One of BigLaw’s biggest pain points is fixable.
There are few people out there with bad intentions, but there are firm leaders with bad habits. I recently spent an hour on a call with the managing partner of an AmLaw 200 firm who was seeking my advice on succession planning and specifically with their practice and industry group leaders, many of whom were very senior and had been in the role for well over a decade. I began our discussion by asking five very basic questions:
- Do these group leaders have a formal, written job description? Answer: “No.”
- Do these leaders have a clear understanding of precisely how many non-billable hours they are expected to spend leading and managing the people on their teams? Answer: “No.”
- Have you provided these team leaders with any organized leadership training within the past three years, to help them enhance their individual performance? Answer: “No.”
- Have these leaders been provided with any written expectations (e.g., you must, as a group, meet at least once per month) of what your firm’s leadership is expecting them to do with their teams? Answer: “No.”
- Do you, as the firm leader, meet with all of your team leaders to have them share and discuss their particular problems and successes with each other, at least once quarterly? Answer: “No.”
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