Richard Brock

Reducing turnover is a priority for most law firms. Turnover costs money and time, which is more money, and it disrupts routine and morale. Some ways to change the pattern: Hiring Practices It begins with hiring. Better practices produce better hires and less turnover. Hiring has traditionally rested on which law school the candidate attended,… Read More

Every few years a new generation arrives in the workplace. The current one is Generation Z, which shares many characteristics with the generation before it and differs in a few that matter. To make the most of what they bring, a firm has to understand them. Group Responds Well to Structure One of the better… Read More

Legal project management skills are a reliable way to strengthen a practice. They help keep a client’s matters on budget and on time, and they build client satisfaction along the way. Some firms hire non-lawyers to manage the work from a business efficiency perspective. The stronger candidate is usually the lawyer who also has business… Read More

There was a time when you were content in the work. Now there is a restlessness, as though there were something you meant to do and can no longer name. It may already be showing in your productivity. It may be a matter of perspective, or it may be time for a change. Either way,… Read More

Social media plays a part in most careers now. We get frustrated with it, ignore it and argue with it, and it is not going anywhere, the legal profession included. It has become a real channel inside the firm, between the firm and its clients, and between the firm and its competitors. It can help… Read More

Many law firms look to grow through lateral hires rather than through new graduates, and most large firms have hired laterally in recent years. Hiring laterally does not guarantee success. A substantial share of lateral hires leave within five years, and a report by JD Match and Right Profile calculated that the top 400 law… Read More

Do you conduct exit interviews with everyone who resigns? With those whose employment the firm is ending? And if you do, is the process treated as an administrative step, with the answers filed and never read? Exit interviews are a rare chance to learn something useful about business practices, retention and recruitment. A few ways… Read More

Richard Brock is featured in Attorney at Law Magazine, Northern Alabama Edition. Read entire article here.

The way to the top runs through an attorney’s skill and expertise, and through the ability to find a niche and excel in it. It does not rest on that alone. From the choice of law school to the decisions made along the way, and to the ability to work with very different people, the… Read More

In April 2016, a group of deaf and hard-of-hearing attorneys was admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. As more lawyers with disabilities enter the profession, firms need a clearer sense of how to build an environment that looks at what people can do. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on… Read More

Investing in top legal talent without building a culture that earns commitment is like building a luxury car with low-grade seats. It looks well from the outside and it has the power for the highway, and few buyers keep it. Culture is the seat. It is what persuades talent to stay rather than move. Seven… Read More

Filling a C-suite position at a firm means looking beyond the law degree. What matters is business knowledge and deep experience of it inside a legal environment. If you are looking for an executive who will shape the firm’s future, search wider. A strong C-suite depends on several skills, hard and soft: Ethical Leadership The… Read More

Recruiting top legal talent is costly, difficult and often exhausting. If you are hiring, your current people are probably already overloaded, which means they have little time to run a search. A fast hire that turns out to be the wrong hire only multiplies the cost. Whether it is a legal department, a small firm… Read More

Working in the law, whether as an attorney, a paralegal or in another role, is demanding, purposeful and rewarding. Like any field, it also produces positions that simply do not fit. Too much movement can hurt you professionally, so the decision is not one to take lightly, and a well-chosen change is a genuine step… Read More

The profession has changed considerably. There was a time when keeping your talent was a matter of a solid compensation plan and a steady workload. As we noted in “Reducing Turnover at Your Law Firm,” those days are behind us, largely because the workforce itself has changed. The supply of genuinely strong lawyers has not… Read More