Edge International 2024 Survey on the Management of Partner Performance
Edge International’s 2024 survey on law firm management reveals trends in performance standards, financial metrics, and continuous feedback adoption. The study also highlights concerns about stress and the limited use of technology for performance management.
From One Leader to the Next: Law Firm Succession Planning
Let’s be honest – contemplating our mortality is never a comfortable thought, yet it’s an inevitable reality we all must face. Succession planning, inherently connected with thoughts of mortality or incapacity, often carries uneasy connotations. Consequently, it’s frequently overlooked and side-lined in the broader scope of law firm business and strategic planning. In this article, […]
Seven Great Ideas for a Partner Conference or Retreat
It is now a number of decades (don’t ask how many!) since I first attended a law firm partner retreat as a newly minted partner. Since that time, I have facilitated, led or spoken at many professional service firm retreats and conferences all over the world. They seem to divide into seven basic areas of focus, although of course there may be more areas to consider or variations on the same theme.
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 […]
Partnership – Dotting the i’s: Identity, Integration and Incentives
While much time is dedicated to recruiting and retaining associates, developing business and streamlining operations, is there an on-going effort to assure that partners are aligned, collaborative, productive and motivated? Does management have a pulse on the partnership and an awareness of issues that need to be addressed?
Avoiding Law Firm Armageddon: The Sequel … Two Strikes And You’re Out
Background I wrote previously, in an article at the start of 2020, about my – at the time – successful attempts at resolving a conflict that had threatened to blow apart a significant law firm in Latin America (all facts have been obscured for reasons of confidentiality, including the location of the law firm in […]
Why is Law Firm Strategy So Hard?
How can law firms pick the right spots? How can they transform their business model and service delivery in intelligent ways without getting out over their skis?
Diffusing Conflict: Taming the Insensitive Partner
In this article I am focusing on a different aspect of conflict among senior lawyers – and one that I am sure will be familiar to many. This is the case of the insensitive lawyer, or the lawyer who is somewhat lacking in emotional intelligence, and who ruffles feathers or, worse, causes more serious distress to his or her colleagues.
Why Partner Integration Should Be On Your Agenda
Partner integration signifies that partners are working, both individually and as a group, in a manner that optimizes firm performance and is in consonance with their expectations.
Resolving Conflict: Trouble at the Top and Why it’s sometimes best to part company
I have written previously (in an article in the Edge Communiqué entitled ‘Law Firm Armaggedon: How a major Law Firm nearly imploded and how the conflict was resolved’) about how the survival of law firms sometimes requires the capacity to resolve senior-level conflict. In that article I shared the story of one such conflict and how it was resolved through a long and difficult resolution process.