader does not possess all the information to make the right decision. The Delegative leader sets the priorities and allows the team members to decide what has to be done and how to do it. The delegative leader remains ultimately responsible for the work of the team and is comfortable with the decision-making ability of the team.
Radiate Values: In facing a decision, there are usually at least two options: doing something right and doing the right thing. You can take the short-term expedient decision or you can take the high road, realizing that this route sows seeds that bear fruit over a longer time frame. As a leader, the decision that you take will say volumes about your values to your team.
Be in Character: Great leaders possess common character traits. The US Army has enumerated 23 Traits of Character. Check this list and reflect how many apply to you and to the leaders in your firm: Confidence, Courage, Integrity, Decisiveness, Justice, Endurance, Tact, Initiative, Coolness, Maturity, Improvement, Will, Assertiveness, Candour, Sense of humour, Competence, Commitment, Creativity, Self-discipline, Humility, Flexibility, Empathy/Compassion. As clothes make the man, then character traits make the leader.
Law firms are catching that old time religion and transforming their firms into well-oiled teams. After all, it is good for all their people!
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫Hey, everyone, listen up, your attention if you please
We wanna give you a warning
‘Cause I found out this morning..♫
Words and music by Weird Al Yankovic
The Legal Organization Watch Blog has posted an entry today regarding a phishing email fraud that has spoofed a real Irish Law Firm and an individual who actually works in that firm - the Irish and International Practice of Arthur Cox. The details of the phishing fraud can be found at:
http://orglegal.com/1002/irish-law-firm-targeted-in-419-fraud/
In British Columbia a few years back there was a fraud attempt that spoofed a Victoria BC, Canada law firm. In that fraud attempt, the fraudsters created a false web site that mirrored the actual web site of the real firm - with the exception that the telephone numbers and email addresses went directly to the fraudsters rather than to the real firm. Somehow the real firm discovered the false web site and took steps to have it immediately closed down.
In the circumstances, lawyers and law firms are well-advised to set up Google Alerts for their firm name and all lawyers and staff…and have one person in the firm responsible for reviewing these Alerts on a daily basis. In this way, you should be able to receive some notice if your good name and those of your firm are being used inappropriately. An added bonus is the ability to see the discussion on the Web that involves you and your firm. While you are at it, you could set up Alerts for your major clients and be proactive if you discover that there is suspicious activity on their behalf. A nice feather in your cap if you can alert them to a potential problem before it becomes a bigger problem! It seems that as lawyers and law firms, we should consider taking steps to discover if our good names are being used inappropriately. Perhaps these early examples of fraud attempts can serve as an early warning to all…
♫ So let your light so shine before men
Let your light so shine… ♫
Music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.
We live in a dark, conflicted and confusing time. On one hand, we have never been so much in need of real leadership. We have international, national and regional corporations, non-profits and other organizations of all sizes looking for leaders. People are bemoaning the lack of enlightened and selfless leadership in politics and government. On the other hand, there has never been a time where so few real people are seemingly coming forward to serve as leaders to light the way. Wirthlin Worldwide (now Harris Interactive) reported in one of their studies that about 60% of current corporate CEO’s did not want to take their present job.
A 2003 Greenfield/Belser survey found that one clearly distinguishing characteristic between extraordinarily successful firms and failed firms was their willingness to be innovative. Successful firms were much more open (in a statistically meaningful way) to implement innovation into their firm. As we all know, willingness to innovate is clearly tied to the leadership in the firm. If the leadership of the firm understands the relationship between strategic goals, innovation and success, if it works at consensus building around those strategic goals and provides meaningful metrics, feedback and mentoring around attaining those strategic goals and encourages all firm members to embrace change, then the firm has taken many of the steps necessary to transform itself into a extraordinarily successful firm.
I have spoken many times of the paradoxes involved in the management of a law firm. Here is another. On numerous occasions I have heard senior partners express the need for training and mentoring for their younger members to bring them up to speed and turn them into successful lawyers and future partners. However, there is an equal need to take senior partners – who are successful in practising law – to train and mentor them to bring them up to speed and turn them into successful business leaders. These partners, in turn, having acquired the vision and the necessary leadership skills, can take the firm and start to transform it from an aggregation of successful lawyers into a cohesive legal team with a shared culture and shared goals that is actively seeking the next level of performance. That skill set is markedly different from the skill set necessary to manage and run your own practice and book of business. In many cases firms have realized that it is more productive for all concerned to bring in professional managers to take over the management of the firm and relieve the partners of this day to day chore. However, this does in no way abrogate the duty resting on senior partners to be active leaders of their firm. As we all know, managers do things right – leaders do the right thing. It is the continued setting and attainment of strategic business objectives that will keep the firm moving in the right direction and continuing to embrace change.
