Talented lawyers aren’t enough. You also need a robust leadership and management structure.
Let’s face it: running a large law firm through smaller business units, often called practice groups, is where many firms struggle. Without them, your firm may fail to establish a distinct competitive advantage and retain its valued talent. A robust business unit structure also facilitates knowledge sharing and helps provide the type of collaborative and focused client service that drives client satisfaction and greater profitability for the entire firm.
What is the rationale behind the firm’s business unit structure? It starts with the firm’s overall strategic objectives. The ultimate goal of any law firm is to deliver legal services effectively, creating value for its clients. This value requires a sustainable and successful business model — one that will enable your firm to thrive in the changing marketplace, providing comprehensive services to your most demanding clients.
Effective practice groups foster a collaborative approach that is simply more effective in today’s competitive environment.
The right business unit structure directly affects lawyer recruitment, talent development and retention, lawyer productivity, and overall client satisfaction. The results are evident in the firm’s overall profitability and future viability.
Business units, whether they are organized by substantive practice, industry niches, client segments or some combination thereof, are critical in today’s legal environment. Of course, the selection of the primary dimensions of your business unit structure should never be a default decision. We can provide the insights you need to make the right decision.
Empowered practice leaders are your best leverage for lawyer engagement, future sustainability, and excellent service delivery to clients.
What You Can Expect
We help firms establish the effective leadership and management structures they need to leverage the rich capabilities inherent within their business units. First, we assess existing structures to optimize lawyer engagement and client development. For any structural change, we recognize, too, that buy-in is the key to success so we help implement strategies to enhance teamwork and collaboration among partners. Additionally, practice groups perform best when they have their own business plans. We assist with plan development that specifically addresses competitive positioning for talent development, client service and improved profitability.
Have Practice Groups, Need Repairs
If your practice groups or other business units aren’t functioning as efficiently as they could, we can help you evaluate why. There are typically various reasons for that, among them, lack of empowered leaders and alignment of incentives, leadership support and clear roles and responsibilities. Whatever the problem, call for a consultation. We have strategies to help get your practice groups performing better.
Recent or planned merger? We can assist with the development of pre- and post-merger structures that align with the firm’s strategic goals so that the merger is successful and “2+2 = 10.”
If you would like more information, please call or email.
