June 3, 2005
It is all about Management
The statistics for mid-sized firms place the time managing partners actually spend on management at around 36%. Half of their time is spent on billable engagements. The managing partner chose law, not financial management, for his or her career. If there is one single thing that has the best probability of propelling a firm to the top tier in partner income and wealth accumulation, it is the addition of an effective professional business manager (CFO) to replace the part-time management model.
The right financial technology brings to the firm business intelligence and the information to measure performance, along with the tools to, also, improve performance. It takes professional management to get the most out of that information and those tools to keep the firm on track with, or above, the benchmarks for leverage, rates, utilization and realization.
Run the numbers in your own head. Part-time partner managers can shift most of that time back to producing revenue. Add to that just a small portion of the potential for improving income and it will look like a no-brainer. I call it “no cost management”. It is not only free, it increases per partner income.
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Filed under Law Firm Bus Model by Tom Collins