Your law firm’s success in 2012 may require considerable ingenuity under extreme pressure just as it did from the crew of Apollo 13 for their safe return to Earth.

Apollo 13 was the third mission in the American Apollo space program intended to land on the Moon. The number 2 oxygen tank in the Service Module exploded en route to the Moon, approximately 200,000 miles (320,000 km) from Earth.  The developing drama was shown on television and depicted in the Apollo 13 movie based on the mission.

If you saw the movie, you may recall that the head of Mission Control assembled a team in a conference room and requested that the materials available to the astronauts in the Service Module be brought to the room because they had but a few hours to learn how to make oxygen to save the astronauts’ lives.

By contrast, when the senior leadership team in most law firms meets to explore strategy, there is no sense of urgency. Worse, after extraordinarily bright people come up with some amazing plans, in most firms they are doomed to atrophy due to a lack of execution.

As you consider 2012, I recommend that you:
 

• Take off the rose colored glasses… the apparent good economic news is at best an exercise in extreme optimism and at worst the willful concealment of the truth

• Clients have tasted economic power in the lawyer/client relationship and they are not going to give it up. In fact, if you are not exploring legal process management (LPM) in harmony with some of your most important clients, your firm is headed for rough seas.

• Make your plans as if they were a matter of life and death because they very well may be. In today’s perilous times, your firm’s fate may be as precarious as that of the 3 astronauts when the oxygen tank exploded.

I confess that I have framed this in a slightly melodramatic way in order to be provocative. The serious lesson I ask you to take from this is that your plans need a deadline and they must be executed as if life itself dependent upon them. That is why in Edge, we make no apology for being obsessed with action.

Your comments would be appreciated as usual.

(Thanks to Wikipedia for the image and details)

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

According to NYT journalist, Catherine Rampell, in her May 23, 2011 story: At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner,   Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe,  WilmerHale and McDermott Will & Emery are "creating a second tier of workers, stripping pay and prestige from one of the most coveted jobs in the business world".

Catherine goes on to comment on the increased challenge of debt repayment: Lower salaries make it even more difficult for newly minted lawyers to pay off their law school debt — like the $150,000 in loans that David Perry accumulated upon graduation from Northwestern University School of Law in 2009.

My Opinion:  I understand completely why these and other firms need to cut costs in order to meet the demand from clients to reduce fees.  In a way, this is eminently sensible — move the commodity end of the practice of law to lawyers well-equipped for the task at lower salaries.  In my view, this is not nearly enough.  Law firms must rethink how they do their work and must re-engineer their work in harmony with their clients.  My Edge International partner, Pam Woldow, is working at an unprecedented level of sophistication with top corporate law departments (including some of Fortune's Top 10) and AMLAW 100 law firms to help them learn Legal Project Management and how to set (genuine) Alternative Fees .  If the Partners think they can sit back and sustain their historic incomes indefinitely by lowering junior lawyer salaries or creating new classes they are sadly mistaken.  They need to create sustainable new models that change how we think about the practice of law.

Read the full NYT article  "At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner" here.

Visit Pam's Blog: "At The Intersection" here.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

I am honoured to be in the esteemed company of the publishers and advisors of Attorney at Work that promises “One Really Good Idea Every Day”

There is no cost to subscribe and the ideas will flow starting in January.

I recommend that you subscribe now

Congratulations in particular to my long time friend, Merrilyn Tarlton who conceived this idea with Joan and Mark Feldman

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Sorry for offering the punchline in the title… but Yoda would be so proud (of Seth Godin)

Extract from Seth Godin's blogpost: Won't get fooled again 

If you catch yourself making a promise that's been made before, stop. Don't spend a lot of time and effort building credibility with this sort of promising, because it doesn't pay off.

Make different promises, or even better, do, don't say.

Law firm leaders, if you don't know who Seth Godin is, subscribe to his blog and/or read his books. He offers a perspective that you won't get at bar association meetings.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

SEPTEMBER 2010

September 24th, 2010
ADR Institute of Canada National Conference September 23-24, 2010
Plenary Session: Optimal Marketing for ADR professionals
Workshop: Effective Marketing for ADR professionals
Calgary, Alberta

OCTOBER 2010

October 9th, 2010
Fordham Law School (for Prof Silvia Hodges)
Guest Lecture: Law firm management: Strategy
New York, New York

October 14th, 2010
(with Nicole Auerbach a— Valorem Lw Firm))
Making Alternative Fees Work in Litigation: How to Approach and Craft AFAs
Virtual Program… webinar: Find out how to incorporate AFAs for your litigation matters, and how to avoid the many pitfalls that can arise along the way in this information-packed audio conference. During this 75-minute program, our expert faculty will present best practices for approaching, crafting and implementing these highly sought-after engagements.
Information & Registration

October 22, 2010
ALPMA summit
Keynote address:  Finding Success in a Global Paradox
Sydney, Australia
Information & Registration
 
NOVEMBER 2010

November 4th, 2010
Chief Legal Officer Forum, Public Sector
Auckland, New Zealand

November 5th - 7th, 2010
Plenary Session: Future Firm Forum 2010
The Management Imperative
Tongariro Lodge at the south end of Lake Taupo, on the North Island of New Zealand
Information & Registration

November 11th - 14th, 2010
(with Edge partner, Juhi Garg
GROWTH STRATEGIES 2015
LAWASIA 2010 Conference
The session will describe how Asian law firms can prepare for a flourishing economy including strategies and processes required to fuel growth both organically and inorganically.
New Delhi, India
More Information

 

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Top 10 recipients of associates' seal of approval:

1.    Ropes & Gray
2.    Williams & Connolly
3.    Morrison & Foerster       
4.    Fitzpatrick
5.    Shook, Hardy & Bacon
6.    Hughes Hubbard & Reed          
7.    Jones Day
8.    Davis Polk
9.    Paul, Weiss
10.  Skadden, Arps

View the entire 2011 Vault Law Firm Quality of Life Rankings.

