Law Consulting Blog : Cordell Parvin's Law Consulting Blog : Coach & Consultant For Lawyers & Law Firms : Business Development, Career Planning

Three weeks ago many of us were glued to our television sets for the NCAA final game between Duke and Butler. It was one of the most exciting  NCAA final game ever. Players on both teams played as a team and the coaching was outstanding. Watching it made me think of how well lawyers play as a team.

They say business school teaches MBA students to collaborate and law school teaches law students to compete. If that is true, then it is no wonder why some law firms, offices or practice groups are made up of individual lawyers who are focused on themselves. 

My old firm and many other law firms remind me of the 2004 US Olympic basketball team. Very few firms remind me of the 2008 team, or the Duke and Butler teams we saw three weeks ago.  David Maister wrote about this problem in Are Law Firms Manageable? One humorous point Maister made was: 

If lawyers deal with each other so poorly, why do they do so well financially? My answer is only partly humorous: The greatest advantage lawyers have is that they compete only with other lawyers.

David Maister is right. I remember several years ago the great fear law firms had about the prospect they might some day have to compete against accounting firms.

The 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team included the most talented NBA players, but took a third-place bronze medal because the players had a “me first” attitude, and were less focused on the basics than the Argentine and Italian teams.

With Coach Mike Krzyzewski coaching, the 2008 U. S. Olympic team got back to basics and teamwork. The players may have been less talented than the 2004 team, but they built a team and focused on fundamentals. Coach K spent three years molding what became known as “The Redeem Team.” When they won a hard fought final game against Spain, the entire team showed up for the press conference. Coach K had built a relationship with the players that not only caused them to win for him, but also caused them to want to win for each other. Coach K proved once again that there is no ‘I’ in teamwork. Somehow, he got superstars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to suppress their egos and concentrate on the team.

What does the difference between the 2004 team and the 2008 team have to do with your firm? If your firm’s lawyers have a “me first” attitude focused and getting credit, it will be very hard to develop a collaborative effort. If your firm is focused on primarily on billable hours and profit per partner, it will be very hard to get your lawyers to anticipate client issues and provide solutions better than your competitors. Bottom line if your firm is like the 2004 team you will eventually lose to firms that focus on hiring, training and retaining the best talent, molding them into a team and providing exceptional service to clients.

If you are trying to get the members of your firm, office or practice group to collaborate and put the team ahead of themselves, here is assignment for you. Read Coach K's book: The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team and see if you can lead the way Coach K did.

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I was a practice group leader in my old firm. Once a month I was required to attend a meeting of practice group leaders and office managing partners. I rarely thought what we covered was valuable. For the most part we talked about economics and how we were doing financially. We did not brainstorm ideas on how we could better lead and motivate our lawyers, which in the end would make us more valuable to clients and more profitable.

In his book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Seth Godin references a poll of 20,000 creative professionals done by Richard Florida. He gave the professionals 38 factors to choose from on what motivated them at work. Here are the top ten ranked in order:

1. Challenge and responsibility
2. Flexibility
3. A stable work environment
4. Money
5. Professional development
6. Peer recognition
7. Stimulating colleagues and bosses
8. Exciting job content
9. Organizational culture
10. Location and community

Godin points out that only one of the above is a clearly extrinsic motivator.  I am sure many law firms focus on it like a laser beam. In those firms the popular notion is that the only thing that motivates partners is higher profits per partner and the only thing that motivates associates is compensation and bonuses. The survey would suggest there are motivators that have little to do with money.

Looking at the survey, what can you do? It is difficult to provide exciting job content all the time. I have done my fair share of legal work that was not exciting. I am sure you have as well. The location of the firm is where it is. So, not much can be done with those two motivators.

At the same time, law firms can easily provide challenge and responsibility, flexibility, a stable work environment, professional development, peer recognition, stimulating colleagues and bosses, and organizational culture. Your young lawyers want to be challenged. They want flexibility to be able to  spend more time raising their children. They want to feel secure knowing they will have a job. They want to learn and develop their skills. They want feedback when they need to improve and when they have done an outstanding job. They want to work with lawyers they respect and trust. They want to work for a firm that lives what is says is its culture.

I wonder why so many law firms are not focusing on those motivators. Is your firm? When was the last time you talked about any of these topics at a firm leaders/management meeting?

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One of the lawyers I coach contacted me this week about a program she will be doing tomorrow on leadership. She asked for my ideas. Here is what I shared with her.

Whether you realize it or not you are a leader. You do not have to lead a firm or department or office to be a leader. You may even be a first year lawyer, or a law student. You are still a leader, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

Over the years when I practiced law, and more recently working with lawyers, I have written and done presentations on leadership. I have always been a student and read about leadership. Many leadership experts express that the starting point for you as a leader is “finding your voice.” You have to know yourself before you can lead others.

In their book The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition, James Kouzes and Barry Posner say: “To act with integrity, you must first know who you are. You must know what you stand for, what you believe in. and what you care most about. Clarity of values will give you the confidence to make tough decisions, to act with determination, and to take charge of your life.”

That may sound logical, but how can you clarify what you value? Stephen Covey wrote about finding your voice in his book The 8TH Habit: From Effectiveness To Greatness. He posted a blog on how to do it. 

Based on many things I have read, here are my 10 questions for you to answer to find your voice:

1. Your Law Firm is holding your retirement party. Picture yourself there. The speakers will include a client, a lawyer in town with another firm who has been opposite you in some matters, a young lawyer in your firm, your spouse and one of your children. What would each person say about you?
2. Imagine you are older and your grandchild asks: “What are you most proud of in your life?” What would you say?
3. What lawyer do you admire the most and why?
4. What lawyer is living the life you would most want to live and why?
5. What lawyer is doing the kind of work you would most like to do and what is that work?
6. You want people in your firm, or clients to believe you are the “go to person” to_________________.
7. What is the work you enjoy most as a lawyer? Why?
8. What client(s) do you enjoy the most and why?
9. Imagine it is five years from now. Describe your day.
10. Over the next five years, what do you want to do? What do you want to become? What do you want to earn? What do you want to learn?
 

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I read a hilarious and fascinating blog post by UConn professor Gina Barreca  in Psychology Today Run By Women, The World Would Be Better and More Fun.I found it thought provoking, but the satire may not be for everyone. 

I have worked with and coached many outstanding women. While none of them have led their law firms, several are leading practice groups and offices.  My experience working with these many talented women, caused me to consider how  law firms might be different if they were led by women.

I think there is always a risk of overgeneralizing about gender. Way more than gender goes into leadership styles, including, the leader's generation. With that caveat, I instinctively thought that a firm led by one of the women I coach, would be: 

• Less focused on individual lawyer silos and more focused on teamwork and collaboration
• Less focused on how we always have done it and more focused on innovation
• Less focused on rigid rules and more focused on flexibility
• Less focused on dictating and more focused on listening
• Less focused on profits per partner and more focused on values 

I looked at my list and said to myself: "Wow, I would love to be a partner in that kind of firm." Unfortunately, as reported in a 2008 article: Women Law Firm Leaders Still Sparse only 8% of firms are led by women. There are a variety of reasons cited in the article, not the least of which is only a small percentage of men, and smaller percentage of women, have any desire to lead a firm.

Concerned that my instincts might be inaccurate, I looked for scientific research, and was surprised to discover I was pretty much on target. Of the many studies and papers, here are two with interesting insights:

• Caliper The Qualities that Distinguish Women Leaders
• Financial Executive Leadership: Qualities that Distinguish Women which discusses the Caliper survey

In the study, male leaders were exceptional in each of the areas, but women leaders set a new standard. They are or have:

• More persuasive in part because of how well they listen, read situations and see all sides
• A stronger need to get things done
• More willing to take risks
• More open
• More empathetic which enables them to be more persuasive
• Stronger interpersonal skills
• More inclusive consensus builders
• More collaborative

At the end of the Financial Executive article there is a quote from Jeannette Lichner, managing partner of Bank of America in the U.K. She said: "

The strong leadership profile exhibited by these women executives points to the future. The female view that we strengthen ourselves by strengthening others is redefining leadership.

What do you think a woman led law firm would be like? I invite your thoughts on this interesting subject.

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I have been around law firms whose lawyers had differing ideas of the firm’s culture, its vision and what is expected of each lawyer. Those firms are notable by the number of closed door meetings and they are most likely not to survive in difficult times.

I just finished re-reading “The Leadership Challenge" by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. I recommend the book to every lawyer because even if you are a young associate in your firm, you are still a leader.

Near the end of the book, Kouzes and Posner suggest that leaders constantly ask themselves:

• What values do we hold dear?
• What visions do we aspire to realize?
• What behaviors do we want to reinforce?

