FICPI Open Forum 2023: The Practice Management stream

The FICPI Practice Management Committee organised five breakout sessions at the London Open Forum. They were all highly topical and attracted many attendees.

Firstly, the?sustainable profitability in IP firms?session with Louis Lagler and Norman Clark focused on strategies for strengthening the practice of independent IP attorneys. https://ficpi.org/ficpi-news/sustaining-profitability-ip-firms This was based on a FICPI survey carried out from May to August 2023, with 84 IP firms and a response rate of 34.5%. Key elements included Six Drivers of Law Firm Profitability, namely pricing, productivity, realisation, cost management, compensation and leverage. This session also reported on pre-pandemic and post-pandemic profitability of IP firms, managing profitability and practical applications.?

Leadership and organisation, aka taking control of your IP firm,?was also addressed in a lively discussion between Ivan Ahlert , Bryan Gallo and Micheline Johnson , from three IP firms of various sizes and from different countries, led by Christoph (Chris) Vaagt , a management consultant, on?"Taking command of your IP firm". https://ficpi.org/ficpi-news/leadership-and-organisation-ip-firm

Because we are facing fairly new?competition from IP service providers, we also wanted to discuss whether this is a blessing or a curse. This session, moderated by Lisa J. Moyles, Esq. , presented a report of the survey carried out by PMC in this regard and allowed for debate between a service provider with speaker Phil Arvanitis of Clarivate and a FICPI national association who first raised this issue, represented by Marc Levieils . https://ficpi.org/ficpi-news/ip-service-providers-blessing-or-curse

Instilling a culture of business development?at every level of an IP firm… Do we do business development without knowing it? Moderated by Louis-Pierre Gravelle, CPVA , this presentation focused on the best ways and tactics to put business development in practice in the firm and towards our clients, using no selling techniques but rather empathy and personal relationships. Insights were provided by panellists Julie Demers , Michael Evans, Business Development Coach and Eduardo C. A. de Mello e Souza . https://ficpi.org/ficpi-news/instilling-culture-business-development-throughout-firm?

After giving all these management tips,?getting things done -?how to implement strategies? Moderated by Ian Gill , in this session FICPI members Justin Cassell , Jean-Nicolas Longchamp , Laura Mannering and Dr Howard Read presented their own experience and sometimes challenge) and openly discussed their difficulties, barriers and variable success in trying to implement the strategy they have decided.? https://ficpi.org/ficpi-news/successfully-implement-strategy-get-results-after-decisions

The presentations from the sessions?can be found in the FICPI On Demand section of the website.??https://ficpi.org/library/presentations/16371

A great sharing of experience!

Thank you to all the speakers, moderators and PMC members who contributed and continue to contribute. You are welcome to join our committee and attend our monthly telco: [email protected]?or [email protected]

By Anne Lévy , President of the FICPI Practice Management Committee