Why Should We Tolerate 'Jerks' in Our Law Firms?

Change the Culture of the Firm

Changing the culture of the firm is the first critical step. Example: A firm in the Midwest was drifting inexorably toward a statistical formula for compensation, according to the managing partner. Part of the problem was that there was no “code of ethics” (their name for core values) upon which to build a foundation within the firm for measuring the performance of the lawyers and staff. Once they created those values through a strong consensus of the firm's leadership, partners began to see how the values were important in building the firm's competitiveness, and that factors other than statistics were critical.

Stop Client Drain

A large firm in the South had a group of jerks hoarding key clients. When this group snuck away in the middle of the night, the executive committee jumped on the situation and spread out personally to talk to the clients in question. During those conversations, the firm found that most of those clients had planned to leave the firm because of the jerks with whom they had been dealing. The good news: The firm kept all of the most important clients.

Because jerks tend to be bad listeners and lean toward narcissism, “knowing it all,” they affect client loyalty. Jerks also affect the performance of the team serving the clients. Research has shown that teams are 40% less productive when lead by a narcissist. Finally, because of their own egos, jerks tend to overprice product, and fog people into a file.

Cut Your Losses

Jerks' impact on leadership is also a problem. Because the discussions inevitably revolve around them, more leadership time is focused upon the jerks' demands instead of the direction of the firm. At every compensation discussion, jerks push their own agenda over that of the firm. A few years ago, after a long process in a large firm in Texas to define the core values and vision of the firm, leadership, representing a third of the 400-plus partners, agreed upon the values because they recognized what made the firm really great for those who practiced and worked there. With that information, the leadership finally faced the jerks with the charge that they had not followed values for years, and therefore should not be partners in the firm. The jerks were asked to leave with their multimillion dollar portfolio. This caused some consternation in the firm, but, as one of the members of leadership stated, “Because we were operating on our core values and not draining our energy all the time in dealing with the jerks, we were able to recapture a replacement portfolio in less than six months.”

Retool Your Practice Groups

Section and practice group leaders also benefit from the expulsion of the jerks. They are able to eliminate the hoarding and allocate work to the lawyers and staff teams that can most effectively and efficiently perform the clients' work. They can also focus on the development of the client teams and the growth of the lawyers in their groups.

Prevent Expensive Turnover

Expensive turnover is also the result of allowing jerks to go unchecked. Jerks tend not to respect other lawyers and staff. They expect their supporting team to be available 24/7, expect mind-readers, and do not do a very good job at planning. This causes frustrations throughout the team, with the resulting turnover. Jerks and narcissists are not good mentors or good listeners. A worse problem is that they create clones who become jerks themselves in order to survive, or who think that is the way a lawyer should act to be effective. This personality also causes lower realization on fees as they write down or write off the time of others. Such actions immediately and directly
affect the bottom line of the firm.

Prevention

The initial step for any law firm to prevent jerks from moving in is to establish a foundation. A law firm must have a clear consensus on what the firm values, and a vision of what the firm wants to be in the future. A vision statement helps separate a collegial firm from a collaborative firm. A collegial firm is defined as a group of people bound by a common profession and independent of one another in their actions. On the other hand, a collaborative firm is one where professionals are bound together by a common vision and are accountable to one another for the accomplishment of that vision. The core values should be the foundation of the firm's vision that will guide the behavior of, and the relationship between, the lawyers and staff within the firm.

Hiring Non-Jerks

After a thorough vetting of the candidate's past, group interviews of the candidate should focus on those who have strong ties to the vision and core values of the firm. In interviews, seek examples of the candidate's teamwork skills. It is always better if interviewers really know the candidate. Failing that, it is critical to emphasize recommendations and due diligence. The interviewers' view of the candidate's focus and culture, and the chemistry developed during those interviews, should delineate differences in the candidate's values and the values of the firm.

After the candidate is hired, the firm must establish multi-relationships within the firm to ensure various partners are interacting with the new person. Keep focusing on collaboration, emphasizing teamwork within the firm and with clients.

Feedback: How to Deal with the Jerks

Should the firm have to deal with a jerk, there are several steps in being successful. The first step is a one-on-one meeting with the managing partner in the jerk's office. In this meeting, the vision, mission, and core values of the firm should be emphasized, as well as the metrics the firm uses in judging performance. Those metrics may include turnover, realization on rates, client growth, and others. Expectations should be set for the next quarter and thereafter.

