Avoiding Extinction in A Turbulent Legal Market: The Other Side of Consolidation

Recent dissolutions reinforce the fact that law firms are fragile enterprises. If not carefully and constantly renewed and developed, they are in danger of falling apart, often rather quickly. In reality, in spite of appearances of rapid failure, the seeds of collapse are generally sown long in advance ' in most cases, even long before the firm begins to noticeably decline (eg, as seen in the form of firm shrinkage or lowered profitability). The lessons learned from dissolving firms offer leaders an opportunity to avoid seeing their firms consigned to the dustbins of history ' if properly focused and motivated, there is almost always time to intervene and change a firm's direction, before it is faced with a final crisis.

Of course, leaders must know where to focus their efforts. There is no simple list of things that drive a firm to failure, and in most situations the underlying problems are many and complexly interwoven. In general, the sources of failure come from three overriding areas, and usually from more than one simultaneously. These are:

• Weak or non-existent strategic focus;
• Poor operational effectiveness; and
• Lack of financial hygiene.

If management can act to strengthen these areas early on, they can often limit their problems and bring the firm back to a prosperous track.