Olmstead & Associates Law Practice Management Asked and Answered Blog

Problem Law Partners

Question:

Our firm has been discussing how to handle one of our partners. We are are 12 attorney firm in Houston. One of our partners who is one of our highest fee producers and best business getter's simply won't follow firm policy or play by the rules. He won't turn in time-sheets in a timely manner, he is argumentative with others in the office, and not a team player. He is "me first" while the rest of the partners in the firm are mostly "firm first". We are trying to build a team based practice and this one partner is holding up our progress. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on how we should handle this?

Response:

Dealing with "maverick partners" is always a challenge. Of course they seem to always be the heavy hitters and this makes it that much more difficult as often there are major clients and large sums of money at stake - at least in the short term. This can also be major issues and large sums of money at stake in the long term if you don't deal with the maverick partner as well. In addition you won't be able to achieve the vision and goals the firm is trying to achieve.

• For starters - if you have not already - create a well understood set of firm core values or code of conduct that governs behavior in the firm. For example, in most firms people are expected to work hard, be honest, and treat each other with respect.
• Partners as well as all other attorneys and staff should behave in a collaborative, cooperative, and team-orientated manner.
• Partners as well as all other attorneys and staff should comply with all firm policies and procedures.
• Enforce firm policies for all - no exceptions.
• Consider coaching, counseling or other forms of outside assistance if they could prove helpful.
• Lay down the law - confront and deal with the problem partner sooner than later - even if it means he or her leaving the firm.

Many firms have had to deal with the problem of a maverick "huge business generator" who just wouldn’t cooperate with firm policies and caused conflict and tension in the firm.  It is an unplesant task - but in the end - worth the investment. In the end he or she either conforms or leaves the firm. We have been advised by our clients that even though they may have struggled in the short term as the result of the loss of a major fee producer - in the long run the firm was better off and should have done it earlier.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

 

Law Firm Partner Conflict: Ideas for Resolution

Question:

We are based in Kansas City, Missouri. We have two partners, two associates, 5 staff members, and have been together for 6 years. The firm is the result of a merger of each of the two partner's practices a few years ago. The integration has not gone well. We are quite polarized. Each partner operates as a separate island, does his own thing without regard for the other partner, and staff follow suit. Each partner has very different practice values, approaches to practice, and goals. Conflict has escalated to the point when productivity and profitability has suffered and everyone is miserable. Would you share your thoughts?

Response:

Conflict is not always bad - sometimes conflict can actually be productive if it can be effectively managed. Destructive conflict on the other hand can destroy a small law firm. I often try to look at conflict from both a micro and macro point of view.

From a micro perspective I would look at the individuals themselves. Are their personalities compatible? Do each of the partners have the same vision for the firm and share similar core values, propensity for risk taking, need for control and tolerance for ambiguity?

From a macro perspective I would look at some of the organization and structural characteristics of the firm. This might include internal communications systems, interdependence of work tasks, clarity of job roles and responsibilities in the firm, decision-making, resource sharing, etc. Often people are stepping over each other and if we change some of the structural elements we can resolve the source of the conflict.

It is easier to fix and resolve macro level conflict than micro - individual - personality caused conflict. Your situation sounds like micro - individual - personality caused conflict and general incompatibility. Unless your firm wants to operate as a "long ranger" firm operating essentially as independent practices you may want think long and hard if it makes sense to continue the partnership.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Mentoring Law Firm Associates: Getting the Basics Right

Question:

I am the chair of our three member executive committee. We are a 20 attorney firm in Atlanta. We have 5 partners and 15 associates. We have done a terrible job of mentoring our associates and we need to do better. Do you have any ideas?

Response:

A law firm's greatest asset is its people and your associates are your firm's future. Lack of mentoring is one of the biggest complaints that we hear from associates in on-site interviews.While you may be too small for a comprehensive formal mentoring program you should at least explore an informal program. Start with baby steps and go from there. 

The keys to successful mentoring relationships involve the mentor and mentee deciding on the logistics up front. Many potential mentoring pairs fail to form because the parties did not agree
on the little things up front. Below are tips designed to help both participants in formal and informal programs:

1. Meeting schedule:  Decide on an approximate meeting schedule. Suggest that meetings be scheduled at least once a month.