If results are not forthcoming in a month, the next meeting will be in a conference room, which is a neutral area, with two members of the management committee. Cover the same behavior issues and metrics. Outline expectations for corrected behavior. Establish leading and lagging indicators for performance. Leading indicators are proactive steps the lawyer should take to ensure he or she is cooperating with the plan. This might be a better working environment for the team and staff, or proactive actions that show adherence to the values of the firm. Lagging indicators are metrics mentioned above.

The final interview should take place in a conference room or in the managing partner's office. The jerk in question will have had fair warning. When he or she asks by what authority the management committee is asking him or her to leave, the answer is that if committee did not have the full support of the partners, the jerk would not be in this meeting.

Conclusion

Jerks are a cancer in a law firm. If the cancer is not treated, the law firm risks a slow death due to loss of direction and a misdirected energy of leadership. Jerks (and narcissistic behavior) must be dealt with before they start rotting the firm. First recognize, then prevent, and then deal with the problem. If you want your firm to survive and succeed, you must deal with the jerks. A law firm should be based upon collaboration and trust. Jerks destroy that. Make the decisions and act.

This article first appeared in Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report, a sister publication of this newsletter.

William C. Cobb is the managing partner of Cobb Consulting (WCCI, Inc.), based in Houston. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.cobb-consulting.com. Terry W. Conner is managing partner and a member of the Board of Directors of Haynes and Boone, LLP, based in Dallas. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.haynesboone.com/.

Over the past three years of tough times, many law firms have put up with “jerks” in their partnership ranks in order to hold on to the portfolios of work controlled by those people. But there are ramifications to this decision, as seen by the departure of some great and traditionally strong law firms from the legal map.

In March 2012, the ABA Journal ran an article by Becky Beaupre Gillespie titled “No Jerks,” available at www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/no_jerks_some_firms_argue_that_collegiality_pays/. The article featured interviews with several managing partners, including author Terry W. Conner, talking about the business of law. It was agreed that culture, core values, and vision are key, even though some partners still refer to these concepts as “mush.”

But the fact is, too much reliance on statistics and not enough on people skills encourages these so-named “jerks” to manipulate the system of rewards and compensation. As well-known business writer Jim Collins found in looking over the data for his many historic books (such as “Good to Great“) and articles, leadership, led by core values and a vision, is critical to the success of a great organization. Collins' observations are excellent, and a true warning to law firms that tolerate jerks ' those who ignore these values in pursuit of their own gain. There are significant implications for law firms that tolerate these people. There are ways of preventing jerks from existing; and there are methods for dealing with a jerk's behavior. This article explains how to do it.

Change the Culture of the Firm

Changing the culture of the firm is the first critical step. Example: A firm in the Midwest was drifting inexorably toward a statistical formula for compensation, according to the managing partner. Part of the problem was that there was no “code of ethics” (their name for core values) upon which to build a foundation within the firm for measuring the performance of the lawyers and staff. Once they created those values through a strong consensus of the firm's leadership, partners began to see how the values were important in building the firm's competitiveness, and that factors other than statistics were critical.

Stop Client Drain

A large firm in the South had a group of jerks hoarding key clients. When this group snuck away in the middle of the night, the executive committee jumped on the situation and spread out personally to talk to the clients in question. During those conversations, the firm found that most of those clients had planned to leave the firm because of the jerks with whom they had been dealing. The good news: The firm kept all of the most important clients.

Because jerks tend to be bad listeners and lean toward narcissism, “knowing it all,” they affect client loyalty. Jerks also affect the performance of the team serving the clients. Research has shown that teams are 40% less productive when lead by a narcissist. Finally, because of their own egos, jerks tend to overprice product, and fog people into a file.

Cut Your Losses

Jerks' impact on leadership is also a problem. Because the discussions inevitably revolve around them, more leadership time is focused upon the jerks' demands instead of the direction of the firm. At every compensation discussion, jerks push their own agenda over that of the firm. A few years ago, after a long process in a large firm in Texas to define the core values and vision of the firm, leadership, representing a third of the 400-plus partners, agreed upon the values because they recognized what made the firm really great for those who practiced and worked there. With that information, the leadership finally faced the jerks with the charge that they had not followed values for years, and therefore should not be partners in the firm. The jerks were asked to leave with their multimillion dollar portfolio. This caused some consternation in the firm, but, as one of the members of leadership stated, “Because we were operating on our core values and not draining our energy all the time in dealing with the jerks, we were able to recapture a replacement portfolio in less than six months.”

