Your law firm’s success in 2012 may require considerable ingenuity under extreme pressure just as it did from the crew of Apollo 13 for their safe return to Earth.

Apollo 13 was the third mission in the American Apollo space program intended to land on the Moon. The number 2 oxygen tank in the Service Module exploded en route to the Moon, approximately 200,000 miles (320,000 km) from Earth.  The developing drama was shown on television and depicted in the Apollo 13 movie based on the mission.

If you saw the movie, you may recall that the head of Mission Control assembled a team in a conference room and requested that the materials available to the astronauts in the Service Module be brought to the room because they had but a few hours to learn how to make oxygen to save the astronauts’ lives.

By contrast, when the senior leadership team in most law firms meets to explore strategy, there is no sense of urgency. Worse, after extraordinarily bright people come up with some amazing plans, in most firms they are doomed to atrophy due to a lack of execution.

As you consider 2012, I recommend that you:
 

• Take off the rose colored glasses… the apparent good economic news is at best an exercise in extreme optimism and at worst the willful concealment of the truth

• Clients have tasted economic power in the lawyer/client relationship and they are not going to give it up. In fact, if you are not exploring legal process management (LPM) in harmony with some of your most important clients, your firm is headed for rough seas.

• Make your plans as if they were a matter of life and death because they very well may be. In today’s perilous times, your firm’s fate may be as precarious as that of the 3 astronauts when the oxygen tank exploded.

I confess that I have framed this in a slightly melodramatic way in order to be provocative. The serious lesson I ask you to take from this is that your plans need a deadline and they must be executed as if life itself dependent upon them. That is why in Edge, we make no apology for being obsessed with action.

Your comments would be appreciated as usual.

(Thanks to Wikipedia for the image and details)

Author Susan Hansen says:

Valorem… now boasts a list of big, brand-name clients, including funeral industry giant Service Corporation International; national shoe retailer DSW Inc.; Veolia Water, a supplier of water and wastewater management services; and the online travel site kayak.com.

and later in the article reports::

…clients definitely like the fact that Valorem is more than willing to work out fee arrangements that are at least partially tied to the results they produce. Case in point: a major lease dispute that Valorem is currently handling for DSW that is headed for trial in Los Angeles this fall. As part of its agreement, the company has been holding back 20 percent of Valorem’s billings, with the final payout to be determined by how well the firm meets mutually defined success metrics in the case.

Punchline:  in a world where firms and clients are talking a lot about alternate fees (AFA), Valorem and its clients are innovating with imaginative fee and billing solutions that truly are win/win, and I say BRAVO !  Managing Partners of all firms intent on surviving would do well to analyze and understand Valorem's approach.

 For the full article, click on the image.

Disclosure:  I have the honour of serving on Valorem's Advisory Board

For the required PASSWORD, kindly email me. (Your email address must match your registration)

To download presentation materials, click on the relevant presentation.

  Really ? (Yes.)

How refreshing for Forbes to offer us 26 Lessons from a 26 Year Old CEO, Shama Kabani.  Her wisdom is well-suited for consideration by Managing Partners of the most significant law firms.  Her ideas are extraordinarily mature for her age which may explain her phenomenal business success.  Here are a few examples:

…planning (#1):

• A written vision of what you want your company to look like in 3 years is important. The pen (or keyboard!) has power. It isn’t enough to envision your goals in your mind. You must have a blueprint on paper. Every decision you make, ask yourself: does this help me get closer to my vision?
  

…listening (#2):

• Learn to listen to your clients. When we started, we were only offering social media consulting services. But, clients quickly demanded more. We eventually ended up serving as their web marketing department. The marketplace will tell you what it needs. You have to listen, and then deliver.
  

 …and #15 (who would expect a 26 year old to remind us to dress appropriately):

• Appearances matter. I just interviewed an intern who showed up in an outfit more appropriate for an 8 a.m. class. I had to wonder how he would represent us in front of clients. Whether we like it or not, appearances matter. Dress appropriately.

…and #26 (think "Managing Partner" rather than CEO and "firm" rather than company):

• Being a CEO means being a CVO. CVO stands for Chief Value Officer. Always ask yourself: How can I create value for our clients? Our prospects? Our internal team? The answers will guide you to building a better company.

My opinion: Except for #18 (decide for yourself), I think every single one of the 26 lessons is worthy of consideration by every law firm leader

Read all 26 lessons at Forbes: 26 Lessons from a 26 Year Old CEO

Shama Kabani is the award winning CEO of The Marketing Zen Group, a full service web marketing firm in Dallas. She is also the author of the best-selling, The Zen of Social Media Marketing; and hosts her own web TV show at Shama.Tv.  Her photo is courtesy of the Young Entrepreneurial Council.  Thank you to Annie Colbert of Guy Kawasaki’s ALLTOP for bringing this Forbes Blogpost to my attention.

