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Implementing Practice Management in a Mid-sized Firm

By Joel A. Rose
May 31, 2006

Practice management is gaining strength as a discipline in many mid-sized firms. Long adhered to in large firms as a way to interact most effectively with clients, produce the client's work in the most timely and cost-effective manner, and generate collegiality among lawyers, in mid-sized firms many managing partners have relegated the practice of law to individual partners, reluctant to impose their judgments on how individual client matters were being performed. This results from their belief that lawyer management should not have to follow up on partners responsible for performing client work or for managing substantive practice areas.

Practice management and firm management often interact most closely when firm revenue and the net profit available to partners declines. When partners begin to feel the economic pinch in their pockets, there is a greater tendency to view practice areas and individual attorneys as profit centers. As such, firm management needs to review all of the factors contributing to profitability and to address the following questions:

  • How profitable are the firm's practice areas?
  • Should the firm continue to practice in these areas or redirect its efforts to other areas?
  • Can certain partners and associates be re-assigned to other more profitable practice areas? If so, what training will be required to bring these attorneys up to speed in these areas? If not, what should be done with these attorneys?
  • Should certain partners be assigned accountability for managing particular practice areas?
  • What should be the role, responsibility and level of accountability of the heads of practice areas?

Often, the solution to the problem is development of practice management in the firm, and an increasing number of mid-size law offices have introduced and implemented practice management activities to insure partner coordination, control and accountability over fields of law, areas of practice and client matters.

What is Practice Management?

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