Resolving conflict between partners and overhauling partner remuneration
I have previously written several articles in the Edge Communiqué[1] regarding the resolution of partner conflict. In writing this article I want to start a discussion about a different aspect of partner conflict than I have previously written about, and that is the extent to which entrenched conflict between partners can impede a reconfiguration of […]
Coaching For Lawyers: Transforming Emotion To Energy In Motion
World over, one-to-one coaching is a highly effective method used for achieving better performance. While coaching has been an extremely popular concept across the globe, in India coaching for lawyers has started to gain importance over the last few years. Keeping in mind this recent growth of coaching for lawyers in India, this article aims to discuss how coaching for lawyers can be a catalyst to their growth and evolution through the stages of career transition while also promoting workplace confidence, wellness, resilience, and mental strength.
The Focus Challenge – Part 3: Your Family
Obviously, giving zero percent attention to the family is neither healthy nor sustainable, but I suspect it happens more often than we’d like to believe.
Coaching and Return on Investment
While executive coaching has become popular in many law firms and corporate law departments, one of the reasons often given by senior management and HR for not taking advantage of this approach – or using it only to a limited extent – is the difficulty of measuring return on investment (ROI). In reality, there is […]
Partners in Conflict
No matter how strong a firm’s culture seems to be, there will be periods when some partners are in conflict. The conflict may not be material – perhaps a shouting match in a meeting that later calms down, or it may be a brief outbreak of longstanding animosities that are normally avoided by keeping the […]
Associate Advancement and Client Dissatisfaction
Is your firm aware of client dissatisfaction with the way your associates are developed and advanced? The signals of dissatisfaction are all around us, yet most firms just manage the symptoms, without restructuring their associate talent development model. Your firm can get ahead of this problem with a solution that leading firms have adopted – […]
Star Watching
As law firms wrap up the evaluation season, much of the conversation revolves around the under-performers and what should be done to get them “up or out.” At the same time, every firm acknowledges that they have both rising stars and established stars. What attention did they get and how will they be watched and […]
Can Law-Firm Associates Learn to Govern?
Many firms have gone beyond the usual training diet of substantive law and ethics to offer management and business development skills for associates. One of the next challenges is to learn law-firm governance. But is this a topic for associate training, and does it matter? From our consulting engagements we know that firms of all […]
Bias and Recall in Associate Evaluations
The first quarter of the year is the season of verbal evaluations for associates in many law firms. The written performance reviews have come in from several lawyers, the data on hours and billings are reported, and the availability of rewards (bonus, salary increments) is known. Now the partners sit down with the associate to […]
Tailored Talent Supervision
While working with counsel at a top global firm recently, I asked them: “What is your best tip for supervising associates?” I received some terrific ideas, but one that stood out was this from a transactional lawyer: “I ask them what they need from me.” This counsel had turned the normal supervision wisdom upside down. […]