Here is 2 questions to give a glimpse of our Keynote Speaker for the LMASE Conference in Charlotte September 13-15:
What is the biggest challenge law firms face today?
Lots of contenders for this title! You could justifiably say, "Re-engineer internal operations to improve productivity," or "Track and measure key indicators of client satisfaction," or even "Promote young lawyers into positions of leadership and responsibility." But I'd probably go with one that encompasses them all: "Change the culture of the firm to prioritize above all the interests of clients." Most law firms aren't really built for this: they exist to serve the interests of lawyers, and especially equity-owning partners. Almost all the difficulties law firms face in adapting to new market conditions arise from firms' inability to behave as businesses bent on delivering unbeatable value to customers, because the firm is actually bent on delivering unbeatable value to partners. Start turning that around, and you start re-orienting the firm away from its owners and towards its clients.
Is there any obstacle you see that firms need to resolve & address first?
Not surprisingly, the biggest obstacle to shifting firms' priorities away from its equity owners is its equity owners. Anyone who serves law firms in a marketing or business development capacity knows this all too well: an initiative that clearly will advance the interests of the firm will be opposed by partners who perceive that it insufficiently advances, or even threatens, their own interests. There's no easy answer here, to be honest. Ultimately, the resolution of this obstacle hinges on the equity owners themselves. What most firms need is true leadership from their partners -- including, in some cases, the leadership required to get out of the way.