On October 15, 2002, associates in the New York City office of Clifford Chance responded to a request for input from the firm's partners with a memo—a very candid memo. Somehow, a copy got into the Financial Times of London and became public. The result has been pivotal for Clifford Chance and, maybe, the legal profession globally. This article outlines practical and useful "lessons learned" from this unfortunate situation...

A leader can be forgiven for doing the wrong thing on occasion but what about failing to manage at all? In a corporate setting, this would be perceived as abdication and likely result in dismissal. In many law firms, however, leaders are excused from their management responsibilities...

The flipside of a basic doctrine of the laws of physics dictates that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Many law firms do not see this as a problem; they don’t realize that resting on their laurels can lead to severe atrophy, which can in turn lead to demise...

There is only one line that stands between you and phenomenal success—it separates action from inaction. By considering yourself in all the senior executive roles in managing your practice, you will optimize satisfaction and income...

End the cycle of making big plans for nonbillable project...and accomplishing nothing. Here we offer practical suggestions for breaking that cycle...

Unspeakable but effective...stealth discrimination: A model for choosing and managing your leaders...

Person-to-person is still the best way to communicate with colleagues and clients. This article explores the communication challenges of the information age and offers practical and useful tips for keeping client relations and inter-firm relations on the right track...

Profits are a better way to measure a law firm’s financial health. This article explores why so many firms are preoccupied with revenues instead of profit and what you can do about it...

Relationships with senior colleagues directly affect the career of new partners (and perhaps not-so-new). How do you gain credibility with those extremely bright but highly critical and analytical seniors who will watch your every step—noticing the negative more than the positive? This article explores how to measure up...

Professionals who are used to assimilating huge amounts of information very rapidly sometimes do not distinguish between acquiring knowledge and acquiring a skill...

Once upon a time there was a practice group that thought it was special. It thought it could accomplish much more than many of its counterparts within, and outside, the firm. And it came to pass that the practice group did accomplish a number of measurable results. And the firm said it was good...

It's not only about the money...

CEO of Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone in Detroit, Michigan, Bob Gilbert estimates that his firms net income per principal has increased over 70 percent in the last few years based on a bone-deep commitment to practice groups and their particular methodology for rewarding practice group profitability. We asked Bob Gilbert what went right.

Deborah Koeffler is the Managing Partner of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles, California. Coming from having been a practice leader for the firm's labor and employment group, Deborah reviews the principles she learned as a practice leader and how she is employing those same principles as a firm-wide effort.

Brenda Fingold is from Hale and Dorr in Boston, Massachusettes. She is a very capable and powerful lawyer who makes leadership programs work; who stimulates action throughout the firm. Here she shares with us how she how she accomplishes that so successfully.

Compensating Practice Team Leaders...

"Generally, busy lawyers are happy lawyers. Happy lawyers see no reason to change and lawyers, by nature and train- ing, are risk-adverse advocates who have a remarkable facility to find something wrong with any idea they don't like. My challenge is how to rally the troops.”