They go on: “Be prepared for every public opportunity to reinforce the culture and the meaning you want to create.” Are your law firm leaders constantly asking these questions? Do your lawyers know what values the firm holds dear, what visions the firm aspires to realize and what behaviors the firm wants to reinforce? Just having clarity on those points will create a synergistic atmosphere.

Here is a way to determine the values your firm holds most dear. Make a list of values (e.g. Integrity, Profits per Partner, Collegiality, Teamwork, Respect, Diversity, Quality Work Product). Then have each of your partners, or each of your lawyers rate the importance of each value on a 1-10 scale. If your lawyers rate the importance of each value the same or close to the same, then you know what your firm holds most dear. If the ratings for each one are all over the place, it's time to go back to the drawing boards. 
 

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Charlie Miller is a close friend of mine here in Dallas. Last year he conducted a webinar for lawyers I coach titled: "The Voice of the Client." He also did a podcast interview for me which you can find on iTunes.

Charlie consented to my request to share his list: “10 Characteristics of Successful Law Firms” with you.

1. Have a comprehensive business plan (“play book”) and review and update the business plan on an ongoing basis.
2. The client comes first. Without clients, there is no reason for a law firm to exist.
3. Sell solutions ("provide value") to clients, not sell time as expressed in billable hours.
4. Manage client expectations on a daily basis.
5. Utilize Rigorous Financial Management for all client assignments. Prepare budgets for each matter: tasks, events, timing and resources to be used for the benefit of the client. This requires early analysis and client signoff.
6. Inventory is not "billable hours," it is the cash those hours represent, and they focus on collecting accounts receivable and maintain a high realization rate.
7. Practice effective cash flow management by getting funds into the bank as quickly as possible.
8. Recognize that technology—emails, blogs, cell phones and voice mail—cannot replace personal relationships, personal integrity, and rapport with clients. (Note: I would have added social media)
9. Value and reward “Team Effort” aligned with a pre-determined Strategy.
10. Have in place a disaster plan and a management succession plan and keep them current. Business survival and succession cannot be left to chance.

Charlie's ideas are right on target. Is your firm doing the things he suggests?

 

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When I speak at firm retreats, I frequently show excerpts from the “About” page of the firm for whom I am speaking and two competitors. I then ask the lawyers to identify which website is theirs. Routinely, only about 50% of the lawyers in the audience know which website is their own.

Why? Most law firm websites are alike and are focused more on selling the firm than helping the firm’s clients. Most law firms claim to be “innovative,” or “creative.” They provide “solutions.” They are “full service” firms and represent a diverse group of large and small clients on a “wide range of matters.” They all have lawyers with a vast amount of experience, a great work ethic and are noted for their integrity.

Look at the “About” page on your law firm website. Does any of the above look familiar? Does your firm “About” page also talk about your firm’s history? How many hits are you getting on that page? I doubt many because your potential clients really do not care about your firm's history. Does your webpage focus on what your lawyers do? If that is the main focus you are not reaching your potential clients because for the most part, they do not care about your firm's services. They care about themselves and their problems, opportunities and changes and will only pay attention if the services you provide specifically address those issues.

David Meerman Scott has written a book titled: The New Rules of Marketing and PR. It is a great book you should consider reading. One of his new rules is the importance of focusing on your customer (client) persona and creating content on your webpage that addresses their needs. Scott frequently blogs and does presentations about this rule and provides real life examples.

 

So what is the lesson for you? Instead of claiming to be innovative or creative, demonstrate it on your website. There is an expression I like: "Sell by doing, not by telling." Create content your clients and potential clients will find valuable. Make it as easy as possible for them to get it and easy to share it.

Your firm likely has several client personas. Some clients are large businesses, some are small businesses and others are not businesses. Some client representatives are busy CEOs, others are busy in-house lawyers. Suppose for a moment that a one person in-house general counsel for a family owned business comes to your website. What would he or she find valuable there? What would give him or her an idea about what it will be like working with your lawyers?
 

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My October column for The Practical Lawyer focuses on leadership and how the current economy may have changed law firms forever.

Is your law firm striving to become the best it can be? If so, my bet is your firm leader has integrity, articulates a purpose other than profits per partner, clearly has a vision for the firm’s future, makes sure the firm is acting consistently with its values and holds people accountable. These answers are fairly obvious. But, if they are so obvious why isn’t every leader doing what it takes for the firm to be successful?

1. Integrity

A law firm leader must be honest, ethical and credible. In their book Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It, James Kouzes and Barry Posner reported the results of 1500 interviews with managers across the United States. When asked to identify the characteristics and attitudes they believed to be most important for effective leadership, the number one response was: integrity (leaders are truthful, are trustworthy, have character, have convictions).

2.  Purpose Beyond Profits Per Partner (the Why)

A law firm leader must be able to express the firm’s purpose. James Collins and Jerry Porras in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies Built to Last define purpose as “the set of fundamental reasons for a company’s existence beyond just making money.”

3.  Vision for the Future (the What)

A law firm leader must be able to express his or her vision for the firm in a way that creates excitement in the firm. Almost nothing energizes people more than feeling they are part of building something special. When President Kennedy expressed the vision that the United States would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, people were energized and inspired.

4.  Culture and Core Values (the How)

A law firm leader must be able to both articulately express the firm's culture and core values and to make sure the firm acts consistently with those core values. In Aligning the Stars, Jay Lorsch and Tom Tierney describe culture as “a system of beliefs that members of an organization share about the goals and values that are important to them and about the behavior that is appropriate to attain those goals and live those values.”

5. Accountability (the What is Expected)

A law firm leader must clearly articulate minimum standards. Actually, “minimum” is not the best word because the standards should actually be very high. Each person should know clearly what is expected of him or her and then must be held accountable with consequences for non-performance.
 

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Does your firm have a social media game plan? If not, you should. A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog on why law firms need to be on Twitter which included suggestions for how law firms could use Twitter effectively. I received more comments to that post than I have ever received. So, obviously lawyers are interested and have opinions on the value of social media. Senior lawyers in your firm may not see the value of it. I didn’t see the value at first either. Then, I discovered the opportunity.

I believe most clients consider lawyers and law firms for a first project based on recommendations by friends, colleagues and others who influence them. When your practice is local and is in a small town, word is passed on in person. If your practice is in a larger city, or covers a larger geographical area, in person word of mouth is more challenging.

On recent flights I have been reading “The Anatomy of Buzz Revisted” by Emanuel Rosen. In the book Rosen mentions a study on how people found their jobs done by Mark Granovetter, a graduate student at Harvard. To his surprise, Granovetter found it was rarely from recommendations from one of the closest friends. People more likely found their jobs based on recommendations by acquaintances. This phenomenon he called “the strength of weak ties.” Importantly, for lawyers it goes well beyond just the job market.

What should lawyers and law firms get from this study? Strong-tie buzz will spread word through a certain cluster, whereas weak tie buzz spreads the word from one cluster to another. In other words, people with whom you have strong ties, likely run into the same people and go to the same places you go. People with whom you have weak ties see people in different groups and go to different places than you go.

Lawyers and law firms need to consider the possibility and even likelihood they will be recommended to potential clients based on the strength of weak ties. Every lawyer I know who has gotten on Facebook or LinkedIn has found weak ties he or she had not heard from in many years. Those who have gotten on Twitter have likely connected with people they have never met personally.

Two blog posts worth reading that explain how social media can expand and leverage weak ties are The Strength of Weak Ties: Why Twitter Matters in Scholarly Communication and Facebook and the Strength of Weak Ties.

If a law firm or lawyer creates content that their weak ties find really helpful and insightful, those weak ties are likely to pass it on to others. For example if a lawyer tweeted about an article or blog post she had written and those following her on Twitter found it valuable, they will likely retweet it to the people following them.

Social media provides a really great opportunity for savvy law firms and lawyers who take the time and make the effort to figure out what is happening that will impact potential clients and create helpful content that can be easily spread. If you are a managing partner or a department head, have you thought about the value in creating a social media strategy and marketing plan? If you get there before your competitors, your message will be spread first.

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It is orientation season, at least it is for those firms that did not push back the start date for their new first year lawyers. I will be speaking to a group of first year associates on Monday. I will focus on the importance of taking responsibility for their careers, developing a plan with written goals and using time wisely. 

I know that many first year associates, especially those who have never had a "real" job before, show up for work unprepared for the "real" world and they do not leave orientation prepared to deal with questions that arise later. I have put together a list of questions that may arise. I don't know if orientation is the time to deal with these, but I do know they will come up at some point. Your firm should be prepared to answer them.

