Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
Will the '“law firm of the future” need fewer lawyers?
A report from the American Bar Association suggests that the demand for lawyers, at least in the United States, might have begun to subside. 38,020 students started their first year of law school during the autumn 2022 term, compared to 42,718 in 2021, according to the report. Meanwhile, there has been a significant increase in enrollments in non-J.D. programs.
Although this data is limited to the U.S., Walker Clark LLC has begun to notice what might be the start of a similar trend in some other jurisdictions as well. What could this mean for your law firm?
Associate Career Management: a Critical Strategic Issue for Small and Midsize Law Firms
Does your law firm have a documented career management strategy for your associates? Is it more than "each year, we pay them a little more."
The truthful answer for the vast majority of small and midsize law firms, everywhere in the world, is "no."
There are few issues in law firm management that have greater strategic importance for law firms today.
What should we work on now to get ready for 2022?
Notwithstanding all the breathless headlines in the legal press about ever-higher first-year associate salaries in the so-called "BigLaw" firms, most lawyers work in small and midsize firms.
Research conducted by Walker Clark LLC over the years, as we work with law firms worldwide confirms that salary alone is a relatively unimportant -- yes, unimportant -- consideration in associate retention.
Newly admitted lawyers tend to prioritize opportunity over cash: the opportunity to develop expertise; the opportunity to do significant client work; the opportunity to advance in the legal profession, to name a few things that most associates tell us are more important than salary. Salary is important, to be sure, but it seldom is the decisive factor between remaining at one's law firm and moving to another one.
So, will your law firm’s compensation program for associates next year give them more than just more money?
“More Law” not “Big Law”
Service delivery capability, not size, is what will determine the profitability — and perhaps the survival — of most traditional law firms between now and 2030.
Why don’t they want to become partners?
This is not just something that we can blame on "the Millennials."
For the past 20 years, partners from law firms of all sizes, in almost every part of the world, frequently have told me that they can't understand why so many of their best associates and non-equity partners decline the offer of equity partnership.
Every law firm — without exception — needs a Chief Innovation Officer.
No matter how large, how famous, or how successful your law firm has been in the past...
...if you want to increase the chances of your law firm still being in business ten years from now, you must have a Chief Innovation Officer.
Sorry, there are no exceptions.
Survival Tools for Small and Midsize Law Firms
Law firms — indeed, most professional services firms — will be confronted by some formidable challenges between now and the year 2030. Consolidation of the legal market, the emerging dominance of large service providers with national and global capabilities, a continued profitability crunch, and increased competition for professional talent are probably the most obvious threats to continued success.
Independent small and midsize firms are the most vulnerable.
Are American lawyers getting “poorer?”
The ABA Journal reports that lawyer salaries in the United States have fallen behind those of other professions.
It does not have to be that way.
Evaluating Associate Evaluations: Three Questions that Partners Must Ask
As the new year begins, many law firms are looking at their performance evaluation standards and procedures for associates. This is more than just another "HR exercise."
Our firm has identified a clear, direct, and positive correlation between the quality of performance standards for associates and the overall financial performance of a law firm. As profitability and competition become more challenging for most law firms, many are concluding that it is time to get serious about associate performance.
Does your law firm have an associate retention plan?
Recruiting good associates into a law firm is difficult enough. Keeping the good ones is even harder.
In almost almost every legal market in the world, the toughest competition is not for clients but for legal talent.
Why Law Firms Fail: Failure to Invest
One of the most difficult challenges for law firm leaders is to lead their partners from a short-term focus on cost (and the effects of operating costs on their end of the year profit distributions) to an investment mentality.
This is the second in a series about factors that most frequently contribute to the business failure of law firms.
The Art of Lawyer Recruiting
One of the biggest investments — and sometimes the biggest mistake — that a law firm makes is when it hires a lawyer.
This post links to two practical guides to make the hiring decision more reliable.
