Law Firm Management

Why EQ Leads to Even Better Business Results It is not uncommon for law firms to face negative business outcomes caused by the behavior of a star rainmaker who is unaware of the impact that they have on others. And that's what emotional intelligence (EQ) is about and why it's so important to lead to better business results. What can law firms do to help their star partners increase their emotional intelligence to avoid potentially disastrous business outcomes for themselves and their firms?

While the last decade has brought a revolution of global law firms employing thousands of attorneys and an army of professional staff — pricing executives, marketers and legal operation specialists, among many others — many professional law firm staff tell stories of a two-tiered system that minimizes their role and contributions. Observers said the caste system is a long-standing cultural mindset that stems from an age when firms were smaller and more informal, without hundreds of employees.

The next generation of elite law firms may have little in common with today's leading global providers of legal services. Whereas historically top-performing law firms combine stellar talent with marquee clients, brand reputation and client-focused excellence to rise to the top, future leading law firms are equally likely to rise to power using a distinctly different recipe: namely, a mixture of market savvy, strategic agility and operational effectiveness powered by data.

Creating an Environment Attractive to Diverse Lawyers Where They Can Rise to the Leadership Level A roundtable discussion with four prominent leaders in law and recruiting who weigh in what firms are doing — and can do — to create environments that are attractive to diverse lawyers and enable them to rise to the leadership level.

Nine ways you may be hindering your efforts to win new legal business, and a few ideas on how subtle improvements can maximize both success and overall win rates for firms and attorneys.

Nine ways you may be hindering your efforts to win new legal business, and a few ideas on how subtle improvements can maximize both success and overall win rates for firms and attorneys.

Law firms have many leaders. Yet in many cases, no formal leadership training takes place, leaving others in their groups or offices performing at less than optimal levels and on their own to get the job done often feeling pressured and stressed. Here are some tips to help partners who lead operational teams, offices, practices, departments, or the firm itself, to implement for leadership impact that books and professors don't seem to directly address.

This article focuses on what a firm can do now that will improve future firm economics regardless of what the future may hold. It identifies three areas that offer the great opportunity for improving a law firms' economics and better positioning them for whatever the future may bring.