1. What do you do when you are working for the firm bully who abuses associates and staff by yelling and using foul language?
2. What do you do when you are assigned to the "big case" to do only document review and you have no other work?
3. What do you do when you do not understand your assignment?
4. What do you do when you don't know the answer?
5. What do you when you make a mistake and make the partner you are working for upset?
6. What do you do when you have too much work and another partner wants you to do an assignment for them?
7. What do you do when you are short of work and others in your practice group are busy?
8. What do you do when you have a personal commitment you really need to tend to that will prevent you from timely finishing an assignment?
9. What do you do when you are getting no feedback on your work?
10. What do you do when you go home exhausted every day from sitting in front of the computer and working all day?
11. What do you do if you are not getting secretarial support or help from a legal assistant because their allegiance is to a more senior attorney?
12. What do you do when you are asked to attend an important recruiting event and you have a brief a partner expects to receive the next morning?
     

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Is your law firm on Twitter? You likely think that none of the CEOs or GCs of your clients are on Twitter, so why should you be. I also questioned the value of Twitter in a blog I posted in June.

The reason your firm should be on Twitter is simple: It takes very little time or expense to get content created by your lawyers out to people who might actually value receiving it. If you are doing email blast alerts and sending email notifications of firm programs and presentations, consider using Twitter as a tool.

If you are a  law firm leader or marketing director, consider using Twitter to provide links to the following:

• Client Alerts
• Articles written by your lawyers
• Blog posts by lawyers
• Firm or individual lawyer podcasts
• Invitations to programs and CLEs
• Content from programs
• Links to recordings of Webinars
• Lawyer successes
• Firm announcements
• Firm community and civic activities

If you think about it, you can likely come up with links I have missed.

If I convince you to put your firm on Twitter, what should you do next? First, develop a plan to get your clients, potential clients, influencers and referral sources to follow you on Twitter. I recommend your plan include a link to Twitter on your firm webpage and on each firm blog site. Next, I would let clients and referral sources know you are on Twitter and the kind of content you plan to post. I would also give them easy to follow instructions on how to get on Twitter and follow your firm. I would also notify national and state industry association executives for each industry your firm’s clients engage (e.g. construction, healthcare, franchise, hospitality, financial). Finally, if your younger lawyers are game, have them notify their friends on Facebook and other social networking sites that your firm is on Twitter.

Final thought: Do not use Twitter as a tool to “sell” your firm. Instead, use it as a tool to provide valuable information to clients and friends who will see the value of what you are giving them.

If you want to follow me on Twitter.
 

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I guess it is no secret that law firms are facing a recession. Today I received an email for a CCM audio conference program that will be held on October 29 titled: "Revenue per Lawyer: Increase Profitability not Billable Hours." One of the marketing pitches for the program was that firms are struggling to increase profits by cutting overhead to the bone and reducing expenses. Still profits and revenue prove hard to maintain. Needless to say this is a timely topic and I am sure the program will be a good one.

I remember the last law firm recession. The leaders of my old firm spent hours in meetings focusing on where they could cut costs. Then, they took bold action. They cut our client development/ marketing budget by more than half, they cut our development and training budget and laid off over 30 lawyers. I disagreed with that approach and I don't think it makes sense now. The simple truth is that there is only a small percentage of costs that can be cut, and unfortunately the very areas (marketing and training/development) that are most likely to be cut are those that can help increase revenue.

Suppose you focused on how to increase revenue rather than how to cut costs. I believe that would be a more successful exercise. How would you do it? You might use a couple of the exercises I use with my coaching groups.

Gather your Top 10, 20 or 25 business producers for a summit. These are the lawyers in your firm with a proven track record. Divide them into three groups. Have the first group brainstorm ideas that will increase revenue during the last three months of this year and in 2009. Have the second group brainstorm ideas that will increase revenue from 2110-2112. Have the third group brainstorm ideas that will increase revenue long term (2013 and beyond). I think you will be surprised by some of the creative ideas your best producers generate.

Then, develop 25 actions to take to increase revenue. One might be to identify the firm's top 50 clients and have the lawyer responsible for the client, visit them. One might be to have all the firm's partners prepare a business plan with goals and a minimum of 240 non-billable hours devoted to client development. One might be to create industry teams. Another might be to have a group study what is going on in the world and how that is creating and will create new legal work. The point is to have your top producers come up with an action plan and then implement it.

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Recently, I was reading a New York Times "DealBook" entry titled: "Young Lawyers, Big Salaries." There were 218 Comments about the entry. Many of the comments expressed dissatisfaction with the profession. One Commenter said:

I worked at a major NYC law firm for a few years, and they couldn't pay me enough to stay there. The ridiculously long hours, the lack of control over your life, the insensitive partners, the insane senior associates, and the total lack of interesting work are worth no amount of money. This is especially so when you live in NYC, where I was making $300,000 and still felt as if I was in debt.

How do you recruit lawyers of the Millennium (or Y) Generation and how do you retain them? Those were the questions I was recently asked by a recruiting coordinator of a major law firm. I think it begins by understanding them and how they are different from lawyers in my generation.

When I was in charge of attorney development at my old law firm, I sought to better understand the Y Generation lawyers. Here is my list of Top 10 things that are important to this group:

1. They want to work for firms whose leaders do not take themselves too seriously. 2. They want to work in a comfortable atmosphere, one in which they can be themselves. 3. They want to work for firms where they have an essential contribution to the success of their firm and their clients. 4. They want to work for a firm that values - and practices - community service. 5. They want to work on teams and to make friends at a firm. 6. They want their work to be interesting, and will get easily bored if unchallenged. 7. They want their firms to provide them with the most up-to-date technology to better perform their work. 8. They want and will seek constant and continuous feedback from their supervising attorneys. 9. They want to be treated fairly - as they define it - and will place a very high value on it. 10. They want - demand - sincerity from firm leaders.

I have written an entire article about recruiting and motivating the Y generation. If you are interested in getting a copy, send me an email.

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I read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review October, 2006 issue: "The Tools of Cooperation and Change" by Clayton M. Christensen, Matt Marx and Howard H. Stevenson. The focus was on leaders using the right tools to encourage people to work together to get results based on the circumstances they face. I thought of law firm leaders as I was reading and decided I would share the authors' points as if it was written for a law firm rather than a company.

The authors suggest that leaders who want to move their organizations in a new direction must first understand the degree to which law firm partners and associates agree in two dimensions: (1) What they want out of being a member or associate of the firm and (2) How to achieve what they want.

A couple of years ago my friend, Roger Hayse, made the same point to me. He showed me a chart he had done with a list of statements on the left and 1-5 on the right with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. His list included things like profits per partner, collegiality, holding firm members accountable, teamwork, client service, work-life balance and a variety of other topics. Roger told me that if the super majority of lawyers in a firm either strongly agreed with an item or strongly disagreed, that would be ok. But, if a good number strongly agreed and a like number strongly disagreed, that would make it very difficult to lead the firm.

The authors of the Harvard Business Review article would agree. They state that when people in an organization disagree on what they want and how to achieve it, the only tools that induce cooperation are "power tools, which are essentially coercion and fiat" Since lawyers are so autonomous, there is no way that tool would ever work for any extended period of time.

The authors believe that if people want the same thing but disagree on how to achieve it, "leadership" tools will be effective. If a firm's lawyers agree on what they want, a charismatic law firm leader with a powerful vision of what the firm can accomplish that is clearly articulated, can move the firm's lawyers to achieve it. Those leaders will motivate and energize the members of their firm.

Are there a super majority of lawyers in your firm who agree on what they want? If not, leading them will be extremely challenging.

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Over the last week, I read two interesting articles about the legal profession. A friend of mine sent me a link to an article in the April issue of the Philadelphia Magazine. The article: "The Last Days of the Philadelphia Lawyer" talked about changes going on in the legal profession. The second article dated April 30, 2008 was from The American Lawyer and was titled: "Lessons of the Am Law 100: Is the Golden Age Over?" These two articles focused on the not so subtle changes our profession is facing and will continue to face over the next several years. In fact, many pundits have predicted that the days of the 200-400 lawyer regional firm are numbered.

Consider these shifts in the size and composition of our profession over the last several years:

Merger mania. In 1997, in the heat of the bull market, just 11 law firm mergers were completed. In 2007, as the economy was deteriorating there were over 50 law firm mergers.

Increased revenues per firm. According to Altman Weil, in 2006, Average revenue per lawyer in the law firms surveyed was up 4.3% to $419,826 in 2005 seven firms produced more than $1 billion in gross revenue.

More lawyers. In 1951, there were approximately 200,000 lawyers in the United States, 1 for roughly every 700 people in the nation. Skip forward to 2007 and the profession had grown to about 1,143,358 licensed lawyers representing 1 lawyer for roughly every 200 persons. At this rate we are not far from the day that there will be a one-to-one relationship between licensed lawyers and American citizens.

