For every aspiring lawyer, the goal is to create a law firm that stands out from the competition and carves out a path of success. However, to make this happen, it takes many different people and ideas. Whether it’s a large or small firm you desire, here are successful tactics used by the best to create prosperity for themselves and their clients.
Select a Managing Partner
In numerous law firms, one of the biggest problems involves passing around management responsibilities from one person to another. When this happens, firm managers have trouble meeting the needs of their clients. To keep this from occurring, utilize the services of managing partners and executive teams, which can help increase the number of clients for the firm as well as the average revenue per lawyer, or RPL. As a general rule, firms that rely on focused and consistent leadership see the number of lawyers in the firm increase by as much as 70 percent, while the average RPL increases up to 55 percent.
Establish a “People Development” Culture
In a study conducted by McKinsey and Company, law firms that have the best people development cultures have been shown to have superior, sustained financial stability and performance. By transforming the workplace to ensure lawyers and other employees of the firm are empowered to be respected members of the corporate team, the result is better job satisfaction for all of the firm’s employees. In addition, these high levels of job satisfaction also lead to high levels of client satisfaction, ultimately resulting in RPL increases of up to 45 percent.
Make Client Service a Priority
When it comes to cutting-edge law firms, making client service a priority has payed off handsomely. Many firms have in-house personnel who focus exclusively on surveying clients, specializing in quality management to assess client satisfaction. Along with this, many firms have emulated successful corporations and instituted service teams, serving specific clients or industries in order to become experts in certain fields. To show how successful this approach has been, various firms around the country such as Nixon Peabody, Alston Bird, and Holland Hart have registered RPL increases of as much as 75 percent over the course of a year.
Transparency and Trust
In any law firm, establishing and maintaining the highest levels of transparency and trust should always be a high priority. To make this happen, firms should be willing to share as much information as possible from the recruiting process on, enabling employees to grow and become empowered within the firm. By establishing high levels of trust among employees, clients will also enjoy better service from lawyers and other personnel who have a thorough understanding of the firm’s goals and mission.
By incorporating these various tactics into a firm’s growth plan, success is bound to follow. For additional information about these and other tactics, please visit legalmarketingreader.com/effective_law_firms.html. But remember, since it takes time to fully integrate these tactics into a firm, patience and determination will be the name of the game.
Jay Sekulow is the Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice.
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