ROPES & GRAY REPEATS AS BEST LAW FIRM TO WORK FOR; LAW ASSOCIATES AT WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY MOST SATISFIED

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Appreciation is not assumed — it has to be communicated…  if you think your clients know you appreciate them, ask your self "how would they"…  Make it explicit and you'll separate yourself from the masses !

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

We are very proud of our latest Edge International Review.    For a complete downloadable version (or just the articles you want) click on the cover or go to EdgeInternationalReview.com

If you have any questions , comments or suggestions, please shoot me a note.

(You can also check out our Edge International web site at Edge-International.com)

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Nearly three decades ago, in the early days of Edge International, there was only one writer in the area of managing a professional firm that commanded our unqualified respect and attention. That was David Maister.

“Managing the Professional Services Firm” is the Bible, according to many leaders of some of the largest professional service firms in the world. “True Professionals” spoke to the firms for whom dignity and quality service were the engines of success. And he wrote so much more in collaborations and articles.

In Edge, we were lucky enough to find ourselves presenting at a few conferences in common with David, in various places around the world and one day ended up having a very private informal retreat. This led to the creation of PracticeCoach®, an extraordinarily comprehensive video-based resource to help law firm leaders around the world. It stars David.  What a joy it was to create with him.

His philosophy was so in harmony with ours.  For example, we loved his guarantee of satisfaction (and were proud that we offered one as well even before we knew he did).

There were some very cool things I learned from David:

• David loves his wife, Kathy, with such passion and always treats her as his trusted advisor and coach. (She's the Guru's Guru.) With Kathy, David taught my wife, Bethany, and me how to travel for weeks internationally without checking luggage. “IMPOSSIBLE!” we said standing on the curb in front of their place one morning with four huge suitcases’s while David and Kathy had their little rollers behind them. “You just need to learn how to pack properly…” they replied, and during our next visit we got the tutorial. (Actually, David and Kathy, if you wrote a book based on that tutorial….) Bethany and I owe David and Kathy the moon for that advice.

• David exemplifies passion. He loves his wife and his music collection which is of a magnitude that makes it the 8th wonder of the world…and he’ll sing till dawn. :-)

• David has energized audience after audience…forcing thought about important issues and even more importantly, sometimes with the help of voting machines, making them actually decide on things.

I am not surprised by the awards and accolades* he has received… just delighted.

The good news is that this is not a eulogy (even if it sounds like one). David and Kathy’s infectious smiles will remain available to us for many many happy years to come.

If there is a sad note in this homage, it is that David's retirement represents a loss to my beloved legal profession and all the other professions he served so well.  However, his books and programs live on. As I write this, I am helping a prominent South American firm to use the study in his book, “Practice What You Preach,” to help them analyze and choose the most fruitful areas of focus for their continued improvement.

Maybe David’s and Kathy's retirements will be like some famous souls who preceded them who were coaxed back into the game for an important gig or two.

By the way, Kathy retired from one of the most incredible video enhanced blogs in history: startcooking.com where you can still experience valuable lessons - check it out !  This is not an amateur undertaking - you will find broadcast-quality production values.

David and Kathy, Bethany and I treasure you and I know if we gathered those of like mind we’d need a mighty big arena.

Retire in good health!! Well earned - BRAVO!

*awards and accolades

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Patrick Lamb is synonymous with Valorem Law Group which is a driving force in changing how legal services are valued and acquired. After learning that Jordan Furlong was joining us, here's (an excerpt from) what he posted:

It's like adding Wayne Gretzky in his prime to the team that already was the best team in the league, or adding an all-star to a team of all-stars.  Great move, my friends.

Read the complete post here: WOW! Jordan Furlong joins Edge International!

If you lead a law firm and do not yet subscribe to Patrick's blog, In Search of Perfect Client Service, then go now and take care of that oversight.

If you want to learn more about Patrick, choose one if his bios:

In his own words

Pat's formal (boring) bio

Now as for Jordan Furlong, Jordan thanks again for joining us,  You are more like Gretzky than even Patrick may know.

I was practicing law in Edmonton during the Oiler dynasty and saw Gretzky informally as well as on the ice.   He was a young man of values and integrity… a great contributor to the community… and always selfless… ego-less… always doing his best… and his best, we all know in hindsight, was truly awesome. 

Having known Jordan Furlong personally and professionaly for many years, I can attest to the attributes that Patrick Lamb affords him and add that he is the kind of dream teammate we so much appreciate at Edge International.  In fact Jordan inhales and exhales integrity - it's the core of his DNA.  (Heck - he even comes from Ontario, Canada and brings endorsements - thanks to Patrick).

Jordan, (blame this on Patrick Lamb), I now pronounce your Edge International nickname to be "Gretz" from this day forward.   Welcome aboard, Gretz !

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.