Size of law firms. In 1960, there were only 38 law firms in the entire country with more than 50 lawyers. By 1985 there were more than 500 firms of that size or bigger. Today, a 50-lawyer firm is considered a small firm. In most cities a firm that size is a relatively recent start-up, a merger candidate or a highly specialized boutique. Today's largest law firms include thousands of lawyers. The average number of lawyers in the Am Law 100 is 781.

Increased Profit per Partner. Not too long ago, partners who claimed a $250,000-per-year share of profits, considered themselves well-off. But in today's high-end, highly competitive world of business law, this would be a dangerous level of performance for a firm of any substantial size. Consider the PPP of the nation's 100 largest law firms: In 2006, for the first time, a majority of America's 100 top-grossing firms had profits per equity partner of $1 million or more.

Litigation. Because large law firms are so focused on increasing profits per partner, they no longer want the kind of work that provided opportunities for young lawyers to go to court. I can remember when I started, a group of associates met at the courthouse frequently as each of us had small insurance subrogation cases, or court appointed criminal defense cases to litigate. Now, I know litigation associates who become partners in their firms without ever trying a case. Needless to say that can be disheartening for a young lawyer who aspires to try cases.

Law firms are becoming bigger and richer, and young lawyers are earning more than ever before, which seems more cause for cheer than concern. So why is our money-hungry profession in crisis, why are our clients dissatisfied with the quality of our legal services and why are so many young lawyers disillusioned with our profession?

Law firms are growing - and closing - at record rates in the new millennium, and our entire profession is being turned upside down. Many law firm leaders fail to recognize the need to change the main focus from profits and billable hours to clients and the development of the firm's young lawyers.

I am reminded of our 2004 Olympic basketball team - talented losers. Compare that team to the first U.S. "Dream Team" that included Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Those players never let their exceptional skills substitute for adherence to the game's fundamentals. Jordan, who often seemed like a one-man, high-flying, point-making machine, never forgot his philosophy, "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships." And Bird was a player so dedicated to fundamentals that he always showed up for a game hours before anyone else - so he could dribble the ball and detect any flaws on the court.
Both men - and their teammates - recognized the power of focusing on the basket, not the scoreboard. The 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team included just as much talent, but took a third-place bronze medal because they were less focused than the Argentine and Italian teams on the basics of basketball.

Many law firm leaders who are focused on the scoreboard - The AM Law profits per partner - will ultimately lose in an economic downturn to those who understand the value of the fundamentals - training, motivating and retaining their best talent and providing exceptional service to their clients.

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I am a fan of Jim Collins, the co-author of "Built to Last" and the author of "Good to Great." In "Good to Great," Collins said his research team expected to find that good-to-great leaders would begin with vision and strategy. Instead the researchers discovered the leaders "first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats--and then they figured out where to drive it."

I can tell you from my own experience that Collins is right and for law firms his principle is even more important for smaller law firms or practice groups in larger law firms. When my former partner and I started a law firm with one associate in the early 80s, we shared a vision, values and work ethic. By the time we were over 20 lawyers, we had many of the wrong people on the bus. We never achieved the vision my partner and I had in the beginning. As practice group leader of the construction law practice group at Jenkens & Gilchrist, I started with vision and strategy. My vision was to develop the preeminent construction law practice group in the United States. I developed a strategy to accomplish the vision. There was only one slight problem. Several members of my practice group had no interest in being a part of the preeminent construction law practice group in the United States. Those lawyers actually undermined the effort.

I think it is a big challenge for law firm leaders to get the right people on the bus and get rid of the wrong people. I have not met a law firm leader who wants his or her firm to actually decrease in size.

Since I began coaching lawyers on client development, I have discovered the importance of having the right people in the coaching program. In this instance the question is whether the lawyer is coachable. I have found I can really help those lawyers who are coachable and cannot motivate those who are not. Executive coaching firms have created a list of questions on coachability factors. I decided to prepare a list of coachability factors for lawyers. If you are interested in getting my list of factors, drop me a note.

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A person with great dreams can achieve great things. Dr. Bob Rotella, golf psychologist

1.     Make sure there is an alignment of leadership, purpose, strategy, core values, culture, and systems that includes goal setting.  If the leadership does not support goal setting, it is not part of the strategy.

2.     Or, if it is contrary to the firm's culture, it probably won't happen.  Leadership requires that you set an example and show lawyers how to meet the firm's and their own expectations.  That means firm leaders must have their own goals and be willing to share them with others.  Keep in mind:  If you don't value career development at your firm, your brightest talent will move to a law firm that does.

3.     Clearly articulate what is expected of mentors and why.  Train the mentors and then hold mentors accountable.  Mentors should help associates set goals, help them prepare a plan and then meet with them regularly to go over how they are doing.  For accountability, include mentoring in evaluating bonuses and compensation for partners.

4.     If the firm values associate development and associate investment in their careers, communicate that message clearly and then reflect it in associate bonuses and feedback.  If the firm does not value it, persuade associates they are at best limiting their career by not investing non-billable time in themselves.

5.     Help associates see the value of setting goals and then train them how to set them.  Be able to convey that goals are a means to career success and satisfaction. I explain to associates that I selfishly set goals because I know I am responsible for my career happiness and success.  Goals help me prioritize what is important to me and help me focus on my personal and career priorities.  Goals also give me a sense of freedom and independence, especially as I develop my own clients.  I also explain that a great deal of the value is actually the process of setting goals and thinking about the future.  Consider the words of the very goal-oriented Ben Stein, who is an actor, political speechwriter, law professor, economist, author and columnist:  "The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this:  Decide what you want."

6.     Conduct workshops for associates on goal setting and career planning as part of orientation and then a second workshop at the beginning of their fourth year.  Those who have reached their goals will need to set new ones; those who have not may need to change their action, strategy or both. If their goals have changed, they may need to chart a new course.  The formal workshops, in addition to private, ongoing mentoring, reinforces the firm-wide message that your commitment to your associates is long-term and embedded in firm culture.

7.     Have mentors find out from associates what is important to them and what they value.  It is the beginning step to setting goals.  Mentors can help reinforce firm goals and an associate's role in achieving them.  It is also important for mentors to understand that goals reflect generational and societal change.  What motivates a mentor may have little meaning to an associate.  Pay attention to the differences and help associates form goals that match their values.

8.     Convey to first and second year associates that their goals need to focus on what they want to learn and experience.  If the firm has a shadowing program the goals may include the shadowing they want to do.

9.     When associates set goals, have them write a paragraph on why they want to achieve their goals and have them brainstorm all the things they need to do to achieve each of them.  Share with them strategies for reaching goals quickly.  Studies have shown enormous differences between the success of people who just thought about rather than wrote down their goals and between people who wrote down their goals once, yearly, monthly, weekly and daily.  Hint:  The more often you write down your goals, the faster you will reach them.

10.    Prepare different Personal Development and Performance Plan templates for the 1-3 year associates than the 4-7 year associates.  Their needs are different, and this should be reflected in the planning guidance you provide.

An average person with average talent, ambition and education can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society if that person has clear, focused goals. Brian Tracy, whose bestselling titles include,  Hire and Keep the Best People

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"Are your star associates staying with your firm?

Are they learning the skills that make them valuable to your clients?

Are your partners behind the effort to train and develop the associates?

What are effective ways to train and develop them? 

I got the opportunity to answer these questions during a presentation to managing partners at an annual bar association meeting. I loved the title they gave me. It gave me the opportunity to focus on how to connect with the 'next generation,' make the business case for developing them, and then give specific ideas on how to do it."

The above quoted text is from an article I wrote for the October 2007 issue of The Practical Lawyer. In Developing the Next Generation of Remarkable Lawyers, I ask and answer those questions. If you want to read more about this important topic, you can download an advance copy of the article from my website:

www.cordellparvin.com

While you are at my website, feel free to look at and use the other articles and information I have on the site to help you and your firm in developing your attorneys and furthering the success of your firm.

After you have read the article, please come back to this blog and post any comments you may have about developing the next generation of remarkable lawyers.

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"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Chinese Proverb

I like to point out that it is a mistake for law firms to focus on Profits per Partner (PPP). Instead, I recommend focusing on the things totally within the control of the firm that in the end produces Profits per Partner. One of those things is your attorney development program. In the book Aligning the Stars, the authors, Jay W. Lorsch and Thomas J. Tierney point out that: "Starmaking" is more important to a firm's long-term success than "rainmaking."  Talent is the only source of a firm's competitive advantage.