How do you start on the road to change your senior lawyers into leaders? First, no longer be complacent about your current performance. Notwithstanding that your partners may be successful and happy about their current level of income and operating status of the firm, you have to remind them that in spite of the fact that they don’t wish to change, the world (especially their clients) are constantly in a state of change around them. Competitors are constantly working on their own aggressive business plans and are aiming to capture your clients. For example, if you have a dependency on only a few major accounts, then your firm is vulnerable to a major economic upset if one of those major accounts should leave. Your long-term existence as a firm is dependent on your continued development of leadership – just reflect for a minute and you can recall the names of law firms that no longer exist today. There is no law yet written that states that your firm must be in business tomorrow.
Secondly, expose your major partners to new ideas and developments in the business arena that are outside of the law. Lawyers tend to narrow their practice focus – for obvious reasons – but this constant narrowing and development of their legal skills removes them from exposure to bigger ideas and new developments in other fields. Send your people to ‘thought conferences’ – gatherings that are not CLE-oriented but rather are aimed at developing business, strategy or inter-personal skills - that will immerse them in a nutrient-rich environment of ideas. Have them serve in leadership positions in other community-service organizations – where they will come into contact with leaders in other fields - and bring that wealth of experience back to the firm. Have the firm take on an important pro-bono file that serves to benefit both society as well as the partners by connecting to their inner ‘higher calling’ and sense of purpose and serves as a leadership example to other members of the firm.
Thirdly, have your senior partners demonstrate the most important leadership quality of all – to become a living example of the qualities that they wish to see reflected in their associates and junior partners. If we are to develop lawyers into future leaders, we need to foster and encourage those who can clearly demonstrate that they can indeed, walk the talk. This is not a modern management principle. One of the earliest statements of this idea is as follows:
“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny … it is the light that guides your way.” Heraclitus (?535BC-475BC) Greek Philosopher
Our own collective future is premised in part on senior partners developing their inner leadership skills in order that they can ignite their own light for it to shine before others.
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫ Only night will ever know
Why the heavens never show
All the dreams there are to know
Paint the sky with stars...♫
Music by Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, lyrics by Roma Ryan, recorded by Enya.
It is nearing the end of the year…time to look back on the year and reflect on what is past…and what is yet to come. You recall your earnest resolution at this time last year that “things were going to be different next year!” Reflecting for a moment you realize that not much has changed, people are more or less performing as they were last year. Your own performance has fallen into a predicable range – or rut. You ask yourself “How do other businesses manage to achieve better-than ordinary results?” What is their magical formula? Short of cracking a whip, how do you motivate yourself, and others, to excellence?
The high art of achieving extra-ordinary results from people has been clearly demonstrated time and time again. However, it is an inexact science with many factors and ingredients. Let us examine the tips and techniques that have been put forward towards achieving lofty goals:
- The Oracle at
- In doing some research into this matter, the April 2002 issue of Fast Company had an article on the
- So what motivates people to perform? Money? Study after study show that while employees desire money, they are motivated by intangibles: challenge, recognition, opportunity for growth, involvement, meaningful work and pride. Money is a way of determining success – keeping score, so to speak, and is therefore the result of doing excellent work, not the inducer. What is the world’s most powerful motivator? Achievement. “I do because I can”. Motivation is tied to “internal matters” – grey matter, ultimately..
- Assume full accountability for your future. Now surround yourself with other high-achievers. Place yourself in a high-nutrient mix – where the peers with whom you associate will radiate higher expectations and their own pursuit of excellence. We tell our kids not to associate with certain crowds – do we drink of the same medicine?
- Acknowledge other’s successes. Don’t dwell on errors – praise results in public and deal with problems in private. Listen to your staff and their suggestions and act on good ideas. Whenever possible, give immediate feedback (shortens the learning cycle) and positive reinforcement. Give staff greater autonomy and encourage them to be confident and responsible. Do the annual performance reviews – and let the staff member verbalize their own strengths and weaknesses – and set their own methods on how they are going to grow. Let each staff member know why each person is put in their position. Let each individual know what skill development is required for them to go beyond their present job. Be clear on what it is that you expect them to accomplish in their present position. Make sure that the people with whom they work know this, too. Most of all, be consistent – be seen to be dealing with the deadwood as a way of communicating that low performance is not tolerated.
