denotes premium content | Aug 29 2008 Current issue
Volume 11 Issue 3
Features
Leadership Advisory Board: Clarifying Role and Communications with Office Managing Partners
Opinion: Decisions, decisions
“WHY ELSE does a managing partner exist if not to make decisions?” This was a comment recently made at a conference I was chairing. Three things immediately struck me. Just how much autonomy do managing partners have in their decision making? What issues affect decision making in professional firms?
Thought leader
MUCH AS the idea of collaboration may warm the heart, in a service business world beset by fear of scarcity, it can seem anathema. In his new book We-Think, Charles Leadbeater highlights the success of hybrid models that are producing impressive results in a variety of sectors without compromising financial rewards. Leaders in these businesses have given permission (a very ‘top down’ practice) for such hybrids to evolve.
Feeding the beast
While 98% of lawyer respondents use computers at work, only about 25% use software to enter their time... Clearly, something is wrong with this picture.
New ContentTwo-fifths of law firms hoping to merge
OVER TWO-FIFTHS (43 per cent) of UK and international law firms expect they will be involved in a transformational merger within 12 months, according to new research.
Profile: Boyes Turner
Despite almost a year of ‘credit crunch’ headlines and gloomy growth forecasts, chief executive Andrew Chalkey remains optimistic about the health of the economy – and its opportunities for Boyes Turner. He tells Richard Brent why the firm is recruiting more heavily than ever.
Masterclass: Raising the stakes
Effective communication with the interested parties in a merger can help overcome cultural obstacles to successful synergy, but different stakeholders may require subtly different approaches.
Outsourcing intelligence
‘Next generation’ outsourcing sees firms embracing a more sophisticated, multi-faceted relationship with their service providers.
Uniting on emission
A new alliance hopes to help the legal sector take a substantial lead in the business world’s response to the threat of global climate change.
Learning to lead
Today’s law firms clearly require strong leadership if they are to prosper in competitive times. But what are the actual skills that need to be nurtured – and who in the firm needs them?
Beyond the billable hour
True, billable hours are a driving force in every law firm. The measure of true success of individual lawyers, however, is not solely a function of counting hours on a docket pad.
The chief benefits
An increasing number of law firms have appointed ‘non-lawyer’ chief executives in recent years. Now a year into the role, one such newcomer reflects on his recruitment and considers whether, and how, the firm has benefited as a result.
