Redwood Analytics

Some time ago David Maister responded to an inquiry from a reader of his blog, Passion, People and Principles, who raised the question of Loyalty to Whom? How does a law firm secure the loyalty of its clients when, to the client, the face of the firm is the individual attorney?

Maister’s answer is unquestionably sound. The firm must add value to the relationship. If the firm as an institution has nothing to offer the client other than the role of the single or primary attorney, then it doesn’t deserve the loyalty of the client. Client loyalty defaults to the attorney.

Those commenting on Maister’s post did not all see this issue as a problem. This, I might add, is the natural position you would expect from the individual attorney who would like to own clients individually. For law firm leaders and managing partners, it is a strategic problem. Their role is preservation of the law firm as an institution. In the business incarnation of the legal profession, the individual attorney can earn more and accumulate greater wealth as an owner of a vibrant law firm that delivers value greater than the sum of its lawyers' efforts operating individually.

Therein lies the key, as Maister points out. The law firm has to deliver value, not merely assign lawyers to a matter or case. Delivering value over and beyond that of the assigned professionals is a key strategic issue. The drive to add value is at the heart of branding, positioning, proprietary technology, knowledge management, specialization, industry knowledge, the team approach in client relationships, cross selling, referral networks, extranets and other tactics for exhibiting and delivering organizational added value.

Without deliberate efforts (tactics) to add institutional value, clients become the portable property of the responsible attorney. The law firm become little more than shared office space and shared overhead.

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