Summary
Successful management and culture need to go hand in hand.. A firm’s culture is the result of attitudes, personalities, policies, and decisions that ultimately creates the building block for the success of the firm. The Survival Guide to Implementing Effective Law Firm Management Strategies provides you with the groundwork and policies to create a positive law firm environment and business success.Divided into five parts on culture, planning, partnerships, management, and finances, this guide will help you:- Understand why the culture in the firm is important to its success
- Develop a plan and vision for the future of the firm
- Construct marketing plans to recruit and retain new clients
- Devise a plan to build healthy partnerships in the firm and with your clients
- Outline delegation strategies and techniques for partners and associates
- Build a strong recruitment and retention plan for associates
- Formulate a system for compensation of partners, associates, and paralegals
- Determine how to improve revenue
Author Biography
Arthur G. Greene is a principal with Boyer Greene, LLC in Bedford, New Hampshire. He is the author of Paralegals, Profitability, and the Future of Your Law Practice (ISBN: 978-1-59031-159-2), The Lawyer's Guide to Governing Your Firm (ISBN: 978-1-59031-780-8 ), The Lawyer's Guide to Increasing Revenue, 2nd Edition (ISBN: 978-1-61438-094-8 ), and Strengthening Your Firm: Strategies for Success (ISBN: 978-1-59031-159-2)
Sandra J. Boyer is a principal and the managing shareholder of the AndersonBoyer Group. She has consulted with law firms for almost fifteen years and her practice includes general management; strategic planning; associate development; marketing; mergers and acquisitions; and personnel management, including the recruitment of the law firm administrative team. Sandra is also the executive vice president of the Network of Leading Law Firms, a non-profit organization of affiliated law firms from around the world. The network focuses on referring work between firms and preparing firms for the future of the law practice as it emerges into a new era. She previously served as the associate director of the Institute on Law Firm Management and the Administrator of the law practice management continuing education courses at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education at the University of Michigan Law School, where she developed and administered courses and seminars on law practice management. She is a member of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association and is a member of its Leadership Task Force. She is also active in the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association where she serves as the Chair of the Economics of Law Practice Committee and serves on the Membership Committee. In addition to being active in the American Bar Association, she is a member of the International Bar Association. Sandra authored The Administrator's Guide to Firm Dissolution and has co-authored Succession Planning: The Legal Administrator's Role in Ensuring the Future of the Firm for the 2002 Association of Legal Administrators Management Encyclopedia - Volume II. She is the co-author of Associate Retention: Keeping Our Best and Brightest (June, 2002). Her articles have been published in many law practice management newsletters, including the ABA Law Practice Management Section's Law Practice Quarterly, the International Bar Association magazine and the AndersonBoyer Group newsletter. She has lectured nationally and internationally at law practice management programs presented by the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Georgia State Bar, and the Association of Legal Administrators. Sandra holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Resource Administration from Concordia University.
Table of Contents
About the Authors vii
Acknowledgments ix
Part I It’s All about the Culture 1
Chapter 1 Why Cultures Matter 3
Part II Planning: Why Do It? 9
Chapter 2 Core Values, Mission, and Vision 11
Chapter 3 Strategic Planning 17
Chapter 4 Marketing Plans 23
Chapter 5 Lawyer Annual Practice Plans 33
Chapter 6 Succession Planning 37
Part III Healthy Partnerships 45
Chapter 7 Protecting the Firm 47
Chapter 8 Partnership Agreement Provisions 57
Chapter 9 Partners, Associates, and Other Lawyers 65
Chapter 10 Lawyer Compensation 71
iv The Survival Guide to Implementing Effective Law Firm Management Strategies
Part IV Management 83
Chapter 11 Effective Management 85
Chapter 12 The Law Firm Administrator 93
Chapter 13 Practice Groups 99
Chapter 14 Delegation Strategies and Techniques 109
Chapter 15 Associate Recruitment and Training 113
Part V Financial Management 121
Chapter 16 Reporting Financial Data 123
Chapter 17 Paralegal Profitability 129
Chapter 18 Partner, Associate, and Paralegal Accountability 141
Chapter 19 Improving Revenue 149
Appendices 159
Appendix A Individual Lawyer Marketing Program 161
Appendix B Individual Lawyer Annual Practice Plan 165
Appendix C Model Partnership Agreement—Short Form 167
Appendix D Model Partnership Agreement—Long Form 173
Appendix E Criteria for Partnership 185
Appendix F Non-Equity Partner Criteria 187
Appendix G Associate Lawyer Guidelines 189
Appendix H Formula Compensation System 193
Appendix I Subjective Compensation System 195
Appendix J First Combination Compensation System 197
Appendix K Second Combination Compensation System 199
Appendix L Compensation System Study Memo 201
Appendix M Compensation Study Committee Outline of Questions 203
Appendix N Table of Contents for Compensation Study Report 205
Appendix O Compensation Study Committee Retreat Agenda 207
Contents v
Appendix P The Management Committee:
Roles and Responsibilities 209
Appendix P-1 Financial Partner 211
Appendix P-2 Professional Personnel Partner 213
Appendix P-3 Marketing Partner 215
Appendix Q Managing Partner Job Description 217
Appendix R Legal Administrator—Small Firm 219
Appendix S Legal Administrator—Large Firm 221
Appendix T Practice Group Chair 225
Appendix U Practice Group Agenda 227
Appendix V Associate Orientation Program 229
Appendix W Litigation Associate Task Performance List 231
Appendix X Associate Mentoring Program 233
Appendix Y Associate Training Policy 235
Appendix Z Monthly Summary of Financial Indicators 237
Appendix AA Monthly Summary Memo of Financial Data 239
Appendix BB Associate Evaluation Form 241
Appendix CC Associate Self-Evaluation 245
Appendix DD Paralegal Performance Review Form 247
Appendix EE Partner Peer Review Evaluation Form 251
Index 255
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