What is your firm's purpose, vision, and its core values relating to its attorney development program? Here is what I suggest you consider:

Purpose The purpose of our law firm Attorney Development Program is to enable our attorneys to better serve our clients, to increase our realization, and to provide opportunities for greater achievement and career satisfaction. 

Vision

We seek to have an attorney development program recognized as preeminent by our clients, our lawyers and law students.

Core Values Our attorneys will take responsibility for their career development and satisfaction.

Each attorney, associate, shareholder, and of counsel must contribute in some way.

Supervising lawyers will give clear direction, answer questions, pay attention to quality, and provide real time constructive and supportive feedback.

Teamwork is encouraged at all levels.

Each attorney and staff member will be shown respect. Respect engenders respect.
We will endeavor to provide consistent, real and specific direction on career advancement. 

CLE will be used as a means of acquiring skills necessary to better serve our clients and enable our attorneys to grow.

We will demand a lot from our lawyers.  They will work hard, meet high standards of excellence, and over time and with our guidance and support, learn to be outstanding lawyers, trusted advisors and mentors for a new generation of outstanding young lawyers.

Each associate in our firm has a unique background, unique skills and unique dreams, but  they also share things in common.  They all want to learn and become better lawyers.  They want to perform interesting work. They want to feel like they matter, know where they stand, and whether they are on track, and they want to feel respected by senior lawyers and peers.

The most junior lawyers know more about the science of law and less about the art of lawyering than they will ever know in their career. When it comes to the future, many young lawyers are confused.  They feel like they are on a trip to an undefined and constantly moving destination (making partner).  They are uncertain of the time expected for their arrival, feel they have not been given a map to get there, and no compass to let them know where they are.  They feel they have no coach or sponsor. Our job as senior lawyers is to teach them the art of lawyering and help them clear up the confusion. This requires us to get to know them, to understand what makes them unique, and to encourage them to achieve success as they define it. Our work with our clients is not any different and just as we get good vibes from helping our clients achieve their business objective, we get the same feeling helping our young lawyers achieve their career goals.

"You will have more fun and success helping other people achieve their goals than you will trying to reach your own goals."

Dale Carnegie

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Was anyone surprised that Tiger Woods won the PGA tournament over the last weekend? I certainly was not surprised. I know the PGA has many outstanding golfers. Yet, no one on the tour goes into a major tournament better prepared than Tiger Woods. During his interview on Sunday, Tiger Woods talked about his consistency of ball striking and putting. He also explained how he prepared for the tournament. He visited and walked the Southern Hills golf course, visualized the shots he expected to make and practiced those shots. Tiger Woods is clearly the number one golfer in the world.  Even the best golfer in the world has a coach. Hank Haney.

Even though the greatest golfer in the world has a coach, most lawyers my age don't see the value of coaching lawyers on client development. Those lawyers never had coaches when they were senior associates or junior partners, so they can't see the value of it now. Most lawyers my age also believe lawyers either "get it" (how to develop business) or don't. They believe lawyers who are successful at business development were born with the traits that enable them to bring in business.

Why is it important to have coaching for senior associates and junior partners now? There are several reasons. First, developing business now is way more challenging than it was 25 years ago. There are way more lawyers making the competition greater, client expectations have increased, and the time available for business development has decreased. When I was a young partner, most lawyers developed business by doing excellent work and waiting for the phone to ring. Most clients in those days were both local and loyal. It's way more complicated now. Through consolidation and mergers, clients that were locally owned are now part of national and international companies. So, it is more difficult to become visible to those clients. Second, many senior associates and junior partners are in the transition stage of their career, moving from being solely service providers to being responsible for developing and building client relationships. For many, that is a daunting task. They do not know where to start. As a result, they do not start, or they give up quickly when some of their efforts do not work. To the extent there is any effort at all, it is unstructured, unfocused and ultimately unsuccessful. Many lawyers procrastinate, are undisciplined, have no written plan and ultimately little or no execution.

When I was actively practicing law, I did not have the time to focus on helping our junior lawyers with business development. Frankly, I did not have time to analyze why some things worked for me, while others did not. Now that I am no longer billing 2000 hours, I have time to analyze what worked for me and why it worked.

Before I left my old law firm, I went to the leaders and told them I had peaked in my own business development efforts and offered to take 15 brand new partners and work with them on their client development. I bragged I could help the group double the collective business volume in two years. They actually accomplished that goal in one year. I enjoyed working with our pilot group so much that I decided to leave my law firm so I could work with lawyers in other firms.

If you have someone in your firm who will take the time to coach and work with your senior associates and junior partners, I think you will see both a benefit to the lawyers coached and a benefit to your firm.

Here are some thoughts on what you might do. The person who volunteers to coach should be like a fitness coach. In other words, he or she will help the participants be accountable to themselves and to the "team." I love a quote I read recently in a book by Jack Canfield. The quote was attributed to Fast Company magazine:  "Executive coaches are not for the meek. They are for people who value unambiguous feedback..."

Put simply, the most important factor in the success of any coaching program is the burning desire of the participants to get better at client development and their willingness and openness to being coached. So, the first thing you must do is select the right people.

 The second thing I suggest is to create both an individual effort and a team dynamic. Participants will learn what activities will provide the greatest benefit to them and then will have regularly scheduled sessions with the coach to report on activities and learn more. I have been amazed by the group dynamic. No one in the group wants to let the rest of the team down and they feed off of each other's ideas.

In an effective coaching program, young lawyers will:

• Develop a Business Plan
• Determine both group and individual goals that will challenge and stretch them
• Determine what activities to undertake to meet their goals
• Learn how to write articles and give presentations that will enhance their reputation and increase their chances of getting hired.
• Develop a Focused Contacts Plan
• Become more client focused
• Be held accountable

I bet that many of the lawyers my age who do not believe in coaching lawyers get golf lessons from PGA professionals. I submit that if the greatest golfer in the world benefits from coaching, the greatest young lawyers in the world would also.

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Plante Moran is an accounting firm headquartered in Michigan. It is the 11th largest accounting firm in the United States. It has been ranked as one of the top 100 places to work in the United States for the last eight years. That is quite a feat.

I had read that the firm is one that actually lives its core purpose and values rather than just having a document on the wall. Their core purpose is to be a caring, professional firm, deeply committed to their clients' success. Their core values are:

• We care


• We are guided by the Golden Rule


• We strive  to be fair


• We commit to quality, integrity and professionalism, consistently placing clients's interests ahead of firm interests


• We mazimize individual opportunities within the context of the team


• We are dedicated to preserving and enhancing our spirit

In an e-newsletter called, "Reading for Leading," Michigan's First Gentleman Dan Mulhern wrote an article he titled: "Plante Moran: Caring makes it a great place to work." In his article Michigan's First Gentlemen states:

"The values, principles, and commitments are not just discussed.  They are lived.  'Caring' is something they recruit for, interview for, and even use their staff psychologists to test for.  They have long had a 'Jerk free' environment, and if a jerk slips through the selection process and acts in a way that violates the golden rule, they will be counseled, and if they don't change, they will be moved out."

Plenty of law firms have mission statements and core values. They usually speak about providing extraordinary service for clients and providing maximum opportunities for lawyers and staff. Not all firms actually live these core values like Plante Moran does. They seem to get lost in the ever increasing theme of making more money and getting hours. Just suppose your firm focused being a great place for lawyers to work and develop their careers and focused on client service and put the clients' interests ahead of profits per partner considerations. I think profits per partner would increase over time and clearly the career satisfaction would be enhanced.

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A few years ago one of my clients recommended I read Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles' book "Raving Fans." I read it and thought it was a great book on client service. So, I bought dozens of copies and sent them to clients and sent them to the Jenkens & Gilchrist office administrators. Some of our offices developed "Raving Fans" programs in their offices. Staff members each read the book and brainstormed how they could better serve our lawyers and clients and make each group "Raving Fans." Then our offices started giving awards to members of the staff who had provided the most extraordinary client service. Then we created a firm wide award that we called the "Henry Gilchrist Award." Our awards usually centered on a fabulous vacation to a place our staff members might not visit on their own.

Why does any of this make sense? When we give our staff an opportunity to create "Raving Fans" service ideas, they realize that what they do is important to our firm success. It was amazing to see the energy generated by this program. By the way, Blanchard and Bowles realized this also. The next book they co-authored was "Gung Ho." In order to have clients who are "Raving Fans," you must have "Gung Ho" folks providing the service.

I often thought we should recognize associates in the same way. Having associates who are "Gung Ho" will help us make our clients "Raving Fans."