2. Means to schedule meetings: Share the best way to get on each other’s calendar.

3. Scheduled meetings: Don’t wait until the end of one meeting to schedule the next. Always have the next two or three meetings on the calendar.

4. Length of program/partnership: For formal programs; the firm may suggest a length of time to meet (usually a year). For informal mentoring, suggest having a date on the calendar to review goals and examine the relationship.

5. Confidentiality: Mentors and Mentees need to discuss what confidentiality means to them. It is the foundation of trust, which is the basic currency of mentoring.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Maximizing Law Firm CLE Investments

Question:

We are a 18 attorney firm in Wheaton, Illinois. We have started the preparation of our budget for 2013 and are looking for ways to maximize the benefits from our CLE and other training and education investments. Any ideas?

Response:

Training and skill development is not easy. Studies reveal that 90 percent of the people who attend seminars and training sessions see no improvement because they don’t take the time to implement what they learn. Practices create habits and habits determine your future. Up to 90 percent of our normal behavior is based on habits. The key to skill learning is to get the new skill to become a habit. Once the new habit is well developed it becomes your new normal behavior. This requires practice. Unfortunately, law firms do not give employees time to practice and experiment.

Research on memory and retention shows that upon completion of a training session, there is a precipitous drop in retention during the first few hours after exposure to the new information. We forget more than 60 percent of the information in less than nine hours. After seven days only 10 percent of the material is retained. Most memory loss occurs very rapidly after learning new information. Your attorneys and staff can improve their memories by:

• Engaging in rehearsal/practice.
• Scheduling distributed practice.
• Minimizing interference.
• Engaging in deep mental processing.
• Emphasizing transfer.
• Organizing information.

Skills become automated through practice. The more we perform a set of actions, the more likely we are to link those actions into a complete, fluid movement that we do not have to think about. With enough practice, employees can become fluent in many different physical and mental skills.

Provide your attorneys and staff with time to practice and experiment. Schedule lunch and learn programs. Provide ongoing training in small bite size chunks relevant to the needs of the firm in a just-in-time fashion.

Use it or lose it!

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.C, CMC

Job Description for A Bookkeeper - 5 Attorney Law Firm

Question:

I am the owner of a five attorney firm in Chicago. Including staff we have a total of 13 people working at the firm. As we have grown our approach to handling billing and accounting has been piecemeal. We have a combination of several people handling various tasks including a couple of outsourced vendors as well. Frankly it is a mess. I want to restructure and consolidate all the tasks and responsibilities into one bookkeeper position. Do you have a job description that would help guide me in my search?

Response:

Here is a job description that might help get your started.

Position Summary

The primary function of this position is to perform the billing, bookkeeping and accounting functions of the firm. This position requires an experienced and accomplished person with a strong bookkeeping and computer background. The position requires skills and experience in bookkeeping, accounting, law firm billing and QuickBooks software as well as Microsoft Office Products. The position requires experience in a law or other professional service firm environment.

Reporting Relationship

This position reports to the firm owner.

Required Knowledge, Abilities and Skills

1.  Must have at least 2+ years bookkeeping experience as a full-charge bookkeeper with responsibilities including client billing in a law or professional service firm environment.

2.  Must have successfully completed coursework in bookkeeping/accounting. An associate degress in bookkeeping/accounting is desirable.

3.  Must have experience with law firm billing or other professional service firm (TimeSlips or appropriate software that the firm is using) and accounting software (i.e. QuickBooks) as well as Microsoft Office Products.

4.  Must possess strong administrative and organizational skills.

5.  Must have strong interpersonal and communications skills.

6.  Professional appearance and manner.

Duties

1.  Perform all bookkeeping functions

2.  Performs all client billing functions and other accounts receivable functions

3.  Pay vendor bills and manage accounts payable.

4.  Perform all data entry of cash receipts and client costs in billing and accounting systems.

5.  Perform all data entry of cash receipts and disbursements for the IOLTA trust account in the accounting systems.

6.  Process credit card transactions.

7.  Reconcile bank statements.

8.  Work up and make bank deposits for the operating and IOLTA accounts.

9.  Handle payroll.

10.  Handle Insurance

11.  Provide all required financial reports to the firm owner on a monthly basis.

12.  Filing.

13.  Coordination with the firm's accountants.

14.  Management and oversight of the billing and accounting systems.

I hope this helps you get started.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC 

Law Firm Management Roles - What Do I Need To Be Good At?

