The rise of the fractional CMO
Unable to afford a full-time CMO? Then a fractional CMO might just be the answer.
Results of the 2020/2021 Edge International Global Remote Working Survey Part 1: The Data
I am delighted to publish the results of the Edge International 2020/2021 Global Remote Working Survey. This is the first part of a two-part review of the results. In this part I am sharing the results. In the second part, I – together with Gerry Riskin – will be suggesting some practical conclusions that can be drawn from the results, which should inform how leaders manage remote working post-pandemic.
Client Remote Working Outreach — Managing Partner Checklist
Managing Partners: Capitalize on your firm’s opportunity to enhance your outreach program to clients
Building a Unitary Merged Firm: Dynamic Teaming & Abe Maslow!
What does it take to make an integration process of two law firms really “sing”? Why are many mergers so challenged at realizing synergies, building a unitary operating model and culture, and acting upon a single set of external priorities? In fairness, all firms have problems with these issues: fulfilling their commitment to autonomy tends […]
When the Monkeys Run the Zoo
In running any business, reaching wise and sensible decisions is never easy. And in competitive markets, many who are charged with managing professional-service firms can suffer sleepless nights attempting to get decision-making right. But trying to get the right outcome can become a ‘worst nightmare’ in firms without a clear governance structure or with a […]
Law firm brand success calls for leadership, education and structure!
Brand is such an important asset and so fundamental to the success or failure of every law firm that it is a strategic, not an operational or administrative, issue. It is therefore surprising how few firms invest in developing a common firm-wide understanding of brand and a supporting strategy – or put in the effort […]
Another Look at Practice Group Analysis
Many law firms now have sophisticated methodologies for assessing or measuring the profitability of their practice groups, and yet many stumble across one of three typical issues. Many firms do not have a clear definition of their practice and industry groups. The issue is that firms often have too many specialised groups with some overlapping, […]
Law Firm Marriages
I’m spending time with many firms these days that seem to be really interested in “combining,” partnering up, or at least acquiring groups of great lateral partners. Apart from the conventional observation that these efforts to juice up growth “inorganically” often mask failed efforts to grow “organically” (i.e., acquiring new clients!), aspirations typically reflect some […]
The Fading Power of Niches
It has often been stated that only two broad strategic directions are available to law firms, summed up in the often quoted platitude “Get Big or Go Niche”. Over the last few decades, many boutique firms have successfully followed a niche direction by doubling down on particular areas of focus and creating depth in sectors […]
Creating a Growth Structure from a Lockstep Mindset
It’s not often I stumble into mid-sized and larger firms that have successfully retained a compensation system that can honestly be described as pure lockstep. Other than a number of the most profitable Wall Street firms, the rest of BigLaw and “not-so-BigLaw” long ago began incorporating some features that track originations and link individual compensation […]