The Invisible Managers in Law Firms

Who is the manager in a law firm?

If you're working in a law firm, you might find this question odd. There is no such designation as a 'manager' in a law firm, especially for the lawyers within the firms. You're either an associate, counsel or partner. Then where are the managers in the law firms?

The business model of law firms in India is based on retainer model where lawyers are retained as legal consultants who offer their legal services to the firm on an exclusive basis for a monthly fee and yearly bonus. In practice, they work as teams within the firm with each team comprising of associates, senior associates, principal associates, counsels and partners.

So who manages these teams and the work? This responsibility falls in whose job description? Who is expected to be the manager?

Ideally, you can say that since the partner heads the team, they are the ones who manage the team and are responsible for the work that the team does. But they're supposed to be leaders who bring in the work, do business development and not managers who deal with each and every aspect of how and when the work is done.

So, is it principal associates? They're essentially managing all aspects of the transactions to make sure the work product is delivered to the client. They have to deal with the clients as well as their juniors, counterparties and other intermediaries for everything that goes on in the transaction.

Or is it the senior associates? They've learnt the ropes now and have to make sure they give the right instructions to juniors and train them and get the work done.

Associates? Well, associates are still learning the technical skills so can they really be managing the transactions? Could be especially in teams which have no senior and principal associates.

And let's not forget the executive assistants. They're behind the scenes managing a lot of non-legal work associated with transactions.

I would argue that the real managers in any law firm are the invisible managers at any level who are really taking on the responsibility and getting things done. They are the underappreciated and overlooked dark knights who are punished for actually doing a great job at managing transactions/ cases. How so?

Billable hours include only technical work

Managerial work is treated as non-billable hours. Billable hours only include how much technical work were you involved in like drafting, negotiations, due diligence, research, discussions with clients and parties and anything that can be billed to the client. The bill sent to the client wouldn't really have a billing entry that says assigned work to the team, followed up with people, prepared timelines and plan for project execution, reminded a team member to respond to xyz for the third time, etc. If managerial work cannot be billed, well, it has no value and no rewards and it cannot be used to meet the billing targets.

There's a question I read on Reddit once where a lawyer was asking if they should bill the time they spend on the toilet thinking about work. That's what the invisible manager does. Thinks about what needs to be done, in how much time, by who, in what order of priority and yes sometimes they do it on the toilet or at night when they are trying to sleep but can't or on the way back home after work or while they eat their dinner.

Mental load is invisible

Mental load is a term often used to refer to the work that women do around the house. It's not just about asking other people to do xyz thing but the mental thinking that goes into what needs to be done. Similarly the mental load that invisible managers take on is invisible and unfortunately, women most often end up taking up this role. From the outside, it can seem like the invisible manager hasn't really done anything much. How much time and effort does it take to just write an email or follow up with someone or assign someone work or make a list of what needs to be done? It doesn't even involve any real legal work! Literally anyone could have done it.

Anyone could have done it, but they didn't. Invisible managers focus on the wholistic picture and not just the legal work they need to do for the transaction. They don't dismiss it as 'not my job or responsibility'. All this mental thought process and all the tasks associated with it accumulate to consume a large part of their working as well as non-working hours. Yes, perhaps they were not doing any technical work after getting back home but they thought about what needs to get done the next day not just by them but by everyone to get the task accomplished. Additionally, they also manage their people, their expectations, their training, their well-being, conflicts etc. The cloak over all this important work creates a false impression about the extent of 'work' they do.

There are no rewards for invisible managers

Since most of the work they do is invisible, there are no rewards associated with that work. No promotions, no recognition, no billable hours so no bonus. Promotions tend to be mostly based on your technical and legal skills. The managerial expectations are hardly ever highlighted or specifically addressed as essential skills and even when they are, there is no clarity as to what compensation or rewards are associated with such additional managerial work. So clearly, their work remains unrewarded, unappreciated and they are also sometimes punished with more work.

The work of invisible managers only becomes visible when they decide not to be the invisible manager anymore; when they decide that 'it's not their job'. That's when things start to fall apart; missed deadlines, people unsure of what work they have to do, no clear priority of tasks, clients calling to ask what is happening and putting out one fire after fire. Why haven't the drafts gone out till now? Why haven't the meeting invites been sent out? Why haven't these new contracts been reviewed by anyone? Why wasn't a reminder sent for review of this memo?

So, what can you do for your invisible managers?

Identify them

Invisible managers can be anyone from the associate all the way to the partner. Don't focus on the designation but focus on who is the organiser within your team, who is aware of everything that needs to be done and by when, is following up with you or others in your team and is just getting things done which no one asked them to do. Once you find them, thank them!

Clarify their job roles and highlight their work

Set expectations rights and identify (in writing) what they do and highlight that is an important part of their job role and the value this adds. This clarifies expectations for everyone within the firm. Regularly highlight this invisible work, it's contribution towards the overall success of the team. Give rightful recognition to the invisible work and makes it visible for everyone. Also, clarify whether everyone needs to contribute to this work and to what extent.

Assign a specific manager for each transaction/ case

Identifying a specific person who will be responsible for managing a particular transaction will not only make roles clear and visible, it will also help divide the managerial load and give everyone the opportunity to learn.

Find ways to link non-billable work to promotions, rewards,

Once the job role is clarified, figure out how you are are going to reward these invisible managers for their technically non-billable work. How will they be compensated in terms of their target billable hours, in terms of their pay and compensation package and what clear weightage will this work be given when considering promotions?

Invisible managers are the one of the pillars on which success of the transactions rests. Make them and their work visible and recognise and reward them for it.

So, are you an invisible manager?