The September 4 post at
Idealawg by Stephanie West Allen titled "
How Well Do You Understand the Four Generations in the Law Firm? This Will Test You" discusses the four generations—GI, Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial—inside law firms. However, West Allen acknowledges, these categories are not monolithic.
The August 31 post titled "
Spinning Increases Law Firm Income" at
morepartnerincome argues that firms' compensation plans often get in the way of attorney income. The author of the post, Tom Collins, says that firm compensation plans drive partners to hoard work, and that, "in turn, leads to poor leverage, underutilization of associates, and high turnover." Quoting another excellent post by Allison Wolf on the same subject, Collins points out that while lawyers who delegate and don't hoard work keep the best for themselves, lawyers who hoard work have to take care of billing and include low-paying work in their schedules. I have found this to be very true; Wolf and Collins are right on the mark. Partners who hoard work hurt both themselves and their firms, and if current compensation plans are creating this situation, it's time to change them to suit more valuable objectives.
Two September 5 posts by Rees Morrison at
Law Department Management focus on law firm billing policies. The first post is titled "
Policies on Law Firms Billing During Travel Time," and the second is titled "
Summaries of Policies for Common Practices in Law Departments." Incidentally, the second post doesn't summarize policies for common practices in law departments but focuses on the importance of policy summaries.
The August 25 post by Mark Beese titled "
Client Service Perception Gap" at
Leadership for Lawyers is a must-read for those who like to stay aware of industry trends. Beese addresses BTI Consulting Group's new report, "How Clients Hire, Fire, and Spend: Landing the World's Best Clients." The report states that just 30.7% of large companies recommend their primary law firms, while 53.7% of clients left their primary law firms within the 18 months preceding the study. This is evidence of a drop in client satisfaction within the industry. However, it was not clear whether client satisfaction with law firms in general has dropped or whether this situation is only affecting law firms of primary contact. Perhaps buyer's remorse has been affecting clients, leading them to move on from their primary service providers. Apparently no one has determined how often clients return to their primary service providers after getting a taste of the difference.
That's all for this week. Take care, and have a nice day!
