Sharon Berman with the marketing consulting firm Berbay Corp wrote about Strategic Marketing Momentum in the April issue of The Bottom Line, the official publication of the State Bar of California Law Practice Management and Technology Section. Her point is basic. You can major in minors when it comes to marketing, running in place and making very little progress, or you can decide to take an organized “planned” approach to marketing.

First you have to have a strategy. You have to know what you want to accomplish not only quantitatively by qualitatively. What kind of business do you want, who do you want it from and how much of it do you want over what time period. If you can answer those questions, you are off to a good start. Keep in mind that success is more about doing the right things than anything else. Deciding what kind of business you want is likely to be the most important decision you make when it comes to determining the success of your firm.

The next step is identifying the tactics you will use to pursue your goals and then laying out the activities, programs, and assignments for implementing your tactics. Berman lists the following tactics that should be a part of your plan:

• Public relations: Writing, speaking, being quoted in the media
• Advertising: Depending on what you want to accomplish, paid advertising may be an appropriate tactic
• Networking: Organizations, referral sources, existing clients, peers, etc.
• Marketing Materials: Printed media, newsletters, websites, blogs, podcasts, etc.
• Direct mail/e-mail: Consistent communication pays off

Here is the caveat. Success depends on planning, setting goals, measuring performance and holding people accountable. Remove any of those four components and results will, at best, be inconsistent, producing marginal results. Setting goals, measuring performance, and holding people accountable has to be taken down to the individual attorney level.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income contact Juris National Sales Center: Phone 877/377-374, e-mail info@juris.com or go to www.Juris.com.
 

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Freedman Consulting, Inc.’s web site is a rich source of downloadable articles and white papers dealing with law practice management issues.  It includes Ellen Freedman’s article Managing Partner Burnout. 

She lists eight things firms should do to prevent managing partner burnout:

1. Succession planning: The MP should know who his or her replacement candidate is and the candidate should likewise be aware of the plan.

2. Compensation adjustment: The MP job is a part-time one that cuts into the individual’s earning capability as a practice lawyer both while they are in the job and for several years after they level the position.

3. Co-Managing Partners: Consider dividing the job with one MP for internal matters and another for external issues like marketing and clients relations.

4. Educational Support: Managing partners weren’t trained in law school; encourage your MP to attend practice managing conferences and to network with other managing partners.

5. Agree to be led: Stop having a better idea, debating, and questioning every little decision. Most aren’t important.  Let the MP make the decisions and move on.

6. Don’t act like you want the job unless you do: The moral of this story is simple.  One managing partner resigned the position and insisted the job be given to the partner who always seemed to think he knew how to run things better!

7. Have a written job description:  This item speaks for itself.

8. Say Thank you: “You want to come into the office each day to find adequate staff, working equipment, well-honed procedures, a clean, professional looking environment, and left alone to practice law.” “You want to do your work, and go home and relax. So think about that from time to time and make a moment to say ‘thank you’ to the person who makes that possible….”

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc.  For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.

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Dennis Kennedy in making his 2006 Blawggies Awards selected morepartnerincome.com as the Best Overall Law Practice Management Blog with David Maister's Passion, People and Principles and Bruce MacEwen's Adam Smith, Esq as runner-ups.   To be selected as the best blows me away; just being in the company of Maister and MacEwen is an honor in and of itself!

While the name morepartnerincome attracts the attention of most managing partners, there are some who are put off by the name. What they miss is its core message. More partner income is the result of “doing the right things and doing them right”.

You do not have to make a choice between higher income and better client services.  Higher income is the result of better client services.  It is not a choice between placing the interest of clients first or driving income higher. Higher income is the reward for serving the client’s interest.  It is not a choice between higher margins and the proper concern for treatment of the firm’s talent.  Higher income comes from the quality of the team and their environment. 

To think of those alternative choices is to have fallen victim to what Jim Collins refers to as the “Tyranny of the OR”.  Excellent organizations practice “And Thinking” rather than “Or Thinking”.   For example, how do we provide exceptional services to our clients and exceptional compensation to our legal professionals and employees?  These are not incompatible choices.  To the contrary, the very process of “And Thinking” leads to breakthrough innovations.  The genius of “And Thinking” is that greater success results from the effort to achieve both rather than limiting an organization’s efforts based on the belief that we could only have one or the other.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc.  For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.

