Law Firm Management

This article discusses preparation of a 'State of the Firm' report, which provides owners with an appraisal of the firm's prior years and planning for the coming period.

It's a brand new year ' and, with a little luck and some persistence, maybe you made the most of the holiday season's networking opportunities and now you're poised to follow up with a flood of new contacts. But if you felt like your holiday season was hectic and didn't yield much client-development success, not to worry. Consider making it your New Year's resolution to make the most of events you attend in 2008.

The articles that the Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO) has published in a regular column for MLF the past year have focused on a variety of specific topics, like planning, alignment, and how to lead successful initiatives. But they all have one important thing in common. It is the need for law firms to really listen to their clients in order to elevate their service.

Law firms once dreamed of owning separate businesses to bring in new streams of revenue, and while some achieved that goal, the industry is now largely backing away from a strategy that provided little economic benefit.

Videos are popping up increasingly on firm Web sites, but at least one analyst warns that law firms might be paying too much for too little.

If gratitude is measured in dollars, office managing partners ('OMPs') are a bit taken for granted. In an informal Recorder survey of San Francisco Bay Area office managing partners, 70% say they work more than when they practiced law exclusively. But only 22% say they are earning more than before they took the post.

To manage today's younger-generations lawyers effectively, law firm and law department managers must relate to them as individuals, validate their self-interest, and communicate with them candidly and realistically.

This article provides pointers as to how to hire the best consultant for your firm's job and how to ensure the work product you desire.