Modern Legal Practice journal: October 2019 issue
Nothing ever remains as it was, which is particularly the case in all aspects of modern legal practice management, notably in the critical areas of business administration, management and development, setting and driving strategy and people management at every level in the practice. Whether it is in relation to international firms of enormous size, complexity, power and influence or those which are smaller and more locally focused, many of the issues differ only in scale.
Such might be the case in relation to the evolving issues surrounding and influencing law firms’ ‘best friend’ tactics and strategies for development, profitability and client care. These are addressed in depth and with the benefit of great experience by Tony Williams, formerly a worldwide law firm managing partner and now principal at Jomati Consultants. He focuses on why law firms need ‘best friend’ relationships with other law firms and their applications, benefits and risks by firms, both large and small, for cross-border client work. He warns that, in terms of achieving intended objectives and operational best practice, potential risks and rewards should be anticipated, key factors of which include efforts to contribute to relationships and methods by which success and failure are measured. Business development methodology to achieve competitive growth are among the themes of Rebecca Harding, founder of Saltwhistle Communications, as she offers context to the questions of pitching for lawyers and using marketing communications techniques to improve win ratios. She argues the importance of competitive as well as personal insights, relationship and profile building and, critically, the requirement to live the values expressed by the practice as it faces its market and community. Client retention, specifically appreciating the real value of retaining the right clients, is explored by Itzik Amiel, an attorney and leading authority, known internationally for business development and mentoring lawyers. He argues the measurable benefits of nurturing existing quality clients and poses the key questions as to why clients may be inclined to leave, suggesting that to make greater efforts to retain clients may uncover new opportunities to generate revenue from them.
The many issues surrounding the management of modern legal practices are constant and never-ending, an increasingly critical one of which being those of doing so in the digital age. This is discussed by Dr Heidi K Gardner, Distinguished Fellow & lecturer on law at Harvard Law School and renowned author, and Herminia Ibarra, Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, best-selling author and speaker. The authors lay out a practical, research-based approach to help practitioners and law firm senior executives become more effective in guiding their organisations through the complexities and vagaries of the digital age. They argue that, in addition to recognised core skills of successful lawyers and their practices, as smart technologies and rapid growth transform law firm services, internal operations and even business models, they also enable and demand new approaches. These include innovative thinking, collaboration across practice areas and the ability to engage peers and associates in open and effective conversations centred on their development and growth. Antonin Besse, a former Freshfields Bruckhaus Beringer partner and now a director of Interview Advantage, brings his experience and expertise to questions of the lawyer as leader, career management and coaching. Emphasis is placed on personal control and self-coaching, understanding goals and setting objectives. The applicability of such skills, talents and experience at the top of modern legal practices are examined as they apply to new entrants. Rebecca Normand-Hochman, a solicitor, formerly at Allen and Overy and now of the Institute of Legal Talent and Leadership, believes that it is time for a new approach to talent management in law firms. She explains what is understood by the notion of talent management and highlights mentoring as an important way of developing talent, thereby creating long-term relationships which are to the benefit of participants and their firms.
The extent to which such guidance on practice development in law firms is equally applicable to the work and characteristics of barristers’ chambers and their individual members, is examined by Alex Taylor, senior clerk at Fountain Court Chambers in London and Paul Martenstyn, former deputy senior clerk at Fountain Court and now managing director of Vannin Capital. The authors explore the increasing importance of practice management and business development issues in a chambers’ setting and how they might be viewed specifically in it. The use of technology, relationships between and among chambers’ members, clerks and others are all examined for their specific application in context.
The book, To Innovate or Not to Innovate? A Blueprint for the Law Firm of the Future, by Darryl Cooke, private equity lawyer and executive chairman of gunnercooke LLP, is reviewed by Helen Hammond, chief executive officer of legal sector marketing agency, ELE Global. In a critical analysis of it she writes “it’s one of the most valuable books on growth strategy in the modern legal sector on the market”.
Editor, Modern Legal Practice