Click here to get Raving Fans or Gung Ho

 

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In most large law firms, associates are distinguished by: (1) their number of billable hours; (2) their class; (3) their practice group; and, (4) the office location. Before someone can coach or mentor an associate, he must know them not only as lawyers but also as people. I learned this when I was first assigned to be in charge of attorney development at Jenkens & Gilchrist. The associates who did not know me did not know whether to trust me. I decided I wanted to get to know as many of our associates as possible.

I was able to get to know our associates by taking them to dinner. Nancy and I took associates and their spouses or significant others to dinner in Dallas. Whenever I traveled to one of our offices I would take a group of associates to dinner. If Nancy could come along with me, we would take three associates and spouses or significant others to dinner. As a result, we were invited to weddings, received the first baby pictures, and we got to know the associates on a new and deeper level.

Encourage your partners to take associates and their spouses to dinner. When partners get to know associates on that personal level, a sense of trust is developed and loyalty is created.

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I did a number of presentations in January. One presentation was at the Virginia Bar Association Annual Meeting and was at the Managing Partners luncheon. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to speak to this group because it gave me a chance to make the business case for attorney development. As you will see below, I began by focusing on the next generation 

"Developing," "Next Generation" and "Great" 

I love the title of my presentation even if I had little to do with selecting it. The three important parts of it are "developing," "next generation" and our desire to develop "great" lawyers. 

There are likely several reasons that focusing on developing the "next generation" is important. But, I want to address two reasons here. First, Stephan Covey, the famed author and speaker talks about our desire to live, to learn, to love, and to leave a legacy. As law firm leaders we can only leave a legacy if we are developing the next generation of our lawyers to make our firm even more special. Second, when we use the term "next generation", we must realize they are unique, special, and differ in many ways from our own generation. Much has been written about the "X" generation and the "Y" generation and how their ideas and values differ from those of us who are baby boomers. I learned this the hard way when I was made the partner in charge of attorney development. I have written an article about recruiting and motivating the "Y" generation. I decided to write it as if a managing partner was giving a presentation about the firm to a group of summer associates. The managing partner was focusing on things I have learned that are important to that generation. New lawyers want to be part of a law firm that: 

• Is honest with them and does not "sugar coat" what it will be like to work at the firm after graduation; 



• Has a clear sense of purpose, vision, core values and makes clear what each lawyer can do to contribute to the firm's success; 



• Emphasizes the importance of teamwork and recognizes the contribution of even the most junior lawyer; 



• Offers challenging assignments; 



• Focuses on training and development of its lawyers; 



• Models the behavior it expects from associates; 



• Provides mentoring and coaching; 



• Provides constant feed back rather then just one or two times a year; 



• Has the most up to date technology and uses it; 



• Appreciates diversity and embraces it; 



• Focuses less on hours and more on revenue or profitability; and 



• Is a fun place to work. 

If you are interested in reading the entire handout materials or receiving a copy of my PowerPoint slides, please send me an email 

. 

Tags: Being a Lawyer, Career Development, Coaching, Law Firm Leadership, Mentoring

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January was a busy month for me. I gave six presentations to bar associations and law firms within a 10 day period. One of the presentations focused on building the next generation of rainmakers. As I thought about what I would tell the audience, it occurred to me that most of the rainmakers in law firms are, or will be, at retirement age within the next 10 years. That may be fine if a firm has institutional clients, but if the firm is more entrepreneurial, then building the next generation of rainmakers is especially important. 

Before considering how to build the next generation of rainmakers, it is important to understand what makes rainmakers different. I think rainmakers exhibit the following attributes: 

• They have high emotional intelligence. 



• They really care. 



• They expect more of themselves than others do. 



• They have high energy. 



• They inspire confidence. 



• They have a passion for their work and their clients. 



• They are not "selling" to get business. 

So what do the characteristics of rainmakers tell us about creating the future rainmakers? I think it tells us several things: 

• Rainmaking will be natural for few and a challenge for many. 



• We need to focus on raising the level of emotional intelligence. 



• One size does not fit all (we need to customize our training to the individual). 



• We need to teach associates to set goals and prepare a plan. 



• Client development training should be interactive and experiential. 



• Programs for 1-3 year associates should be vastly different than programs for 4-7 year associates. 



• Programs for junior partners should focus on developing a business plan, developing their profile and how to connect with clients and potential clients and enrich the relationship. 



• A client development program will have little value if there is no follow-up individual coaching. 

 

Tags: Emotional Intelligence, Law Firm Leadership, Mentoring

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What is your firm doing to develop a firm-wide purpose and culture? Each law firm is unique. But if you looked at our Martindale-Hubbell listings or websites, you'd rarely discern a difference between one law firm and another (and if we can't tell one firm from another, our clients and potential clients certainly cannot.) We need to differentiate our firms in the market, and we can achieve our purpose, first by defining our future and the contributions we expect from each lawyer toward attaining that future. 

Second, we need to better focus our training and development to keep them in the context of career development planning. What is the value for law firms in changing their focus from managing lawyers to leading, coaching and mentoring them, from being an all-purpose to a differentiated firm? We will save money by retaining talent, make money by creating a market niche and enjoy peer and client recognition as a firm with a preeminent attorney development program. We will create something special, a firm of lasting value and trans-generational respect. 

There are four things law firms can completely control: to whom they make offers to hire, how well they train and motivate their lawyers and staff, how well they serve their clients, and how well they use technology to benefit their clients and lawyers. 

What's at stake if we don't change? Consider the current state of the legal profession: 

• Young lawyers have never been paid more and been less satisfied with their careers. 



• Lawyers are viewed only above advertisers and car salesmen in terms of ethics (Gallup). 



• Lawyers suffer from depression at a rate 3.6 times higher than non-lawyers. 



• Only one-half of the lawyers who participated in a Rand survey said they'd become lawyers if given a second chance to decide. 



• Some 75 percent of Fortune 1000 clients said they do not recommend their primary law firm to others, and would change law firms if they thought another one would better serve their needs, citing client dissatisfaction twice as often as any other reason for their lack of loyalty. 

George Bernard Shaw famously said: "You see things; and you say, Why? But, I dream things that never were; and I say, ˜Why not?" Some lawyers and law firms see these signs of growing dissatisfaction as problems. I see them as a tremendous opportunity for law firms open to changing their focus from profits-per-partner to service, cooperation and collaboration. Interestingly, making that change will actually result in greater profits per partner. 

 

Tags: Being a Lawyer, Client Development, Law Firm Leadership

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Over time, law firms have contributed to associates not setting goals. The message many associates receive is that achieving billable hours is the only thing that matters. Partners subtly, and not so subtly, make the point repeatedly. Bonuses are set based on "billable hours." How many firms have spikes of billable hours at the bonus levels? Associates are congratulated more for their billable hours than they are for the quality of their work. Associates are laid off because they do not have enough "billable hours," because the work in the practice group is slow or because the partners need to get their own billable hours. Attending "training" sessions is perceived to be a waste of time because it takes away from "billable hours." When associates return to the office from a pro bono effort, community service or client development meeting, they are sometimes made to feel they are not carrying their share of the load. If they cut back on their billable hours in order to spend more time with their children or in the community, they may be made to feel unworthy. 

Some associates become disillusioned by the mentoring process. They anticipate their mentor will help them in career planning and they have high expectations when they select their mentor, only to have those expectations dashed when the sole mentoring activity is lunch at the firm's expense, much less work with associates to help them achieve success and career satisfaction. 

Some partners undermine the process by putting associates down. This is particularly true of associates who have a vision for their career beyond just doing the work generated by the partner. An associate would never share goals with these kinds of partners out of fear of being ridiculed. No one wants to be ridiculed by a partner either to his face or behind his back. 

Young lawyers may need to set goals in an atmosphere that does not value goal setting. What can you do to make goal-setting a valued priority? 

 

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Senior lawyers who care about retaining talent should pay better attention to what helps and hinders an associate's commitment to the firm. As a young second year lawyer recently told me: "Of my law school friends, I would say that I only know a few who are going to stay where they are working. The vast majority sees this as a blip on the way to something else, and that's mainly because they are dissatisfied with the work, find the environment stifling and do not feel appreciated by the senior lawyers." 

On the other hand, consider the commitment of another young associate I have coached. Stephanie, who says her motivation to become a lawyer is "not all that inspirational . . . When I realized that the starting salary of a new associate was approximately five times what I was earning (for the Texas Department of Banking) . . . I committed to studying an hour a day for the LSAT." 

Stephanie's commitment to the firm where she began her law career should, however, inspire senior lawyers to pay serious attention to the working atmosphere they create for associates. 

"Now, I enjoy being a lawyer primarily because of the people I work with and the clients for whom I work. The clients and the other attorneys in my section are all motivated individuals. My senior attorneys seem interested in my success and make an effort to patiently help me through my mistakes. The environment is up-beat, fast-paced and pleasant. As I tell the head-hunter who calls me about once a month, "I wouldn't think of doing anything else, anywhere else." 