- Offer to pay for skill development (job-related, interpersonal and communication skills). Encourage staff to seek out managerial responsibilities in social settings – community groups, schools, social institutions, non-profits etc. – for the skills that they learn in those settings will come back with them into the work environment – as well as the recognition for a job well done.
- Model the behaviour you want. Care – passionately – about results. The test of anyone’s character is when the going gets tough. Keeping firm hold of the basics – grace under fire – tells volumes to the world and keeps the troops going. Edith Wharton said: “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” Churchill went further and said: “In the past we have had a light which flickered, in the present we have a light which flames, and in the future there will be a light which shines over all the land and sea.”
- Bring people into big projects. Let them feel and be part of the action. They can learn from their involvement and you can benefit from their energy.
- Eliminate bottlenecks and Red Tape. Process is important – except where it becomes an inhibitor of performance and new ideas. Recognize where your own procedures could be putting the stop to greater things.
- Have fun. Go to: www.spacecamp.com and read the testimonials from the alumni. Operated in conjunction with NASA, these programs challenge kids and adults to be, in effect, rocket scientists. (There is a Canadian version as well: www.spacecampcanada.com). Comments from those who went through the camps (The 500,000th camper, Samantha Rice, graduated June 15, 2007) consistently state that it was the experience of a lifetime. Achieving excellence and mastering new ideas does not have to be a slog. The evidence is clear – people who are having fun outperform those who are not.
Moving to higher ground may ultimately depend on ignoring the glitter and concentrating on that quiet place inside all of us where dreams are made and a candle glows on what might yet be.
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫ Come Monday morning’ I’m the first to arrive
I ain’t nothin’ but business from nine to five…
Well I’m a hard livin’, hard workin’ man…. ♫
Words and music by Ronnie Dunn, recorded by Brooks & Dunn.
The traditional view of management is that they must be continually focused on motivating employees lest the business fall into rack and ruin. However, research published in Harvard Management Update (Jan 2006) shows that most employees are very motivated when they start a new job. But, after less than a year, their motivation drops off significantly. Why? Paradoxically, the answer appears not to lie with the employees, but rather with management. Rather than motivating people, management’s style and overall behaviour can be a strong demotivational force that saps the natural energy and willingness of employees to do their best. Furthermore, thinking that the problem lies with the employees (and *of course* not with management), management then implements policies that only accentuate the difficulties that are facing the employees. You now have a downward spiral with management believing that they must ‘crack down’ further as they perceive they have a problem with motivation.
So what can be done to break this spiral and put staff and lawyers on a positive track that leads to both happy and motivated staff as well as management? Here is a selection of tips put forward in this area:
- Respect: Management often adopts a ‘need to know’ approach to communication. This inevitably leads employees to frustration as they are not clearly and consistently told why or why not certain actions must be done. Displaying a lack of respect for an employee’s need to understand not only what they must do but also why they need to be doing it is a very strong demotivational force. It reinforces the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ view of labour and management, it excludes employees from feeling part of the team and it leads to distrust – as employees never feel that they are being told the full story. Communication is poisoned as anything management says must be in turn, searched for its ‘true meaning’ – leading to speculation and suspicion.
- Recognition: Everyone likes to be recognized for their accomplishments. However, when a lawyer overtly takes credit for something done by his staff, or even worse, never recognizes when his staff has saved his bacon, the staff quickly catch on. Lack of meeting the basic human need of recognition – before clients, before other staff and before other lawyers – can quickly quell the motivation of any staff member to ‘go the extra mile’ for any organization.
- Expedite: Staff look to management for one major reason – to solve problems that are difficult or impossible for them to address due to their position in the firm. By failing to take action to make your staff’s job easier when requested to do so, you have clearly shown that you are unconcerned with your staff and the problems they face. Next time, be a hero by stepping up to the plate and quickly bulldozing a path for them to allow them to do their jobs as they wish to do them.
- Purpose: In some cases it is clear why staff member are being asked to do something. However, there may be tasks and projects that they undertake that are not clearly aligned with meeting client needs. In these cases, it is necessary to communicate how the task meets the overall needs of the firm. It is even better if all tasks can be tied to a ‘principled’ view of the firm – in other words, a mission statement that clearly states what purposes the firm serves, other than just being a vehicle to make money (for example, it would be a goal for the firm to be a leader in the community and a conduit for social change). These principles on which the firm lies will be the bedrock to which all the work of the firm is related – from providing pro bono services (as it meets the mission and goals of the firm), to building an informational infrastructure that allows the firm better meet the firm’s stated goals..