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Marcia Watson Wasserman has an insightful article in the October issue of The Bottom Line, the publication of the Law Practice Management and Technology Section of the California Bar.

In her article, “Managing Law Firms in the 21st Century,” she reminds us how far professional management has come since the 1970s—from the benevolent dictator to the management by committee period to today.

What about today? Some law firms have it all together. Others do not. She notes that, in general, there is still a void in leadership and management training in most firms. She notes that too many firms select managing partners by default “without regard for business acumen and ‘people skills’.” Likewise, management by committee can lead to analysis paralysis without a strong leader capable of facilitating meetings that reach decisions. And like morepartnerincome, she stresses the importance of strategic planning as essential to position firms for success going forward.

I shared the podium with Marcia Wasserman in June 2006 at the ALM Small Firm Business Conference in Los Angeles where she spoke on succession planning. You can forget about passing the baton if you have no one to pass it to. In order for a law firm to take on a life beyond that of its current partners, it must develop management and leadership deep within the organization. Wasserman stresses the importance of management training. She encourages involving associates in the committee process to develop their skills. She emphasizes that those in management positions have to be compensated for their managerial role. To not do so leaves the best potential talent concentrating on more individually lucrative billable activities while encouraging others to take on the management roles for the wrong reasons.

Her comments ring true when you consider the results of the recent Juris Law Firm Economic Survey. The top performing firms, those with partner incomes of twice the next best performing group, got where they are because they planned, set goals, measured performance, and held people accountable. They could not have done so without having partners in leadership positions with people skills who understood the financial metrics that drive law firm performance then paid attention to the numbers. Magic happens when people pursue common goals guided by a shared set of core beliefs. You don’t get magic by default!

Marcia Watson Wasserman is President of Comprehensive Management Solutions, Inc. and special advisor to the executive committee of the Law Practice Management and Technology Section of the California Bar.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.
 

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In lamenting about the loss of face time between lawyers and their clients due to the increased use of e-mail, the Law Practice Management blog concluded its post with this:

“Today’s attorneys and legal managers need to concentrate on selecting the most appropriate communication tool, rather than the most convenient. Sometimes there is no substitute for a more collaborative exchange. And sometimes the topic is too sensitive to remove inflection and facial expression from the exchange. And partners in particular need to work harder than ever to arrange more “face time” opportunities with one another. It creates the glue which can bind partners together through the difficult times.”

There is no question about it. E-mail is the most efficient business communication tool to date. However, it is not always the best tool.

Recently we declared an e-mail-free week to reinforce the importance of face time. Team members were asked to limit use of e-mail to those needed to deliver attachments. For everything else, they were to pick up the phone or walk down the hall.

It worked. E-mail dropped drastically and folks were reminded about the value of face-to-face communications.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.

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The editors at Law Practice are getting it right. The format of this periodical published by the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section is highly effective; sidebars, inserts, and tear out tips let the reader quickly focus on material of interest. The April/May issue was particularly strong. Throw this issue in your briefcase for a weekend read. Here is a sampling of the insightful advice from experts that is tucked into this issue:

Marc Capelluto, discussing the $400 per hour associate: Companies will “gravitate to those firms that find creative solutions to the need of corporations to drive down the spending of their legal departments.”

Robert W. Denney, explaining how five law firms made the list of the 100 best companies to work for: “The lawyers in the firm walk the walk and talk the talk in setting an example of how to treat and work with their non-lawyer staffs.“

Jim Calloway, discussing technology: “Sure there’s a learning curve, but you cannot continue taking five or ten minutes to do tasks that other lawyers are now doing in five or ten seconds.”

Dennis Kennedy on the subject of what no lawyer should be without: “Those who do not keep tabs on what is happening on the Internet might learn the meaning of ‘disintermediation’ well before they expect it.”

Tom Mighell on why start a blog: “Lawyers that start blogs have a desire to communicate their expertise and services more effectively.”

William Migneron on what managing partners should be paying more attention to: “In many firms, MPs are not paying attention to (1) strategic planning and the execution of a strategy, (2) trends analysis of the practice and marketplace, and (3) building organizations that will exist over the long run.”

