Mentoring Is Good For Law Firm Profitability
July 27, 2004
As a first year associate at a large law firm, I once asked a very successful junior partner the secret to his success. His response ' also the title to a Harvard Business Review article ' was: "Everyone who makes it has a mentor." That's when I noticed that he did indeed have a mentor ' a close working relationship with a very senior partner, who taught him how to achieve success in a law firm environment. Now, as a legal search consultant, I find that mentors are an increasingly important part of law firm life. Mentors boost overall firm profitability by helping associates ' among the firm's most valuable resources ' succeed. In fact, associates with long-term mentors are more likely to make it to the coveted partnership ranks. Thus, mentoring improves recruiting, aids in associate retention, and can ' if properly utilized ' promote workplace diversity. Simply put, firms with successful mentoring programs can gain material marketplace advantages.
Practice Groups Lead To Better Management
July 27, 2004
The evolution of law firm management has been slow and deliberate, usually built around established business management models. For most firms, the model is flat: A few senior-level administrative managers work closely with the partnership's executive management and make most of the decisions. But recently, several firms have adopted a new management model: practice group administrators.
Sabbaticals Benefit Both Firms and Partners
July 27, 2004
A steadily increasing number of law firms are offering partners the opportunity to take a sabbatical. A few firms are even requiring them to do so. And more lawyers are taking them. It's a "win-win" situation.
When Diversity Works
July 23, 2004
Of the top litigation firms in the country that boast a blue-chip roster of Fortune 100 clients, how many are composed of more than 50% women lawyers, 25% gay or lesbian lawyers, and a Native American shareholder? I only know of one: Caldwell, Leslie, Newcombe and Pettit (CLNP) in Los Angeles.
The 'Best Of' Women in Law Programs
July 23, 2004
Women in Law initiatives and programs are not a new phenomenon. Many firms nationwide have programs that afford their women attorneys business development, mentoring and career counseling. In writing this article, we spoke to 10 different firms to learn the how's and why's of their women's initiatives. In Part 1 of this article we have profiled the first five firms.
Challenge and Change
July 23, 2004
There is not a single statistic that says that women lawyers have achieved equality in terms of pay, position, power, or prestige ' not one. From its roots in 1987 as the brainchild of ABA President Robert MacCrate and its first chair, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession has worked to assess the status of women lawyers and support efforts to help them achieve full and equal participation and opportunities in the legal profession. The Commission's lodestar has been that organized and concerted efforts could make a difference in combating the causes and effects of gender bias, stereotypes, harassment, and inhospitable work environments that have impeded the professional careers and aspirations of women in the bar.
Legal Outsourcing Looks to the Heartland
July 01, 2004
Piper Rudnick partner Karen McWilliams is not the first busy lawyer to ask an assistant to arrange a birthday party for her daughter. She may, however, be among the first to have called on an assistant more than 2000 miles away from her office in Reston, VA. "I forget they're in North Dakota," McWilliams says. "I just dial the number and they're there." <br>"They" are the outsourced office staff who work for Piper Rudnick and other law firms out of a support center operated by the CBF Group in Fargo, ND. <br>At a time when discussions of outsourcing focus on possibilities in India, companies like CBF want lawyers to remember there is a "near shore" option as well. Renee Rutter, the president of CBF, is hoping her company will find a niche somewhere between the anonymous document processing work that may go to India and the front-line secretaries whom lawyers interact with every day.
A Haven For Straight Talk: <b>Mystery Shopper</b>
July 01, 2004
At most firms, the transition to partnership requires that an attorney "buy into" the organization. The amount varies considerably, but it is often more than a year's salary. And partners almost always pay for their benefits out of pocket. And partners' draws are often wildly inconsistent from month to month. The eventual financial rewards of partnership can be huge, but the first couple years aren't easy. <br>And what do law firms do to prepare associates for partnership? If the three stories above are any indication, partners terrify associates, lead them to believe that marketing is a sign of corporate weakness and fail to educate them on the basics of firm finance. All that in preparation for the day when they'll be asked to "buy into" the partnership. If you're asking somebody to buy something, they're a customer. And firms should treat associates like customers from the day they begin interviewing until the day they make partner.