- Workloads and Pace: There is an old story about the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Unfortunately management can fail to heed warnings that continually adding to workloads or expecting too hectic a pace can be counter-productive and lead to burnout, absenteeism and departures. If any of these are a factor in your firm, you may wish to speak to your staff and start a dialogue about what is a reasonable workload and turn-around time period for work in order to improve the morale for the betterment of all.
- Team Members: Another old adage is that one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel. In this case, failing to deal with a non-team player when you are trying to build up a strong functional team can be a frustrating exercise at best. Moreover, by keeping the rotten apple, you are communicating to the rest of your staff that standards are not enforced and there is no need for anyone to perform at anything but a mediocre level. This is one exception to the rule that firing someone (after visibly trying to work with them to improve their performance) can reduce morale. You may hear the quiet cheer when the troublemaker is finally shown the door.
- Take the Blame: Along with giving credit where credit is due is not allowing public fault to fall onto your staff. Leadership is demonstrated by openly accepting the burden if something did not work out as planned. This does not mean that you don’t work diligently behind the scenes and find out why something went wrong and take steps to correct it. However, if you clearly communicate in act, words and deeds that your desk has a plaque that says ‘the buck stops here’, you will encourage your staff to trust in you and this builds positive morale.
Management needs to be aware of not only how to actively promote motivated staff but also how their actions or inactions, as the case may be, may actually demotivate staff from their initial enthusiasm that they bring to their positions, in order to achieve an office full of hard-working men (and women) who are all business from nine to five.
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫So I’d like to know where, you got the notion
Said I’d like to know where, you got the notion
To rock the boat..♫
Words and music by Wally Holmes, recorded by the Hues Corporation.
I have to hand it to this group of law students (Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession) and their blog. They have released a study that ranks law firms on diversity, pro bono participation and billable hours in six major markets (New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Northern California and Southern California).
These students are hitting law firms in the numbers. For example, when looking at New York firms:
“Gender Composition: At all firms surveyed in New York City, women are significantly less represented as partners than as associates. Even at Morrison & Foerster, which has the highest percentage of female partners in New York, women make up only 23.3% of all partners. At Fulbright & Jaworski, which has the lowest percentage of female partners in New York, women are only 7.1% of all partners.”
From the southern California rankings:
“Low Diversity Partnership Rates: Of the 16 Los Angeles-area firms included in the report, 100% had three or fewer African-American partners, all but one had three or fewer Hispanic partners, and half had three or fewer Asian-American partners, placing the percentage of partners represented by each ethnic group at less than 5%. By contrast, 2005 census data show African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Latino-Americans to comprise 9.7%, 13.1%, and 46.8% of the population in Los Angeles county.”
These days when it comes to attracting and retaining talent, these kinds of rankings may be influential with regard to attracting young and idealistic law students who are placing their values on the line and who seek firms that are working towards a better legal profession (at least according to their principles).
I applaud this effort and frankly, their willingness to challenge a profession of which they seek to become a part. What is more worrisome was that the reports are based on the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) annual workplace survey and many firms did not fill out the questions in that survey. One can only hope that this will change as law firms pick up on these rankings and publish them on their websites in order to attract talent to their firm. Indeed, one firm (Venable LLP) has already posted their ranking on their web page in order to give publicity to the fact that they ranked 5th in diversity and they went on to state that:
“Other areas Venable ranked in the top 10 include percentage of Hispanic associates (fourth), percentage of female partners (eighth), percentage of African American partners (ninth), and percentage of Hispanic partners (tenth). “
I have to give them credit - it appears that rocking the boat appears to already be making some waves!
♫ Ya know it’s true
Everything I do - I do it for you…♫
Words and music by Bryan Adams, Mutt Lange and Michael Kamen.
I have been reading the Ohio State University Leadership Center’s weekly email on leadership for some time. In particular, I have been looking for information on how a law firm can ‘close the gap’ between the difficulty that a client may have in perceiving the value that lawyers bring to their client’s problems and the actual services rendered. Like it or not, legal services are not terribly ‘tangible’ and lawyers face a continual challenge in communicating their value to their clients. As such the Ohio State leadership email struck a chord in terms of focusing a law firm leader’s work in a law firm directly on the client. It sets up a measuring stick to use in terms of determining if any proposed action will ultimately ‘add value’ to the client. Their post was as follows:
Five Expectations of Customer Leadership
1. “Every leader needs to be able to hear the customers ‘voice’ in everything they do.