Marcia Pennington Shannon, writing about creating an Alumni Program: “…When someone departs, the relationship need not end. Think of it as a different kind of opportunity.”

Susan Saltonstall Duncan on rainmaking: “…When they put too much focus on bring in new clients, lawyers often miss the opportunity to retain and expand business from existing clients. “

John Cummens, when asked for his absolute best advice about the business success of a law firm: “Assemble a group of business advisors who will be honest with you and to whom you will listen.” “……With this group…..you can consider alternatives, courses of action, and solutions that your own partners could not have provided to you.”

If any of above sparks your imagination, you will want to read the April/May 2006 issue cover to cover.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.
 

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Law firms depend on customers and that takes lawyers who can attract them. Some people have an ability to do it better than others. From this day forward, let a paperclip remind you that looking for that ability is an important part of managing the recruiting process.

Law Practice Management’s post Trade a Paper Clip for a House tells the story of the blog one red paperclip. “What 26-year-old Kyle MacDonald announced on his one red paperclip blog was his intention to trade up his one red paperclip until eventually he winds up with a house. Implausible? Ridiculous? Impossible? Well, he seems well on his way.”

The Law Practice Management blog relates the story to convey a message: When hiring, look for candidates who have the personality and fire in their belly that will bring new business to the law firm.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.
 

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Bob Denney is President of Robert Denney Associates, Inc., a strategic marketing and management consultancy. Bob’s assessment of Trends and Issues as well as the temperature of practice areas and geographic markets was published in the January/February 2006 issue of Law Practice, published by the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section. Here are just a few of the trends that caught my attention: 

· Succession planning is up as the number of partners in their 50’s and 60’s is increasing.

· Firms are discontinuing perpetual origination credit and, in some cases, eliminating it all together.

· There is a shift to performance-based compensation plans away from equity-based and “eat what you kill” places—It is a shift toward salary and bonus.

· More firms are requiring partners to prepare a personal business plan including nonbillable activities for use in evaluating performance.

· The book of business that comes with laterals is often much less than expected

· More clients are looking for business advice in addition to legal advice

· Emergency/disaster plans and measures are a high priority again, particularly for electronic storage and backup.

· Spin-off and start-ups are increasing in a cause-and-effect response to mega firm mergers and large firm acquisitions of mid-sized firms.

· Clients are still ambivalent about hourly billing. Why haven’t they bought into alternative billing? Hourly billing is almost the only way they can monitor outside counsels’ invoices.

For copies of the “What’s Hot and What’s Not” report, contact Robert Denney Asssoicates at 110 W. Lancaster Ave., Wane, PA 19087, or call (610) 964-1938. For more information about the Robert Denney Associates visit www.robertdenney.com.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.

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Bob Denney is President of Robert Denney Associates, Inc., a strategic marketing and management consultancy. Bob’s assessment of tends and Issues as well as the temperature of practice areas and geographic markets was published in the January/February 2006 issue of Law Practice, published by the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section. Here are just a few of the trends that caught my attention:

• Succession planning is up as the number of partners in their 50’s and 60’s is increasing.
• Firms are discontinuing perpetual origination credit and, in some cases, eliminating it all together.
• There is a shift to performance-based compensation plans away from equity-based and “eat what you kill” places—It is a shift toward salary and bonus.
• More firms are requiring partners to prepare a personal business plan including nonbillable activities for use in evaluating performance.
• The book of business that comes with laterals is often much less than expected
• More clients are looking for business advice in addition to legal advice
• Emergency/disaster plans and measures are a high priority again, particularly for electronic storage and backup.
• Spin-off and start-ups are increasing in a cause-and-effect response to mega firm mergers and large firm acquisitions of mid-sized firms.
• Clients are still ambivalent about hourly billing. Why haven’t they bought into alternative billing? Hourly billing is almost the only way they can monitor outside counsels’ invoices.

The Law Practice story included a note that copies of the “What’s Hot and What’s Not” report were available by contacting Robert Denney Asssoicates at 110 W. Lancaster Ave., Wane, PA 19087, or by calling (610) 964-1938. For more information about Robert Denney Associates visit www.robertdenney.com.
 

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