INSIGHTS
Is there a manual for law firm success?
Explore expert strategies for law firm success and growth today.
Key topics discussed
Decoding law firm success
A lot of things in life come with a manual; your car, your dishwasher, your Ikea billy bookcase. All you have to do is follow the instructions and, boom, it works.
At Law School, which was admittedly some time ago (as in the last century), I can’t remember having been taught much in relation to the actual business of law. I certainly can’t remember ever been handed a manual.
One learns about ‘The Law’. Typically, one then becomes a lawyer and then low and behold, you are ‘practising law’. Increasingly lawyers and law firm’s consultants are recognising the conflict that exists between being a lawyer and running a law firm.
The skills required are completely different.
In my Your Law Firm Success podcast I am trying to explore the reasons behind law firm success with those who have done it, those who are doing it and those who are helping law firms do it.
In a recent discussion with Andy Poole, COO and head of legal at accountancy practice Armstrong Watson, we covered the notion of a manual for law firm success and in particular we discussed elements from the following two books:
Daniel Gerber: The E-myth revisited
Gino Wickman: Traction
Why?
- I’ve read both of the books and apply the principles from them at MLT Digital as often and as rigorously as we can. Some the chapters are mind blowing in terms of the clarity they bring and the light they shine on the reasons as to why some parts of your business aren’t working as well as you think they should.
- Andy uses the principles from these books to help drive law firm success for law firms all over the country.
You might think; ‘but hold on a minute, these books have nothing do with law firms.’
Why should they?
They are about business and law firms are businesses too and, to be honest, there are lots of businesses out there that are much newer than law firms and much more successful.
Both of these books provide their readers with a manual for business success but as with any manual you can’t just read them and think ‘job done’. You have to have the discipline and the desire to follow the instructions and implement them.
Key takeaways
Here are some of the key takeaways from my discussion with Andy:
1. Find the time
What is work? Is work sitting at your desk hammering through the client work, answering calls, replying to emails and drafting correspondence? Or is work reviewing, planning, creating a strategy and working out a reporting framework?
Of course, its all work but if you want to move your law firm on and grow it then the second type of work is more important.
You must carve out the time to perform strategic planning.