Tag Archive: Management
Richard Susskind has written a book suggesting that lawyers may become obsolete unless we make some dramatic changes.
I see nothing unusual about his conclusion … that legal work will be unbundled and that the work that is more mundane and routine will be systematized and perhaps even automated. Technology advances provide us with opportunities that didn’t exist before. We can, today, create better product for less money. Technology is only one aspect. Globalization is another. And this isn’t just for the large law firms. A client of mine, in Texas, opened an office in India for the specific purpose of document review and document production – it’s done for less money more quickly … And he can get a faster turnaround because of the time difference.
Law is slow coming to this process. My background is in manufacturing. I’ve owned and operated several companies. In order to retain prices, not to increase prices, we would do everything we could to automate. When automation, reducing the amount of labor costs, would go no further, we reduced the size of the container. For example, we would go from 32 oz to a 22 oz jar or a 10 gal. container to a 5 gal. container.
When we have time of challenge as we do now or changes in our economy and culture, we have the opportunity to innovate for improvements in products and services. We have the opportunity to create new demand. I see this beginning to happen in our parts of our economy. It will have to happen in the legal profession, nay the legal business (The Business of Law®), if we are to continue to serve our public as we know.
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Put a “positive spin” on the description of your services. I have been saying this for many years in the context of preparing your billing statements for work done for clients.
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Ownership mentality, or the lack thereof, is a primary cause for the failure of many organizations, including law firms. When entitlement is the primary psychological attitude, the organization and the people it serves suffer! There is a vast difference between ownership thinking and entitlement. One of the unanticipated benefits of our financial difficulties may be to whack "entitlement" thinking on the head.
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See the latest edition (March 3rd) of our newsletter featuring a discussion about the safety of IOLTA funds and the responsibility of lawyers for the failure of banks holding their accounts.
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In an article I wrote for February 2009 issue of The Bottom Line, the publication for the Law Practice Management & Technology Section of the State Bar of California, I discussed the continuing education requirements for lawyers as contrasted with others such as plumbers, et al. The article was a follow-up to piece to comments I have made here on June 12, 2006 (MCLE whining) and November 22, 2005 (Plumbers get more education than lawyers), all of which focus on the complaints lawyers have made about their education requirements to retain their licenses.
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In this morning’s session of large law firm managing partners, a group I’ve facilitated for more than 10 years, I heard hand-wringing I’ve never heard before. September 2008 was a watershed benchmark for revenue. Since then, revenues have decreased each month for many of the firms. There are only occasional rays of hope in certain practice areas. There seems to be a significant excess supply of lawyers. This is a significant change. As one lawyer cautioned, though, when the paradigm shifts again (as in the past), there will be an inadequate supply of experienced lawyers available to meet the demand.
How do you see the future both for the profession as well as for your own practice area?
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I recently returned from a week in the Santa Ynez Valley, CA area. The purpose of my vacation was to ride a bike with 35 others from around the world who were similarly enthusiastic about cycling, plus coaches and staff. The Amgen Tour of California started in Northern California and went south, passing through this area (Solvang, Los Olivos and surrounding communities). I watched the Tour’s time trial held in the valley. It was exciting to see Lance Armstrong and other elite cyclists pitting themselves against the clock to see who was the fastest.
Armstrong finished 12th in the time trial, one of his specialties before retiring 4 years ago. And he finished the overall Tour in 7th. In other words, in two races he’s entered (the other last month in Australia), he’s finished in the top 10 … after only a few months of training … and 2 competitive races! And he is 37 years old, an age past which most cyclists are not seen in competition. What a remarkable achievement.
From a psychological perspective, the man is unhappy at not finishing higher up the ladder, because he has such high expectations of himself. He has to continually be coached to greater success as well as to recognize his progress, to keep reality in place. His plan is working and is on target.
Trust the plan. Work the plan. Good advice for Lance Armstrong, a winner in all respects. And good advice for lawyers wanting to achieve greater success.
Prepare a plan. Work the plan. Trust the plan. Make adjustments where and when appropriate as you progress through the benchmarks of your plan.
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See the ABA Journal that predicts a 20% drop in legal revenues and a 50% drop in associate billings, spurred primarily by technology and client resistance.
There are opportunities in the market. Thinking optimistically may open you to them. Thinking pessimistically certainly will cause you to miss them. How much of today’s firm layoffs is because of pessimism, not because of critical analysis of the firm’s position and client (and prospective clients) needs? Like much else in the law firm environment, I suspect that this is much of a knee-jerk reaction rather than serious review and strategic planning.
I’m reminded of a statement from one of the recent TED speakers who said pessimism will certainly cause you to retract while optimism will at least allow you to see the opportunities, no matter how few, that are there. Seeing the opportunities is the first step to taking advantage of them.
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The California Guide to Opening and Managing a Law Office has just arrived! It’s a 600 page power packed treatise that evey sole practitioner should review. It, along with the ABA’s Flying Solo, is uniquely designed to raise issues that need answers for success.
Disclaimer: I’m responsible for two of the volume’s chapters. There are many contributors and editors who have made this an outstanding reference work.
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Hogan & Hartson seeks to do something new. They are offering a buyout to the legal secretaries and word processing staff. Their belief is that voluntary action is better, more humane, and yet reaches the same goal of staff reduction as layoffs does. Under the terms of the buyout, the more senior staff selecting the option will receive more compensation. The more recently hired staff will receive less; but the minimum employment must be 5 years.
On the one hand, the firm may be losing significant talent. On the other hand, the more senior is the staff person departing, the higher will be the savings for the firm.
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