Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
Merger, Best Friends, or Something Else?
Many small and midsize law firms find themselves in some difficult — and for most of them, unprecedented — strategic predicaments.
They also are confronted with a wide range of possibilities such as, mergers, Vereins, general and specialized networks, and "best friends" relationships.
How can each firm make the decision that is best for them?
Is Central America the next target for the global law firms?
For at least the last two decades, conventional wisdom has held that Central America is not an attractive market for setting up local operations of global firms, because of three key factors.
While all three factors remain present to date, other market factors have altered the picture somewhat.
Too Good to be True?
A lawyer's ego can be a profit center — for someone else.
I recently received an e-mail from an outfit with an address in the United Kingdom, inviting me to become an exclusive member of a worldwide legal network. Like most of these offers, the first few words clearly signaled that this amazing opportunity is not entirely credible.
Are traditional law firm networks obsolete?
A number of our law firm clients have asked whether they should try to join a law firm network.
Our answer usually is “it depends.”
What is your plan for network affiliations next year?
Business planning should be an intellectually rigorous and disciplined process, not just the last-minute production of a spreadsheet.
Opportunities for network affiliations should be one of several unifying and coordinating themes in planning. In too many business plans and marketing plans, however, they appear to be little more than afterthoughts.
Is a network a good strategic investment for your law firm?
This is the fourth and final article in a series of posts that consider the future of professional services networks. It investigates the links between law firm networks and law firm strategy.
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.
Does your network deliver external value?
Most law firms join networks to gain substantial external benefits, such as referrals of clients and matters, the opportunity to collaborate with other firms on large projects, and better market visibility. For many law firms, that decision produces disappointing results.
In this post, we will consider the future of professional services networks from the perspective of the tangible external value that they deliver --- or not. What can law firms expect in terms of external value as part of the return on their investment?
This is one of the ten most frequently read posts in the Worldview Archives, with more than 12,000 views since it was published in 2014.
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.
Cornerstones for Strategic Planning in Professional Associations
I was recently asked what I believed to be the “essentials” of strategic planning in a professional association, such as a law firm network or bar association.
There are at least four such characteristics, which I could describe as cornerstones. Without each one, the strategic planning process probably will fail.
