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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

As social media and online networks have grown, it has become harder to separate real life from an online persona, and the line between personal and professional identity blurs a little further each year. That is why what you share online deserves thought. As a legal professional, maintain composure and avoid posting anything that compromises… Read More

Giving back is one of the pillars of a successful practice. Every firm has something to give, in its own community and beyond it: pro bono work, financial support for a cause, or time on a project that has nothing to do with the law. A culture of giving connects legal and non-legal staff, builds… Read More

Turning prospective clients into clients is essential to a firm’s growth. Obvious as that is, many firms lose them to poor follow-up and disorganized intake. An organized, repeatable intake system fixes it. Use the following to review your own. A Swift Response When a prospective client sends an email or leaves a phone message, they… Read More

Moving clients from one lawyer to another is an unavoidable part of running a firm. A partner approaches retirement, or can no longer continue in the same capacity. A senior lawyer delegates work to a younger one and mentors them through it. Matters pass to a lateral hire. Each of those transitions takes thought and… Read More

It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment; it is in the happiness of pursuit. You were once an optimistic law student, eager to finish the degree and set the world on fire. The ambition was large and the confidence larger. You were going to change something, or at least your… Read More

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Growth rests largely on client retention, and the firm’s capacity to keep clients shapes the practice. Retention costs far less than attracting new work, and satisfied clients are often the best source of it. John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC,… Read More

Sound strategy starts with having the right goal. Most firms assess the year behind them and plan for growth in the year ahead. Substantial growth does not happen without goals, and without a strategy that says where the firm is going and how it intends to arrive. Goals What are your specific growth goals? Two… Read More

Our team works with law firms on growth, and has advised them on a number of different strategies. Each has its advantages, and each, executed deliberately, can support consistent growth. 1. Mutually exclusive recruiting engagements Exclusivity between a law firm and a search firm can be highly effective, provided the search firm has the requisite… Read More

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger, but recognize the opportunity. The questions of the moment: how much does COVID-19 affect a career in law? Should a planned lateral move go ahead or… Read More