Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
The Law Firm of the Future: Intimate Client Relationships
"My lawyer is my best friend."
How often has a client said that about you?
"Client intimacy," not just good client service, will be an important feature of the successful law firm of the future.
Buried Treasure
Most lawyers have an untapped source of new fees...
...from old clients.
Research conducted by Walker Clark LLC with our clients over the past twenty years confirms that the return on investment in keeping in touch with inactive clients — even ones who haven't provided any work for years — can be significantly better than the time, effort, and expense of looking for new ones.
CRM: No Longer a Luxury for Lawyers
One of the most important lessons of the pandemic has been the vital importance of maintaining frequent personal contact with clients.
Client Relations Management (CRM) systems need to move from the marketing department onto the desktop of every fee earner in a law firm. In the hands of a reasonably diligent lawyer — even a horribly busy one — a good desktop CRM system streamlines the flow of information between a central marketing and business development database and each lawyer.
“Salary Plus” Compensation Structures to Promote Better Partner Performance in Law Firms
In a previous posting in this blog, we pointed out how an "eat what you kill" system of partner compensation can introduce toxic elements into a law firm, which frequently counteract any motivating effect on lawyer performance.
This short article outlines the features of an alternative to "eat what you kill" compensation in law firms. It can work well in any size law firm, but is especially suited to small and midsize firms.
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.
Five Asian Markets to Watch: Philippines
Our recent evaluation of the growth prospects of Asian legal markets between now and 2020 persuade us that the Philippines will present great opportunities for local and foreign law firms. We expect more foreign law firms to increase their activities and, for some, their presence in the Philippines.
We also expect that increased competition will challenge the strategic thinking and management acumen of Philippine law firms, including well-established market leaders, as perhaps never before.
Is it laziness or fear...
An article in today's on-line edition of Australasian Lawyer, reports a shocking statistic for an industry sector that claims that its highest value is service to the client.
A study to be released next week report that 60% of law firms do not ask for client feedback regularly. No wonder that the legal profession has a customer satisfaction score that is lower than other major professional and business services sectors.
Learning from the Dragon: The Magic Circle Law Firms in China
Some foreign law firms are learning some hard lessons from the Chinese legal market.
The Lawyer has published a very interesting "long read" article on the disappointments that some prominent foreign firms, especially Magic Circle firms like Linklaters and Allen & Overy, are experiencing in their China practices. In "Why the Magic Circle is Struggling in China,” Yun Kriegler has summarized recent problems that some foreign firms are experiencing as the Chinese legal market matures.
Some of the observations and comments might describe some aspects of your firm, as well.
Resilience: Playing an Unexpected Poor Hand Well Enough to Win
"We are in a window of change right now. There are certain traditional firms that will die," said Richard Rosenbaum, former CEO and current Executive Chair of Greenberg Traurig.
How can law firms become resilient during unprecedented changes in the profession?
Level Playing Fields, Giant Shadows, and Other Cliches that can Come True through Electronic Publications
Most small and midsize law firms are missing great opportunities to improve their visibility and communicate their competitive advantages in increasingly competitive legal markets.
These firms might have thought about how to use electronic publications, such as newsletters, client alerts, and electronic guides, to extend the reach of their marketing message, but they have rejected them as something that works only for larger firms.
They are mistaken.
The Coming Seismic Shift in Law Firm Business Development
As legal markets become even more competitive over the next ten years, commercial law firms will need to reconsider many of their long-held assumptions and practices about marketing and business development.
Some firms will negotiate the coming seismic shift well and continue to succeed. Others will not.
“Zero-Tolerance” Profitability: Why are we doing this work?
Have you ever been tempted to discontinue some of the services that your law firm offers? That could be one of the most important things that you can do to improve your firm's profitability.
This is the third in a five-part series of posts that focuses on profitability in small law firms and solo practices.
Debunking the Cult of the Rainmaker
Too many law firms sacrifice too many opportunities and too much human capital as they worship before the idol of the rainmaker.
When does “professional courtesy" become “free advice?”
Law firms can lose a lot of money on what should be profitable client relationships by providing too many services "off the clock." This phenomenon usually arises when a partner repeatedly provides advice as a "professional courtesy" or as a "client relations" activity, rather than charging a fee.
Why? and How? — Frequently Overlooked Questions in Marketing Plans
Law firms that have formal marketing plans (and every firm should have one) usually do a very good job of describing the what in marketing plans.
However, many of those plans do not consider the questions of Why? and How? These omissions make it much more difficult to manage the marketing plan to successful results.
Internal Value: A Hidden Opportunity for Law Firms in Professional Services Networks
The internal value of membership in a professional services network has the potential to have a much greater positive impact on a law firm's bottom line than even a robust flow of referrals from other network members. In some firms it could be the compelling reason to join a network.
Currently, internal value is a largely unknown concept for most networks and their members. Law firms should now consider to what extent professional services networks could help them to increase the productivity and profitability of their internal operations.
Understanding the Investment in Professional Services Networks
This is the first in a series of four posts that consider the future of professional services networks, with particular reference to their strategic value for law firms.
We will suggest three perspectives from which the future of networks should be considered, and from which law firms that are members and prospective members of those networks should engage in an ongoing evaluation of whether participation in a network is likely to continue to produce a reasonable return on investment.
