Memos to Law Firm Partners
Memo #1: "Let's revisit this later" is a dangerous sentence
I’ve been working with lawyers and partners for 10+ years. And as a lawyer myself, I know how easy it is to say “let’s revisit this later.” We’re just kicking the can down the road, and not making any decisions today.
Afterall, we need more information, we need more time, we need more mental bandwidth to make this decision.
Memo #2: Making decisions in your law firm based on numbers not feelings
If you’re a partner or a shareholder or in any management position in your law firm, the expectation is that you will make decisions for the firm without emotions. Yet, I find that most partners during their partnership meetings will decide things by defaulting to emotions because they haven’t created a culture based on numbers.
Before you roll your eyes, and say “I became a lawyer because I can’t do numbers,” let’s leave that fear/emotion here and answer these questions:
Memo #3: Consensus Theater
Every month you have a partners meeting. During this meeting you review important growth metrics (KPIs) for the firm and from there you have a list of items to discuss, various tasks, and things that need decisions.
Maybe it’s:
Deciding to bring on a lateral partner or
Setting the rack rate for the firm for the next year or
Taking the firm revenue from Q1 and putting into building a new website
The partners have agreed to this decision, everything is documented.
The next month rolls around, and there was no movement forward. No one took action, despite everyone agreeing.
Memo #4: Who is responsible for growing the firm?
If each partner is responsible for doing business development and managing and growing their own book of business
+
Doing the legal work and billing their time
+
Managing their junior associates/their team
Then who is responsible for growing the practice revenue and profits?
Memo #5: The service partner is not the red headed step child
I’ve worked with law firms and partners for years and I see how the rain maker(s) is treated and how the service partner(s) is treated. Each firm I work with is different, but all of them have the same conclusion. The rain maker partner is the most important person in the firm, and everyone should do their best to accommodate the rain maker. I see it in how the comp structure is set up, the bonus structure, and even during monthly partnership meetings and the decisions that are made are usually in favor of what the rain maker partner needs.
Memo #6: The Managing Partner is tired of being the bad guy
When I’m brought in to work with a firm, it’s usually the managing partner who I have my first conversation with. At some point in that conversation, the managing partner will say “I’m usually the bad guy, and I don’t mind it because someone has to do it.”
As managing partner, I know you’re not trying to be the “bad guy,” but it comes with the title.
Memo #7: The Perfect Partnership Does Not Exist
Every partner dreams of the perfect partnership. The one where all the partners get along and there’s never conflict, partnership meetings begin and end with good news, business development isn’t a problem because clients are reaching out to partners, every hire always works out, the comp formula is fair to everyone, and the partners’ bank accounts are growing just as the firm is.
This is the myth of the perfect partnership.
Memo #8: Your Book of Business
Every partner has spent years working on their book of business, from their first year out of law school until today.
That book of business is a representation of the relationships you have built over time, the hours you have spent following up, and the effort you have put into the long game.
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