October 10, 2005
Law Firm Managing Partner Concerns
Partners participating in Juris® Managing Partner Forums met during September to share concerns and best practices. What was on their mind? Here is a list as expressed by the partners during the meeting:
- Assimilation of laterals
- Billing discipline (getting time in, approving draft bills, etc.)
- Business continuity
- Client intake standards
- Collections strategies
- Compensation of non-partners
- Compensation plans for partners
- Conversion of paper to data (paperless office)
- Disaster planning & recovery
- Inconsistent partner performance
- Lawyer initiated billing adjustments
- Maintaining competitiveness with larger firms
- Managing and sustaining growth
- Managing non-billing activities
- Managing partner, job description
- Motivating associates
- Ownership of clients—firm vs. individual
- Practice vs. management
- Problem partners
- Productivity
- Profitability
- Quality of Life vs. productivity
- Rogue partners,"bucking the policy because they can"
- Service quality
- Shared culture
- Succession transfer
- Talent retention
- When to implement full-time management
The managing partner meeting was part of Juris, Inc.'s Managing Partner Forums program that is targeted for expansion in 2006. The Juris team constituted the first Juris Partner Forum ("JMPF") with 25 members selected from non-competing law firms located across the country. Nineteen met for the first time September 29 and 30 in Nashville, Tennessee, to discuss common challenges and share best practices.
There are two objectives for the forums:
1. To provide managing partners with the opportunity to build their relationship among a network of peers in non-competitive law firms;
2. To provide a two-way channel of communication between Juris, Inc. and the partner/owners and managers of law firms using Juris® products and services.
In 2006, Juris will organize additional forums to give more groups of partners the opportunity to network with their peers in non-competitive firms. To learn more about Juris Managing Partner Forums and how you can get involved, please contact Stephen Collins or Beth Keno.
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Filed under Planning by Tom Collins