I received this correspondence from Hoshedar Wadia, a partner in one of India’s most sophisticated law firms, Juris Corp.  This firm deals in matters that range up to the hundreds of millions of US dollars in sophisticated areas like Capital Markets, Structured Finance, Securitization and so on.  In the spirit of disclosure, I have had the privilege of serving this firm.  Do you believe the protocol contained in the following correspondence could serve your firm as well?

"We just shared something with our new recruits as part of their orientation and I thought I would drop you a line cause you have used examples like this very effectively in the past with us.
 
"There is a game ‘Angry Birds’ that I have on my mobile that is available for PC download as well.
 
"You have to shoot birds at structures (and at a pig) and make points to go to the next level. Each level is tougher and there seem to be an unlimited number of levels. At each level, you can try any number of times. But in the version available on my phone, after 2 attempts (and failures), it asks me if I want to connect to the internet and see how it is done (on you tube). If you view the link, the task suddenly becomes easier (not easy – but significantly easier).

"Message:
"Like angry birds, in Juris Corp too:
"(i)         Please try for yourself to get the results – try once try twice but if you don’t get it by then then seek help (ego and stubbornness have little place in a knowledge-based industry);
"(ii)        The reason you must try yourself is because you may come up with a better way of doing something than the internet or ‘online help’ version will show you;
"(iii)       The reason you must take help after a few tries is because you owe the Firm and the Client, if any, (a) a quick turnaround (so it is not acceptable that you try and try and try till you succeed); (b) best costs (which means you don’t re-invent) – but always subject to you trying first on your own (the reason you are in Juris Corp is because somebody believes you may find a better way);
"(iv)      Look at the online version/precedents, even if you succeed – to see if it could have been done better?
(v)       Learn and adapt – the higher levels will always require you to draw from what you have learnt at the lower levels."

Punchline: Too many partners throw their associates to the research and protocol winds with a sink or swim attitude.  This policy deprives both associates and clients of what they deserve.  I think Juris Corp has it right and I am grateful to my friend, Hoshedar Wadia (Juris Corp partner), for granting me permission to share this with you.

The irony is too delicious to pass up. Mark Zuckerberg has invented one of the most powerful communication tools ever known to mankind. Facebook has literally started revolutions.

Why, then, would the most successful communications entrepreneur in history regress to a pre-internet form of communication? For the same reason Jack Welch did as president of General Electric.

Not only is a handwritten letter more powerful than e-mail, but it’s horsepower is increasing exponentially. Why? Because it is ever rarer.

If you want to increase your influence and the impact of your important communications,  get some personal stationery suited for the purpose and use it.

You may not believe this, but in my experience with powerful members of the executive of many top law firms, personal notes they have received from their colleagues or clients are carefully saved for years along with other precious personal possessions.

Image of stationery from THE GRAPHIC WORKS OF BEN BARRY
 

According to NYT journalist, Catherine Rampell, in her May 23, 2011 story: At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner,   Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe,  WilmerHale and McDermott Will & Emery are "creating a second tier of workers, stripping pay and prestige from one of the most coveted jobs in the business world".

Catherine goes on to comment on the increased challenge of debt repayment: Lower salaries make it even more difficult for newly minted lawyers to pay off their law school debt — like the $150,000 in loans that David Perry accumulated upon graduation from Northwestern University School of Law in 2009.

My Opinion:  I understand completely why these and other firms need to cut costs in order to meet the demand from clients to reduce fees.  In a way, this is eminently sensible — move the commodity end of the practice of law to lawyers well-equipped for the task at lower salaries.  In my view, this is not nearly enough.  Law firms must rethink how they do their work and must re-engineer their work in harmony with their clients.  My Edge International partner, Pam Woldow, is working at an unprecedented level of sophistication with top corporate law departments (including some of Fortune's Top 10) and AMLAW 100 law firms to help them learn Legal Project Management and how to set (genuine) Alternative Fees .  If the Partners think they can sit back and sustain their historic incomes indefinitely by lowering junior lawyer salaries or creating new classes they are sadly mistaken.  They need to create sustainable new models that change how we think about the practice of law.

Read the full NYT article  "At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner" here.

Visit Pam's Blog: "At The Intersection" here.

