governance Assessment

$35,000

($27,500 for firms < 50 lawyers)

The Assessment. Our Governance Assessment is designed to improve the effectiveness of law firm managers and leaders by identifying structural, cultural, and financial impediments and recommending appropriate improvements. The focus of our effort will vary, but these are among the issues we’re often asked to examine:

  • How are firm managers selected and elected

  • How are future managers groomed and trained

  • What decisions are reserved for shareholders vs. delegated to management

  • What’s the appropriate span of control and autonomy granted to individual partners

  • What’s the charter and authority of committees and task forces

  • How to reduce friction and foster collaboration between firm and practice group management, or between firm management and a compensation committee, or between practice group and office management, or between practice group and industry group management, etc.

  • What skills and competencies are required for certain management roles and how to identify these traits

  • What compensation, if any, should managers receive for various roles

  • How to identify, recruit, and retain accomplished business professionals for each of the firm’s business functions

  • What’s the best process for preparing and overseeing an annual operating budget that incorporates input from multiple levels of management

  • What’s the most effective cadence and substance of communications from management to partners and/or staff

A law firm is owned by its shareholders, each of whom is also a practicing lawyer, and some are also elected to serve in firm management. Few law schools provide business training. Most law firms focus professional development efforts on legal practice topics and provide very little practice management support. In some firms, partners are paid to serve in management roles. In others, management positions are voluntary. Some law firms value management acumen when electing leaders. Others believe the best lawyers or the most successful rainmakers are the best managers... or at the most inclined to garner the respect of other lawyers. Some operating agreements define detailed election processes and carefully delineate management’s obligations. Others provide minimal guidance, allowing firm managers to serve forever, sometimes with near-unlimited authority. A law firm with a benevolent dictator who always makes wise decisions tends to lack the institutional controls necessary to prevent a successor from becoming a less savory dictator. A law firm that requires broad consensus from shareholders for every quotidian operational decision may be incapable of taking bold action in the face of competitive threats or compelling opportunities. Our Assessment helps to quantify the effectiveness of the current management structure in advancing the firm’s strategic and operational priorities.

The Process. We examine the firm’s governance documents, management roles, incentives, election processes, communication protocols, and financial and operational controls to understand the expectations and limits of the current approach. We also conduct confidential interviews to better understand what the shareholders need and want from its management class and where the current approach falls short. Our primary focus is on the structural challenges and opportunities, not measuring the individual performance of the firm’s current managers. When external factors limit one or more managers’ ability to be successful, we’ll point this out. We’ll help to identify the skills and competencies necessary to succeed as a manager. This, in turn, helps highlight when a mismatch between skills and expectations are a factor in a manager’s effectiveness. We’ll also examine the performance evaluation process, if any, to determine the metrics necessary to determine a manager’s effectiveness.

The Deliverable. A comprehensive written report and scorecard will be prepared within 60-90 days. This includes our in-depth analysis and conclusions and detailed recommendations to improve management effectiveness and create a sustainable culture of management performance. We will also conduct an interactive Q&A session with firm leaders to explain our insights and recommendations and to offer initial guidance for implementing recommendations.

The Scope. All of our projects are billed on a flat-fee basis, depending on the project’s complexity, the time incurred, and the nature of the deliverables. This approach aligns both parties’ objectives and fosters efficiency. Both parties must approve any scope expansion. We will request and examine a large number of documents and conduct interviews with a cross-section of stakeholders. We typically limit interviews to 25 or fewer, but we can adjust the scope for larger stakeholder communities.

Next Steps. We recommend scheduling an introductory call using the link below. This is an opportunity to explain the nature of your concerns with the firm’s current governance process and share other cultural or financial factors that may play a role. This introductory discussion also allows you to assess our capabilities and process. We’re happy to accommodate two introductory calls — one for initial vetting by an “advance scout” and another for a larger management team to make a final decision. You’re welcome to record the introductory call(s) for the benefit of those unable to attend. If we both agree there’s a good fit, we’ll recommend a project scope and a timeline to get started. We generally do not prepare formal proposals or participate in RFP processes.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who will be interviewed? The confidential interviews should include a cross-section of firm stakeholders, e.g., senior partners, junior partners, income partners, senior associates, c-level executives, top rainmakers, the management committee, different practices, offices, etc. This is typically limited to 25 interviews, so selecting a representative cross-section is important. We can adjust the scope for larger stakeholder communities.

  • Should we include everyone? The most compelling reason to schedule more stakeholder interviews is to engage more voices. A common reaction from stakeholders who don’t participate is, “This analysis doesn’t reflect my views or apply to my unique circumstances.” Another is: “This analysis says only what management wants it to say. Or it’s just a few loud voices and not the majority view.” The principles of change management prove that the more involvement stakeholders have in defining a problem, the more willing they are to accept and adopt recommended solutions… even solutions they don’t prefer. We don’t necessarily gain more incremental insight when we interview a higher number of stakeholders, but buy-in is always better.

  • Will you share quotes from your interviews? In our analysis and conclusions, we will generally illustrate key observations with stakeholder quotes. We will not attribute any quotes to individual stakeholders. We only include quotes if an issue recurs frequently enough to reflect a clear pattern. We may also cloak some quotes to emphasize the substance of an issue without unnecessarily exposing those who have shared it.

  • How does this connect to other firm priorities? The Governance Assessment may be linked to, or even combined with, similar projects such as a Partner Compensation Assessment, a Profitability Assessment, an Associate Elevation Assessment, or a Work Allocation Assessment. Our observations and recommendations in all Assessments typically touch on these areas. Effective governance is critical to devise or execute a firm strategy, to foster a higher-performance culture, or to catalyze changes necessary to remain competitive, e.g., technology rollouts, new pricing demands, etc. If you have such efforts underway or are contemplating them, we can help you understand how everything ties together.

  • What’s the deliverable? We provide a written assessment that contains our observations, analysis, and recommendations. This report is augmented with stakeholder quotes and comparisons to best practices. We also deliver a live Q&A to the management team to discuss our findings. We can also adjust the scope to present our findings to other firm stakeholders, such as at a partner retreat or an all-hands meeting.

  • What’s the next step after the Assessment? Our objective is to present a stand-alone Assessment, with sufficient insight and recommendations for firm leaders to take action. Often, our recommendations are sufficiently robust for firm management to take immediate action and our contribution ends. In some cases, the scope and importance of our recommendations will benefit greatly from outside assistance to properly implement. Where we can help, we’re pleased to be invited to participate. For areas where we don’t have the relevant expertise or bandwidth to assist in implementation, we will recommend other suitable providers. Note that we do not withhold observations or recommendations in the hope of securing additional projects.

  • Can we shorten the process by providing a detailed overview of our current governance structure? Our process often takes 60-90 days primarily because of scheduling logistics with busy people, and secondarily due to disaggregated and messy data. If our commitments permit it, and your culture is receptive, we can certainly accelerate the process. However, we cannot accept a management presentation in lieu of stakeholder interviews.

  • What bias do you bring to this process? Our primary role is to help you align your governance structure and policies with your culture and priorities. What you value likely differs from other firms, so we don’t start with a template solution. We will offer insights on the relative benefits of alternative approaches that will produce the desired outcome, particularly approaches that have widespread acceptance and success elsewhere. There’s rarely a perfect solution to every governance challenge. We will proactively discuss known inadequacies or risks with solutions in place or under consideration. Our role is to inform your decisions so you make optimal choices given all the factors in play. It’s not our role to tell you how to run your business.