Culture, Culture, And More Culture: A Recipe for Thriving Environments

Aren't a law firm's heart, spirit, and culture important? Sure, modern law firms have a splendid holiday parties, recognize our birthdays, and even celebrate litigation victories or completed projects; but I'm talking about the day-by-day interactions and understandings that make a firm a unified organization instead of a bunch of lone rangers advancing individual agendas. Do you think of people or projects when you reflect on your law firm? And if the latter, is it a positive connotation?

Luckily, there are signs that tomorrow's successful law firms will be more team-focused and culturally incisive. For starters, there's the growing practice of legal services buyers 'pinpointing' specialized or localized firms, often expanding their stable of firms on retainer to ensure the best fit, not just any fit. Or how about the cracks starting to show within law firms that use traditional management models where people are valued hierarchically. Consider the reports from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and elsewhere: Partners are no longer valued for making the inner circle, only for proving their weight through productivity and profitability. Associates are second-guessing billability-focused careers and quitting at rates never before seen. Even prospective lawyers seem disenchanted, evidenced by this year's drop in law school applications. In short, the conventional approach where associates compete with colleagues for partner ' a law firm's holy grail ' is wearing thin.