Holding breakout sessions at retreats and workshops allows the management of law firms to maximize the input it receives from associates and partners on a range of topics. In the most recent issue of Edge International Communiqué, I offer a few guidelines that meeting facilitators can use to increase the effectiveness of these breakout
“Mass Layoffs at a Top-Flight Law Firm” – NYTimes.com
An article about severe cutbacks at a major U.S. law firm, which included the termination of 30 associates and 110 support staff and cuts to partners’ salaries, recently appeared in the “DealBook” section of the New York Times. The piece raised a general alarm about the financial challenges facing the legal profession, quoting
Stop Over-Thinking!
When it comes to managing our law firms, including leadership and business development, we tend to apply our lawyering skills to the detriment of our organizations
An article that recently appeared in Lifehack, "How to Stop Being an Over-Thinker" by Craig Harper, explains
Leadership Strategy from Gettysburg
Some law firm leaders complain that they can’t give orders in a partnership. Gettysburg was proof that you can not get your orders obeyed even in the military if you are not a true leader.
A number of weeks ago, I spent the day in the battlefields of Gettysburg with two retired army colonels.
It’s Not Just About Team Spirit: Great Managers Can Boost Your Bottom Line
Considering the money law firms invest in every newly hired attorney, it would make sense for partners to pay closer attention to lawyer satisfaction. But according to Gerry Riskin, founding partner of law firm consultancy Edge International, "most firms are oblivious" to attrition costs. "That expense is unacceptable, yet firms have been accepting
Of Retreats, Power Tools, and Management Training
The October, 2012 issue of Edge International Communiqué is now available online.
The issue features timely articles by three of my partners at Edge International, and I am pleased to share their guidance with readers of Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices.
Ed Wesemann gives us five tips for putting on a law-firm partner retreat
Law Practice Lesssons Learned On The Stage
Photo: Marilyn Shaw. Used with permission
Meet my friend James Patrick Guy II.
Jim Guy is chair of the Law Practice Management Division of the Virginia Bar Association, and energy industry team leader at the LeClair Ryan law firm.
He is also the lead singer of the Irish-American pub band, Uisce Beatha.
I have
Business Metrics Can Help Individual Lawyers Achieve Results
“The most powerful metric is the contrast between the current and historic performance of an individual.”
Continue Reading Business Metrics Can Help Individual Lawyers Achieve Results
How the digitization of legal services is affecting law firms’ bottom lines: and what you can do about it
Chris Bull – Edge International partner and author of The Legal Process Improvement Toolkit – is worried. He believes that law firms everywhere are failing to take sufficient notice of recent massive changes to consumer attitudes and technologies – changes that are already having a major impact on the practice of law. Bull
What can law firms do when a partner underperforms?
In his newest book, Tackling Partner Underperformance in Law Firms, Edge International partner Nick Jarrett-Kerr addresses a highly sensitive issue that has faced nearly every law firm at one time or another: What do you do when one of your partners is not pulling his or her own weight?
In preparation to write the