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How A Leader Adds Value To A Law Firm

By Joel A. Rose
November 01, 2004

After years of analyzing the personal and professional styles of lawyer managers who are perceived as leaders of professionally and financially successful law firms, three inescapable conclusions have become readily apparent to the author:

  1. The authority of lawyer management is derived from the willingness of partners to be managed;
  2. Partners in most law firms perceive themselves as being owners of the firm, having certain prerogatives and independence, not as employees to be “managed”; and
  3. Law firms have their own personalities and cultures; and management techniques that may be effective in one firm may be marginally or not successful in another.

It is the author's opinion that the greatest, and perhaps the most frustrating challenge with which effective leaders of law firms must deal is the approach to follow to provide leadership to their firms. Central to this conflict is whether to lead by consensus or decree. Astute leaders achieve the appropriate balance of building consensus among the partners versus managing as an autocrat.

In today's highly competitive environment, authority for managing a firm's administrative and substantive activities needs to be centralized in a managing partner and/or a management committee, to some extent. It is no longer feasible or desirable for attorneys to exercise their independence on virtually every issue. Partners must be willing to subordinate their prerogatives as owners of the firm for the “good” of the firm. This is frequently referred to as “being a good citizen of the firm.”

In determining and defining the leadership role of a law firm leader, it is important, as part of the process, to recognize those individuals who are not necessarily leaders simply by virtue of one attribute. While many firm leaders fit one or more of these descriptions, the below characteristics do not immediately signal leadership potential:

  1. Partner with high billable hours;
  2. The rainmaker who controls a substantial portion of business;
  3. The attorney who feels he is a leader simply by virtue of seniority; and
  4. The attorney who feels he is a leader simply by virtue of title.

Characteristics of a Firm Leader

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