Question:

I am the owner of a 12 attorney firm in Dallas. We have 26 people including attorneys and staff. I founded the firm 20 years ago. While we have an Accounting Manager - I am responsible for the management and direction of the firm. While we have done okay over the years - I often feel deficient as a manager and am not always sure that I am covering all of the bases. Is there such thing as management 101 for guys like me?

Response:

Mention management 101 and I think of the five functions of management. Each of these roles must be performed by someone in every law firm and business if it is to be successful. In a small firm such as yours you must perform each of these functions and be reasonably good at all of them.

Here are the five functions:

1.  Planning

Deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap from where you are to where you want to go. It makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise happen. Planning is often referred to as business, long range, or strategic planning.

2.  Organizing

Creating an intentional structure of roles, duties and responsibilites, and accountabilities. Defining  what is to be done, by who, and how? Sometimes this involves establishing departments or practice groups.

3.  Staffing

Manning the jobs which involves hiring, performance management, training, mentoring, and development of people to fill the organizational roles.

4.  Directing

Directing employees involves motivation, communications and leadership.

5.  Controlling

Measurement of accomplishments of events against the standard of plans and the correction of deviations to insure attainment of objectives according to plans. In essence this involves reviewing your business, long range or strategic plan or budget against actual performance using metrics and dashboards/reports to determine how well you are making progress. If you are falling short of firm goals - determine problem areas and take corrective action to get performance back on course.

Use the above functions as a report card. Ask your self - how good are you at performing each of these roles? Are you performing them at all?

In addition to these roles you need to have a working knowledge of accounting and finance and be able to manage the financial affairs of the firm "work the books" as well as being good at getting the right people on the bus (hiring right) and keeping them there.

As you continue to grow you will eventually need to hire management talent to delegate some of these functions to perform.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Law Firm Merger - Challenges Implementing a Small Firm Merger

Question:  Three years ago our firm merged. The merger involved three solo attorneys and their staff merging into one firm. Now the firm consists of three partners and six staff members - a firm of nine people.  While the firm is doing well financially and we are on a growth track we are having issues involving conflict among the partners and staff. In some ways we are still operating as three law firms. Staff are not working well together and they refer to old firm and new firm. They are resistant to change and they have created personal fiefdoms. We merged to create one firm - not three - but we fear that we are still functioning as three law firms. Do you have any suggestions?

Response:

The people issue is often the major hurdle that law firms face when implementing a merger. In your situation you are now a firm of three lawyers and six staff members - nine people - a firm three times the size of the individual firms. You are now a law firm - not solo practitioners - and you must adjust you management and communication styles accordingly. Partners must begin to think in terms of firm-first rather than their individual practices or me-first. Roles need to be spelled out for the partners regarding management and leadership of the firm (structure and management plan). Roles and performance expectations should also be spelled out for the staff as well. While conflict can result from personality clashes and having the wrong people on the bus - often conflict results from unclear roles and expectations and poor communications. Fix these issues and you often will reduce the conflict. If you are not having frequently scheduled team meetings I suggest that you start having them. This will do a lot to improve communications.

You must also review your work processes and practices and consolidate as much as possible into a set of firm - rather than three firm's sets - of policies and procedures and everyone should conform to these rather than the practices of the past.

Consider:

1. Partners sitting down, discussing whether they want a firm-first v.s. a me-first firm and what they need to do to set the tone - the example - for the firm.
2. Partners clarifying how they want to manage and lead the firm - specific roles and responsibilities for management, etc.
3. Job descriptions outlying roles and expectations for staff.
4. Annual performance reviews for staff. Working together and teamwork should be one of the measures.
5. Monthly team meetings with an agenda and minutes taken.