All of the Managing Partners with whom I work are devoured by their "multitasking work environments".  "Recovering from information overload" (McKinsey Quarterly, January 2011) authors Derek Dean and Caroline Webb have succinctly laid out their take on the problems and solutions:

Problems (multitasking):

slows us down,

hampers creativity and

makes us anxious and it’s addictive)

Solutions (Coping with the deluge):

Focus,

Filter and

Forget

Perhaps the most valuable part of the article lies in an exploration of how to hit the "reset button".

If you are the Managing Partner (or have any leadership responsibilities in your firm) I suggest you read this article twice, once to assimilate it and next to make your action plan for the parts or pieces you want to implement.  Download the PDF or read online.

You might want to sign up for a two day course at Harvard but if you are too busy for that right now, here's a blog post that may whet your appetite for the topic:

27 simple ways to become a better negotiator

Bottom Line:  enhancing negotiating skills would provide immediate competitive advantage by helping you prevail on behalf of your client and even increase your client's satisfaction level.

Make your presentations far more effective by drawing on the fabulous ideas in this presentation calendar

There is no cost to subscribe and the ideas will flow starting in January.

I recommend that you subscribe now

Congratulations in particular to my long time friend, Merrilyn Tarlton who conceived this idea with Joan and Mark Feldman

Download by clicking on image or HERE  Registered participants were provided with Password in session.

Extract from Seth Godin's blogpost: Won't get fooled again 

If you catch yourself making a promise that's been made before, stop. Don't spend a lot of time and effort building credibility with this sort of promising, because it doesn't pay off.

Make different promises, or even better, do, don't say.

Law firm leaders, if you don't know who Seth Godin is, subscribe to his blog and/or read his books. He offers a perspective that you won't get at bar association meetings.

Download by clicking on image or HERE  Registered participants were provided with Password in session.

Download by clicking on image or HERE  Registered participants were provided with Password in session.

SEPTEMBER 2010

September 24th, 2010
ADR Institute of Canada National Conference September 23-24, 2010
Plenary Session: Optimal Marketing for ADR professionals
Workshop: Effective Marketing for ADR professionals
Calgary, Alberta

OCTOBER 2010

October 9th, 2010
Fordham Law School (for Prof Silvia Hodges)
Guest Lecture: Law firm management: Strategy
New York, New York

October 14th, 2010
(with Nicole Auerbach a— Valorem Lw Firm))
Making Alternative Fees Work in Litigation: How to Approach and Craft AFAs
Virtual Program… webinar: Find out how to incorporate AFAs for your litigation matters, and how to avoid the many pitfalls that can arise along the way in this information-packed audio conference. During this 75-minute program, our expert faculty will present best practices for approaching, crafting and implementing these highly sought-after engagements.
Information & Registration

October 22, 2010
ALPMA summit
Keynote address:  Finding Success in a Global Paradox
Sydney, Australia
Information & Registration
 
NOVEMBER 2010

November 4th, 2010
Chief Legal Officer Forum, Public Sector
Auckland, New Zealand

November 5th - 7th, 2010
Plenary Session: Future Firm Forum 2010
The Management Imperative
Tongariro Lodge at the south end of Lake Taupo, on the North Island of New Zealand
Information & Registration

November 11th - 14th, 2010
(with Edge partner, Juhi Garg
GROWTH STRATEGIES 2015
LAWASIA 2010 Conference
The session will describe how Asian law firms can prepare for a flourishing economy including strategies and processes required to fuel growth both organically and inorganically.
New Delhi, India
More Information

 

My Edge International partner, Jordan Furlong, has done a nice welcome piece on Pam Woldow already (at his Law 21 blog) but I thought I would echo that Edge International is so very proud and delighted to have her on board.

Also, thank you to friends who have joined us in congratulating Pam, like Valorem's awesome founder, Pat Lamb, who expressed delight in his In Search or Perfect Client Service blog post.

Those of you who know Edge International well can be assured that we are intent on growing in strength and capabilities.

Please make sure you follow Pam's new Blog, At The Intersection, for her continuing wisdom and counsel. 

Stay tuned.

How often does a potentially powerful competitive weapon come along for the legal profession… and, more importantly, will law firms recognize it when they see it?

Recorded Future, the world's first Temporal Analytics Engine, is a new predictive analysis tool that allows you to visualize the future, past or present.

Start by reading their blog post today Law Firms and Recorded Future.  Then sample their video explanation on their home page. 

My Prediction:  Very few law firms will do an exemplary job of exploring this technology.  Those who do will likely meet considerable resistance internally from those who are slow to trust technology and especially revolutionary technology.  I am completely OK with that. 

What excites me: is that a few law firms that see the true potential of this technology and will use it in imaginative ways.  At Edge International, our core business is helping clients who are committed to achieving competitive advantage.  You can bet we will be exploring this with our clients, and maybe some prospective ones as well.