Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
What will your clients need five or ten years from now?
Do you know?
Have you ever asked?
We can help you find out.
Three (Plus One) Most Important Things
I was asked yesterday about strategic planning in law firms.
"Quick! Based on your experience, what are the three most important things that law firms need to keep in mind about strategic planning."
“If you were stranded in a law firm and could have only one management book...”
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) might be the most important book on management written in the past 200 years.
The Numbers Fog
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of teaching an advanced course in Law Practice Management as part of an LL.M. program. The class included associates, in-house counsel, and partners from some of the best law firms and legal departments in the region.
What particularly impressed me by the people in the class was their ability quickly and efficiently to penetrate through numbers and surface details in the fiendishly devious case studies I presented, to diagnose underlying issues and vulnerabilities that were the real potential causes of the problems, and to find solutions that could produce lasting results.
As we worked through the eight case studies, I thought about how, unlike the students in the class, many lawyers and law firms never take the time or invest the intellectual effort to do that. Instead, they frequently focus on obvious, quick-fix responses that usually only cover over the basic issues, which always return sooner or later and sometimes worse than ever before.
DIY
"Why couldn't we just do this ourselves?"
My colleagues and I at Walker Clark LLC are frequently asked this question when we submit a consulting proposal to a prospective client.
The "do it yourself" mentality that some law firms have raises several important points about law firms and consulting services.
Getting Your Partners to Do the Right Thing
This would be a great law firm if I could get my partners to do the right thing."
This is a frequent comment in many law firms, even ones that are otherwise well-managed and successful. It is easy to become frustrated when our colleagues do not perform in ways that are consistent with commitments that they have made.
Selling the Wrong Things
Foreign clients do not always purchase legal services in the same way that local clients do.
As a result, one of the most common mistakes that law firms make when marketing to foreign clients is that they try to sell benefits and values that are unimportant to the client. In other words, they try to sell the client the wrong things.
Foundations of the Modern Czech Republic
Of the emerging democracies in central and eastern Europe, the Czech Republic has one of the most developed industrialized economies.
Walker Clark senior consultant Daniel E. Miller, Ph.D., has examined the historic roots of the modern Czech economic and political environments in a concise, insightful Walker Clark Background Briefing, Foundations of the Modern Czech Republic.
It is "required reading" for any lawyer or law firm with clients in the Czech Republic.
Serving the Foreign Client
As cross-border and global business issues become more common, many small, previously locally-focused, law firms now face, for the first time, the challenges and opportunities of acting for foreign clients.
Even law firms that already do cross-border legal work encounter new and different expectations from new clients from the other side of the world, where local customs and practice may be profoundly different from the firm's previous experience with clients from neighboring countries or one of the major business centers.
Recession, Depression, and the Legal Profession
Challenging economic times elevate the mental health risks for law firms. Law firms should take highly effective preventive measures to promote a personally supportive workplace in a way that helps the firm and its people to manage the stress.
This is the most frequently read posts in the Worldview Archives, with more than 25,000 views since it was first published in 2009.
Managing the Opportunities and Risks: Strategies for Law Firms in Emerging Economies
As national economies emerge and distinct regional economies begin to develop, the legal profession faces new opportunities. The profession also must manage new, complex business risks.
Some law firms will survive these challenges and use the new forces at work in emerging legal markets to build sustainable business success.
Many more will not.