If the conflict is due to personality or behavioral issues - confront the behavior and if necessary put the individual off the bus.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

 

Improving Law Firm Management Team Performance

Question:

Our firm has 24 attorneys. We are managed by a management team consisting of a managing partner (25% of his time), a full-time office administrator, controller, and marketing director. I am currently serving as the managing partner. Recently we have been having conflict between various members of the management team. Our team meetings are stressful and I fear that our effectiveness is being compromised. Do you any suggestions?

Response:

I suggest you start by identifying some of the causes. Poor communications often can be the root cause of such problems. Interview each of your team members individually and probe. What do they think? Is communications a problem? Are roles, duties, and responsibilities clarified? Lack of clarity can in these areas can lead to turf wars. You may want to design a team charter as well as job descriptions for each employee and clarify roles, duties, and responsibilities for each team member. Conduct short weekly team meetings to enhance communications. Use agendas. Take minutes of the meetings. Advise each team member of your expectations including all members working together as team members. Let them know that working together as a team is a performance factor that will be considered in performance evaluations and reviews. Conduct periodic performance reviews. Counsel and take action against problem team members.

Take stock of your performance as well. Are you micro managing the team or second guessing team members? Have you honed your leadership skills? If not - work on your management and leadership skills as well and consider coaching and leadership training if necessary.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Problem Partners - Do You Have the Right Folks on the Bus?

Question:

I am managing partner for a 16 attorney firm in Minneapolis. We have been having problems with one of our senior partners. He is our highest fee generator - both origination and generation. He operates as a "lone ranger" and refuses to work as a team member with others. He won't follow firm policy or play by the rules. We are trying to build a team based practice and this one partner is holding up our progress. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?

Response:

Getting and keeping the right people on the bus is a key challenge for law firm management and dealing with "maverick partners" is always a challenge. Of course they seem to always be the heavy hitters and this makes it that much more difficult as often there are major clients and large sums of money at stake - at least in the short term. This can also be major issues and large sums of money at stake in the long term if you don't deal with the maverick partner as well. In addition you won't be able to achieve the vision and goals the firm is trying to achieve.

• For starters - if you have not already - create a well understood set of firm core values or code of conduct that governs behavior in the firm. For example, in most firms people are expected to work hard, be honest, and treat each other with respect.
• Partners as well as all other attorneys and staff should behave in a collaborative, cooperative, and team-orientated manner.
• Partners as well as all other attorneys and staff should comply with all firm policies and procedures.
• Enforce firm policies for all - no exceptions.
• Consider coaching, counseling or other forms of outside assistance if they could prove helpful.
• Lay down the law - confront and deal with the problem partner sooner than later - even if it means he or her leaving the firm.

Many firms have had to deal with the problem of a maverick "huge business generator" who just wouldn’t cooperate with firm policies and caused conflict and tension in the firm. It is an unpleasant task - but in the end - worth the investment. In the end he or she either conforms or leaves the firm. We have been advised by our clients that even though they may have struggled in the short term as the result of the loss of a major fee producer - in the long run the firm was better off and should have done it earlier.

Click here for our blog on partnership topics

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Law Firm Staff Investment - A Sound Marketing Strategy

Question:

Our Chicago firm of 14 attorneys has been discussing various marketing investments that we should be considering. We have a very proactive marketing program but want to insure that we are exploring all avenues. What are your thoughts?

Response:

Invest in your people – your staff - your intellectual capital.

I am amazed at the minimal investment that law firms make in their staff. Law firms are in the knowledge business and their product is their intellectual knowledge. While law firms do invest in their attorneys, such is not the case with the staff. Although staff members are often on the front lines in dealing with clients, very few law firms are providing them with skill training in areas such as communication, marketing, client service, conflict management, effective writing and speaking, time management, computer applications, client complaint management, etc. By the way, attorneys need training in these areas as well. Why do law firms hire the cheapest talent they can find to fill the receptionist position when it is the receptionist who often has the initial contact with a new client. I find it amazing that firms spend huge amounts of money on advertising and marketing and they fail to invest in the other tools needed for effective new client intake. Small firms should consider assigning their receptionist the role of marketing coordinator with responsibility for assisting in the management of client relationships and the firm’s marketing program.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC