Practices

Opportunities

“Growth” is vital, even just to stand still. There are a whole host of opportunities to achieve growth in its various forms. A first step of course is to identify what is the right growth to be chasing.

Revenue growth can come by securing new clients. It can more easily come though by you offering extra support to your existing clients and by securing a lifetime’s value out of them. But growth can also come without you gaining any new clients or even any new cases – it can come with enhanced pricing and time-capture policies and practises.

Growth can also come by decreasing the wastage that happens in all law firms. It can come by hiring new lawyers and teams, or expanding into new areas of work, or opening new offices.

I have spent a lot of time on all of these areas and have learned a lot from success and failure.

In terms of getting new clients, if that is your priority, my many years of marketing experience are at the disposal of law firms. During those years, I was responsible for bringing in many £millions worth of legal work, across all work-types.

My approach to “marketing” though differs I suspect to that of many law firms – see the Marketing section of this website. It’s all about “007”…

In terms of securing top line growth, I have long-since learned that such growth on its own is irrelevant. In fact, it can be downright dangerous. It’s more about margins and profit (and, of course, cash). In all of these areas I have learned much, both by trial and error and by analysing firms who have done better.

I relish the prospect of exploring with a law firm or its teams their financial and business and professional performance. With my fresh eyes and a challenging approach, by working together with you, building on what you already do is more than possible.

Other facets of your business too can benefit from this kind of teamwork between us – strategic analyses, merger discussions, or investment opportunities that you are considering, for example – where external input could be a valuable sanity check and validation for you.

Challenges

These – both internal and external – can sometimes seem to outweigh opportunities. Client issues, management or structural questions, working capital concerns (particularly during times of growth), and PII issues are some. Succession issues, growth pains, competitor threats, and talent recruitment and retention are some more. Regulator issues, cyber-crime, and reputational threats are yet more.
Like most managers and Managing Partners in law firms, I have dealt with countless minor and major issues over the last 20 years. It has always been my way to tackle issues. Leaving them unaddressed inevitably lets them grow.

Don’t delay if you are wrestling with any challenges. I am a resource that can be enlisted to talk through an issue. I will quickly be able to understand it and its ramifications for your business. More than that, I will be able to explore with you the alternative approaches that might bring about a resolution and to set out the pro’s and con’s of each of them. Then, as pragmatism and practicality are my way rather than mere high-level thought and discussion, I can help you to work effectively towards a resolution.

The benefits of you sharing a problem in this way will be much more than just halving the problem, whether that sharing is on a project-by-project basis, or in a defined forum like a Management Team planning session or a Partners’ conference, or on a more regular retainer or Non-Executive Director basis, where I am always on hand to talk things through with you.