Is the atmosphere in your firm "upbeat, fast paced and pleasant" enabling associates to be "in the zone" like Stephanie? Or is it "dissatisfying and stifling?" 

 

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As I get older I am more convinced that leading a law firm is like coaching top professional athletes. I have thought a great deal about why Pat Riley has been a successful NBA coach in Los Angeles, New York and now Miami and why Bill Parcells has been a successful football coach of two New York teams, New England, and hopefully now in Dallas for those of us who live here. I am sure there are technical things I do not understand, but I also believe each coach knows how to take a group of individual stars and get them to win as a team. Here are my thoughts on how they do it. First, they find a way to align the team goals with the individual aspirations of their players. Second, they realize they cannot motivate the unmotivated. Instead, they focus on finding the motivation their players already have and tapping into it. 

What does this mean for law firm leaders? Let me give a personal example to illustrate. I have met a couple of law firm leaders who shared these traits. In both instances they were trying to recruit me to join their firms. They both asked questions to learn what motivated me. They each discovered I wanted to build a preeminent construction law practice group and that I wanted to join a firm that I would enjoy so much that I would want to stay till I retired. 

One leader asked me to pretend like resources were not an issue and prepare a three year plan to develop a preeminent construction law practice group. He also talked about the efforts the firm made to cause partners to believe there was no better place to practice law. The second leader focused on describing his firm's culture specifically focusing on how teamwork was rewarded. He showed me the firm's retention statistics. 

I know both of these leaders and their firms. While the firms are vastly different, the leadership is similar. Have you discovered what motivates your lawyers? Are the firm's goals and the partners' ambitions aligned? 

  

 

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I have often wondered why it is so difficult to lead a practice group or law firm. Is it difficult because we leaders do not have the right stuff? Other than a thick skin, what is the right stuff to be a law firm or practice group leader? I have always understood that a leader must have a clear vision of where he or she wants to take the group and a plan to get there. To that end, when I was a practice group leader my vision was to develop the preeminent construction law practice group in the United States. With the help of members of my practice group, we developed a strategic plan which included targeted differentiators. We decided our differentiators would be: 

• First to Market 


• Investing in our Client Relationships  


• Effective Use of Technology  


• Strategically Located  


• Full-Service  


• Quality Service Driven 

We developed a plan to implement each of these differentiators. (If anyone is interested in a copy of our strategic plan I would be happy to provide a copy.) 
I would not be writing this if we achieved the vision of becoming the preeminent construction law practice in the United States. What challenges kept us from achieving that goal? 
Recently I read a piece on the lawmarketing.com web page titled "Personality: Why 25% of Lawyers Can't Sell." It included a discussion on lawyer traits by Dr. Larry Richard, a Director of Hildebrandt International. Most, if not all, the traits discussed not only identify why some lawyers can't sell, but more importantly why it is difficult to lead a practice group or a firm. 
Here are the six traits that distinguish lawyers: 

• Skepticism: Lawyers have a 90% score, while the general public scores on only 50%. It is very difficult to lead people who are searching for the problem with the vision or plan rather than saying: "How can I help us achieve it?" 


• Autonomy: Lawyers have an 89% score, while the general public scores only 50%. It is very difficult to lead people who do not want to be led and most certainly do not want to be told what to do or how to do it or even why to do it. Even though the lawyers in my practice group helped develop the vision and the strategic plan, I think many viewed it as mine and not theirs. I thought it was important for each partner in my group to prepare an annual business plan and each associate to prepare an annual development plan. I had to coax some partners to prepare a business plan and some never prepared one. 


• Sociability: Incredibly lawyers score only 7% on this trait, compared to another 50% score by the public. According to Richard this means lawyers struggle to make emotional connections and do not delve into their inner life. It is a challenge to lead a group unwilling to look inward and decide what they each want. 


• Abstract Reasoning: Lawyers score 82% for this trait compared to another 50% score by the general public. According to Richard, the downside of this is "paralysis by analysis." Lawyers are great with the planning and not so good with the execution. I have experienced this repeatedly. I have been to many a law firm retreats where great ideas were developed, but were then never executed. 


• Urgency: Lawyers have a 71% urgency score while the public again has a 50% score. That means lawyers want to get things done and we are impatient. It is difficult to lead such an impatient group that expects the results to occur right away. In my experience, when results do not occur right away, instead of being persistent, lawyers abandon the vision. 


• Resilience: Lawyers score at a low 30%, while the general public is scores at 50% once again. Low resilience means lawyers have difficulty dealing with criticism. I see this manifesting itself in many ways. Feedback is not given at all in some cases. In other instances, there is no accountability or consequences for not performing to expectations. 

What does this information tell us about leading law firms and practice groups? I can tell you from experience that it is really important for the firm members to share aspirations and values. Famed business writer and consultant, Jim Collins, calls this getting the right people on the bus. If lawyers in the firm do not share aspirations and values, then the skeptics will find problems with the leader's vision and the lawyers who do not want to be led will simply refuse to do what the needs to be done to accomplish the vision. 
 
 

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1. What do you see as the major changes that will take will take place in the legal profession over the next five years? 



2. What do you believe are the most important steps you can take to increase your firm's competitiveness, financial strength and security? 



3. How can your firm best differentiate itself from its competitors? 



4. Do you have "brand name" recognition in the marketplace? If so, where? Doing what? 



5. What specific steps should you take to better serve your clients? 



6. Why should the highest performing lawyers want to join your firm? 



7. Describe your firm's "culture." How can you preserve it and effectively compete in the current environment? 



8. Lawyers are the most skeptical and autonomous of any type of professionals, meaning they constantly question decisions and they do not want to be told what to do. How can you convince your lawyers to become a team and work together to build the firm with these two prevalent traits? 



9. Stephen Covey has written a top-selling book titled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In your view, what are the 7, 10 or whatever number habits of highly effective law firms? 



10. What specific steps should you take to improve the quality of your firm's work product? 



11. Leading consultants suggest clients' satisfaction is directly related to whether the service provided exceeds expectations. What does that mean and how can you best implement the unbroken rule: "exceed their expectations"? 



12. What specific steps can you implement to cause your lawyers to be accountable? 



13. It is extremely important that you clearly articulate who your firm is and where you want the firm to go. Describe your firm and where you want to take it in the next 5 years. 



14. A noted business man writes: "Almost every significant breakthrough is a result of a courageous break with traditional ways of thinking." What courageous break with traditional ways of thinking would produce the most significant breakthrough for your firm? 



15. Peter Drucker has said: "Plans are worthless, but planning is invaluable." Your planning must be centered on an overall purpose or vision and on a commitment to a set of principles for the firm. Why are your lawyers practicing law together? What should be your "vision"? What should be your primary principles or core values? 

 

Tags: Client Development, Law Firm Leadership, Law as a Business

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If you want to increase the odds of getting the lawyers in your firm behind your Attorney Development program, articulate what the purpose of the program is, what the firm is trying to accomplish and what is expected of the lawyers. That is what I tried to do at Jenkens & Gilchrist.
Jenkens & Gilchrist Attorney Development Program
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Chinese Proverb
In the book Aligning the Stars, the authors, Jay W. Lorsch and Thomas J. Tierney point out that: "Starmaking" is more important to a firm's long-term success than "rainmaking." Talent is the only source of a firm's competitive advantage.
Purpose
The purpose of the Jenkens & Gilchrist Attorney Development Program is to enable our attorneys to better serve our clients, to increase our realization and to provide opportunities for greater achievement and career satisfaction.
Vision
Jenkens & Gilchrist seeks to have an attorney development program recognized as preeminent by our clients, our lawyers and law students.
Core Values
Our attorneys will take responsibility for their career development and satisfaction.
Each attorney, associate, shareholder and of counsel must contribute in some way.
Supervising lawyers will give clear direction, answer questions, pay attention to quality and provide real time constructive and supportive feedback.
Teamwork is encouraged at all levels.
Each attorney and staff member will be shown respect. Respect engenders respect.
We will endeavor to provide consistent, real and specific direction on career advancement.
CLE will be used as a means of acquiring skills necessary to better serve our clients and enable our attorneys to grow.
We will demand a lot from our lawyers. They will work hard, meet high standards of excellence, and over time and with our guidance and support, learn to be outstanding lawyers, trusted advisors and mentors for a new generation of outstanding young lawyers.
Each associate in our firm has a unique background, unique skills and unique dreams, but they also share things in common. They all want to learn and become better lawyers. They want to perform interesting work. They want to feel like they matter, know where they stand and whether they are on track, and they want to feel respected by senior lawyers and peers.
The most junior lawyers know more about the science of law and less about the art of lawyering than they will ever know in their career. When it comes to the future, many young lawyers are confused. They feel like they are on a trip to an undefined and constantly moving destination (making shareholder). They are uncertain of the time expected for their arrival, feel they have been given no map to get there, and no compass to let them know where they are. They feel they have no coach or sponsor. Our job as senior lawyers is to teach them the art of lawyering and help them clear up the confusion. This requires us to get to know them, to understand what makes them unique and to encourage them to achieve success as they define it. Our work with our clients is not any different and just was we get good vibes from helping our clients achieve their business objective, we get the same feeling helping our young lawyers achieve their career goals.
"You will have more fun and success helping other people achieve their goals than you will trying to reach your own goals."  Dale Carnegie
 