2. Leaders who are aware of customer needs should be customer advocates, whether others in the organization are or not.
3. Leaders need to implement only those changes that are customer driven.
4. Leaders need to be knowledgeable about the entire value chain of how work is delivered to the customers and ensure that the value chain interdependencies work efficiently and effectively.
5. All objectives and measures for leaders (and their teams) need to be articulated with a clear connection to the value that the objectives create for the external customer (Weiss, 2005, p.58-61).”
Reference: Weiss, D. S. (2006). The leadership gap: building leadership capacity for competitive advantage. Mississauga, ON: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd.
Milton Zwicker, a lawyer in Orillia, Ontario has been writing in this area for decades and was one of the first ‘law firm client advocates’ that I can recall. He has spoken and written long and hard on the need to focus on the client and on how one orients a law firm around the concept of client service and value. In this context, the advice from D.S. Weiss is apt - before making any change, take a moment and ask if this particular change is one that is client driven. If a proposed change does not add value from the client’s viewpoint, then perhaps greater thought needs to be put into the proposed change and the reasons behind it. After all, when a leader looks around at the hub of activity before him or her in the office, they want to be able to say that ‘everything they do, they do for you…’.
♫ But change is never a waste… it’s never a waste of time…♫
Words and music by Alanis Morissette.
When the rate of change inside an organisation is slower than the rate of change outside the organisation, the end is in sight - John Welsh, Chairman, General Electric
I came across this quote and it caused me to stop and reflect. Law firms have not typically been vortexes of change. What implications does this have for the practice of law? On one hand, the law itself has been able to adapt to the rate of change in society…witness video gaming law, IT law, biotechnology law and the like. These are all wonderful examples of how the law itself is adapting to the newer developments in our society. But has the practice of law kept up with the rate of change? Do law firms adapt to change as quickly as the law that they practice? My feeling is that lawyers may be in for a fairly turbulent time over the next while as the forces of change wash over the traditional law firm.
First, there are the developments in Australia from the firm of Slater & Gordon. The 140-lawyer firm is the first law firm in the world to go public through an ‘Initial Public Offering’. As a result, the seven senior partners will each end up owning stakes of between $2 million (USD) and $8.5 million(USD). The new firm will have a market capitalization of roughly $89.7 million (USD) (as per law.com). The theory is that greater access to capital markets will allow law firms to invest in greater innovation (”R&D”).
The UK is looking at the Clementi Report and the Legal Services Bill. The proposed changes to the practice of law in the UK go much further than just opening up law firms to ownership by non-lawyers. The changes that they propose are designed to provide the capital for and foster the development and innovation of legal services and products. Increased efficiency and lower costs are two stated goals in the Report.
However, there are also more subtle factors at work. Demographics, for one. The population is aging and the boomer group of lawyers are looking at retirement. As a result, there are many firms that are now facing succession issues - and their ability to attract, groom and advance younger lawyers to partners will have a direct impact on the retirement plans of the older lawyers in the firm. The challenge for these law firms is to rework the values and culture of the firm to appeal to younger lawyers - thereby bridging the Gen X and Y chasm that has developed and stratified our society.
Another subtle factor is the increasing importance of community. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, sees this as a major factor in software - and a challenge for Microsoft (New York Times, Oct. 14, 2006). Now Microsoft deals constantly with change - it is after all, a defining feature of technology. If Steve Ballmer feels that collaboration and interaction at work is increasing in importance, then the logical step is to look at law firms and see the degree that they are forming client teams and practice groups to foster the collaborative approach to meeting (and increasingly, anticipating) client needs. Certainly practice group management and client teams have been a focus of many larger firms for some time - but what about mid to smaller sized firms? How are they adapting to the new collaborative work environment? Are they adopting new technologies, approaches and structures that meet the expectations of their clients?
Further, there is the whole coaching and business development movement, which recognizes that associates and partners alike need to increasingly focus in on the business aspects of the practice of law. Business development is hot right now as firms start to embrace a strategic approach to their business.
All in all, this indicates that individual law firms must become adept at implementing and responding to change at a rate at least equal to the rate of change that surrounds them. The challenge to law firm leadership - and the stakes - have never been higher.