Retool Your Practice Groups

Section and practice group leaders also benefit from the expulsion of the jerks. They are able to eliminate the hoarding and allocate work to the lawyers and staff teams that can most effectively and efficiently perform the clients' work. They can also focus on the development of the client teams and the growth of the lawyers in their groups.

Prevent Expensive Turnover

Expensive turnover is also the result of allowing jerks to go unchecked. Jerks tend not to respect other lawyers and staff. They expect their supporting team to be available 24/7, expect mind-readers, and do not do a very good job at planning. This causes frustrations throughout the team, with the resulting turnover. Jerks and narcissists are not good mentors or good listeners. A worse problem is that they create clones who become jerks themselves in order to survive, or who think that is the way a lawyer should act to be effective. This personality also causes lower realization on fees as they write down or write off the time of others. Such actions immediately and directly
affect the bottom line of the firm.

Prevention

The initial step for any law firm to prevent jerks from moving in is to establish a foundation. A law firm must have a clear consensus on what the firm values, and a vision of what the firm wants to be in the future. A vision statement helps separate a collegial firm from a collaborative firm. A collegial firm is defined as a group of people bound by a common profession and independent of one another in their actions. On the other hand, a collaborative firm is one where professionals are bound together by a common vision and are accountable to one another for the accomplishment of that vision. The core values should be the foundation of the firm's vision that will guide the behavior of, and the relationship between, the lawyers and staff within the firm.

Hiring Non-Jerks

After a thorough vetting of the candidate's past, group interviews of the candidate should focus on those who have strong ties to the vision and core values of the firm. In interviews, seek examples of the candidate's teamwork skills. It is always better if interviewers really know the candidate. Failing that, it is critical to emphasize recommendations and due diligence. The interviewers' view of the candidate's focus and culture, and the chemistry developed during those interviews, should delineate differences in the candidate's values and the values of the firm.

After the candidate is hired, the firm must establish multi-relationships within the firm to ensure various partners are interacting with the new person. Keep focusing on collaboration, emphasizing teamwork within the firm and with clients.

Feedback: How to Deal with the Jerks

Should the firm have to deal with a jerk, there are several steps in being successful. The first step is a one-on-one meeting with the managing partner in the jerk's office. In this meeting, the vision, mission, and core values of the firm should be emphasized, as well as the metrics the firm uses in judging performance. Those metrics may include turnover, realization on rates, client growth, and others. Expectations should be set for the next quarter and thereafter.

If results are not forthcoming in a month, the next meeting will be in a conference room, which is a neutral area, with two members of the management committee. Cover the same behavior issues and metrics. Outline expectations for corrected behavior. Establish leading and lagging indicators for performance. Leading indicators are proactive steps the lawyer should take to ensure he or she is cooperating with the plan. This might be a better working environment for the team and staff, or proactive actions that show adherence to the values of the firm. Lagging indicators are metrics mentioned above.

The final interview should take place in a conference room or in the managing partner's office. The jerk in question will have had fair warning. When he or she asks by what authority the management committee is asking him or her to leave, the answer is that if committee did not have the full support of the partners, the jerk would not be in this meeting.

Conclusion

Jerks are a cancer in a law firm. If the cancer is not treated, the law firm risks a slow death due to loss of direction and a misdirected energy of leadership. Jerks (and narcissistic behavior) must be dealt with before they start rotting the firm. First recognize, then prevent, and then deal with the problem. If you want your firm to survive and succeed, you must deal with the jerks. A law firm should be based upon collaboration and trust. Jerks destroy that. Make the decisions and act.

This article first appeared in Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report, a sister publication of this newsletter.

William C. Cobb is the managing partner of Cobb Consulting (WCCI, Inc.), based in Houston. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.cobb-consulting.com. Terry W. Conner is managing partner and a member of the Board of Directors of Haynes and Boone, LLP, based in Dallas. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.haynesboone.com/.