 

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A few years ago I was asked to be the shareholder in charge of attorney training for our firm. The first thing I did was look for books on training. I found books on fitness training and toilet training for infants. I decided I did not want to be responsible for training. Instead, I chose the title Shareholder Responsible for Training and Development. Next, I asked our firm leaders what kind of program they wanted to have. They did not have a clue, other than the sense that every large firm needs to have one. I guess that is why they asked me to take charge of it. Since I had never approached any part of my law career in a half way manner, I decided I wouldn't approach associate development in the same way. I told the leaders that my goal would be to create one of the preeminent attorney development programs in the country, recognized as such by law students, our associates and our clients. What are the elements of a preeminent training and development program for associates? I believe there are eight components:

• First Year Orientation


• Training and Development Programs


• Mentoring


• Shadowing and Reverse Shadowing


• Client Point of View


• CLE with Benchmarks


• Career Planning and Development


• Recognition of Hours

I hope you find this list of components helpful. Please comment or ask questions, your feedback is welcomed.

Tags: Law Firm Leadership, Mentoring

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Young lawyers have never been paid more and been less satisfied with their careers. Studies done by the ABA, state bar associations and other groups since the mid-80s have noted a sharp decrease in the percentage of lawyers who were satisfied with their professional lives .Twenty to thirty percent (20% - 30%) of the lawyers surveyed are extremely dissatisfied. 

A study by the North Carolina Bar Association done in 1991 reflects that 23.6% of the attorneys would not become attorneys again and only 53.9% of the attorneys surveyed desired to remain in law practice for the remainder of their careers. Over 24% of the attorneys reported having symptoms of depression and more than 25% had anxiety symptoms. Twenty-two percent (22%) had been diagnosed as having ulcers, coronary artery disease, hypertension or other stress related disease. Forty-three percent (43%) agreed that the demands of work do not allow them to have enough time for satisfying life outside of work. 

What is the cause of the growing dissatisfaction? Some of it is simply a misconception by law students and law school aspirants about what it means to be a lawyer. Some go to law school simply because they do not know what they want to do or they have been pushed to do so by a well meaning relative. 

Practicing law today is more stressful than in the past. First, the high salaries create pressure on reaching billable hour minimums and in some cases the young lawyers have little control over whether their practice group will have enough work for them to do. Many older lawyers believe we have lost the professionalism and collegiality that was a big part of our day-to-day dealings with other lawyers in the past. Clients have merged or consolidated while the number of lawyers has dramatically increased. That creates intense competition among firms and lawyers. Because of billable hour pressures on both partners and associates, lawyers do not take the time for training, shadowing and mentoring that we did in the past. 

Even when firm leaders encourage training, shadowing and mentoring for associates, practice group leaders or supervising lawyers have undermined it. What should law firms do about this problem? 

When I was responsible for attorney development at Jenkens & Gilchrist, I decided we would focus our attorney training and development program on career development rather than just focusing on skill development. Each young lawyer has unique talents, weaknesses and career and life dreams. I wanted our lawyers to take responsibility for their careers, figure out what they want and what training would help them achieve it, set goals, develop a career plan and execute the plan. 

I worked with senior lawyers to encourage them to help associates define what represents success for them. I spoke at our shareholders' retreat on the importance of our attorney development program and how it would ultimately increase our profitability. 

I conducted Career Development Workshops in each of our offices and shared with our associates what I had done and what I learned in my own career. I worked hard to build our associates' trust. I offered to help any of our associates prepare their Career Development Plan and set goals. 

Yesterday I received a call from the former chairman of the Jenkens Associate Committee. I had not heard from him in months. I could tell from the call he was excited and had something to share with me. It turns out he has landed his first big client. He also shared with me that he is totally in the zone working now and that as a result he no longer focuses on billable hours and yet he is billing more hours than before. He and his wife had a baby last year and he thanked me for getting him to focus and spend his time more wisely, so he has more time to spend with his wife and son. 

A firm cannot motivate the unmotivated, but focusing on attorney development on an individual basis can make a big difference to the substantial number of lawyers who want to become better lawyers and make a difference for their clients. 

 

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When I was a Practice Group Leader at Jenkens & Gilchrist, I developed an action plan of activities I would do. Here is my list: 

CORDELL PARVIN PGL ACTION PLAN 

Meet one-on-one with each of the lawyers in the Practice Group and get their career goals and objectives. 

Establish credibility with each of the lawyers in the Practice Group. Determine what motivates them, ask what they are working on and how I can help them. 

Reduce billable hours by 200 annually and develop plan on using the 200 hours for leadership of the Practice Group. 

Identify roles, use weekly planners to plan activities. 

Establish performance criteria with members of the Practice Group. Get each member to agree on goals and an action plan. Provide on-going feedback as I spot the need on performance and suggestions for improvement. Look at all of each person's accomplishments, and express appreciation before raising the bar. 

Meet with each member of the Practice Group to find out which work in the past year he or she found most rewarding and why. Also find out which career tracts would provide greatest satisfaction. Have them list three actions they can take in the short term. 

Determine strengths, weaknesses, aspirations and fears of each member of the Practice Group. (Write them down and remember.) 

 

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I am fond of saying just suppose as a way of prompting thought of what we can become as attorneys, individuals and in terms of firm development. Here is the just suppose I thought we could become in my old law firm: 

Just suppose, our purpose was: "To enable our clients to achieve their business objectives and to provide maximum opportunities for our lawyers and staff to achieve their career dreams and goals." 

Just suppose our standards (core values) included: We put clients and the firm ahead of our own personal interests. Each lawyer is expected to invest a minimum of 2500 hours in billable and non-billable (investment) activities, unless he or she is a part of the firm's flex-time policy. We will recruit lawyers and staff who have a burning desire to be the best they can be and we will invest in, energize and inspire them and provide them with the tools to be successful. We will seek clients who have interesting work, significant needs for outside legal services and who can afford to pay for the services of our firm. We will provide extraordinary service to our clients, working together as a team and supporting each other whenever possible. We will use technology more effectively than other firms to better serve our clients. Finally, if we are able to accomplish the above, in doing so we will build economic stability and profitability. 

Just suppose we made decisions and judged conduct and performance on the basis of the purpose and standards/core values. In other words, just suppose these were not just hollow words and we walked the walk each and every day and when it came time to make decisions on compensation, bonuses and promotion. 

I feel the key to success in any organization is to have a clearly stated purpose and set of core values and expectations that then become the basis for decisions and actions. I read recently: "When clarity exists, everyone knows the guiding principles and the core competencies that most directly contribute to organizational and individual vitality and success." I think you could build a strong firm around the concepts, have a heck of a lot of fun working together and build a sense of community that I feel is lacking in many firms now. 

 

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I've recently finished writing a parable book about a big issue for young lawyers Burnout.
I am writing two other parable books. One book is about a young partner getting business and the third book is about a senior lawyer who has just been made managing partner of a struggling firm. I think each of these books is very timely. Many young partners do not know where to start when it comes to getting business. Most senior lawyers do not know the difference between managing and leadership. I asked a friend who has been around law firm leaders for 25 years to tell me how law firm leaders spend their time. Here is what he told me:

1. Most law firm leaders spend the majority of their time thinking about and dealing with the most recent and urgent issue related to the firm. These issues are typically not critical to the firm's future but are small fires burn that leaders derive satisfaction from extinguishing.


2. Most law firm leaders are consumed with thinking about matters related to making their law firm bigger. There is a national obsession with growth without direction.


3. Most law firm leaders are focused on Profits Per Partner. This focus is typically not related to any strategic imperative but the AMLAW 100.

It is easy to make a list of what law firm leaders don't focus on that is important. The very best law firm leaders I know focus on direction, motivation, communication, values, coaching, mentoring, inspiring  LEADING.
Just suppose you spent your time on LEADING. It could easily distinguish your firm from competitors.

Tags: Law Firm Leadership

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