Monthly Archives: July 2013
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July 23, 2013

Implementing and Managing Change for Professional Services Firms

I spoke with Vincent Bell, the former Director of Administration for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s New York office, who recently founded the Upstream Consulting Group to provide financial and operational support for law firms nationwide.

We discussed the genesis and mission of Upstream Consulting, how the legal field has changed over the past three decades, and the evolving role of legal administrators, among other topics. Bell offers ideas for optimizing billing and collection, strategies for implementing operational modifications, and key advice for managing partners.

Listen to our interview below:

 

July 19, 2013

Disruptive Technology and the Evolutionary Road for Legal

I spoke with Jordan Furlong, an Ottawa-based lawyer, writer, and legal industry analyst, who is a partner with Edge International Consulting.  Jordan is also the author of Evolutionary Road: A Strategic Guide to Your Law Firm’s Future, an e-book published by Attorney at Work.

We discussed his background and the focus of his work at Edge, as well as what inspired him to write Evolutionary Road. He shared his thoughts on the distinction between sustaining innovation vs. disruptive technology, and the impact of each on the legal market.  “Disruptive technology will open new doors for us,” he predicts.

Furlong cautions that “This is not a period of incremental adjustment; it is a period of significant change.” He suggests that law firm leaders engage in two exercises to help their management teams consider key steps to take to accelerate their progress:

  1. Imagine that you are starting a law firm from scratch – how would you design it knowing that you have none of the constraints of the traditional paradigm?
  2. If your largest competitor or rival hired you away from your firm with the mission of destroying your former employer, what steps would you take?

He concludes that “Firms must recognize that the way in which they have done business in the past is not the way they will do business n the future.”

Listen to our interview below:

July 15, 2013

What E-Discovery Practitioners Can Learn from Boy Scouts

I spoke with Warren Kruse, the vice president of data forensics for Altep, a nationwide provider of electronic discovery consulting and services. We discussed what lessons legal professionals and learn during the remainder of 2012, including those associated with internal investigations and regulatory inquiries, as well as key long-term changes on the horizon.

Ultimately, Kruse echoed the boy scout motto: “Be Prepared,” with respect to migration to the cloud and proactively addressing legal technology shifts as they arise.

Listen to our interview below:

July 8, 2013

Avoiding Leaderless Law Firms

I spoke with James Mendelssohn, the Chairman of MSI Global Alliance, a worldwide association of mid-sized independent law and accounting firms and the founder of Firm Management Associates, a U.K.-based consultancy focusing on the professional services sector.

We discussed the release of his new book Life After Boris (SRA Books, 2013), which he describes as “an enchanting, quick-to-read fable about succession issues in a rabbit warren following the death of the leader.” Mendelssohn explained why succession planning is such a key issue in professional firms and why so many firms fail to address it. He also offered some best practices for firms of all sizes, including:

  1. Strip out the pride and emotion from the succession planning process.
  2. Start planning early since you cannot successfully navigate it under time pressure.
  3. Create a five-year plan.
  4. Incorporate a broad range of feedback.
  5. Engage a third party to help navigate the details.

Listen to our interview below:

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