For Long Term Increases To Income, Partners Must Delegate Work

Admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:00:09 GMT

I spoke Friday at the ABA Techshow on profitability and the key drivers of partner income. At the end, I posed some questions to the audience to facilitate discussion on the findings of the 2007 Law Firm Economic Survey. One of the questions I asked was "why would firms have low associate utilization?" A partner in the audience responded, "Partners don't trust them to do the work."

That is a common answer I hear from partners. However, without fully utilized associates, firms can't leverage. Leverage affects the growth of the firm and there was a strong correlation between leverage and income by respondents of the 2007 Survey. The challenge for small to mid-size law firms is finding ways to increase associate utilization so that the firm positions itself to leverage. If trust is an issue, then confront it. Mentor associates so that you can trust them to do the work as you would.

An article written by Allison Wolf in her Lawyer Coach Blog titled The Fine Art Of Delegating was the basis of a post by Tom Collins in August, 2007 called Spinning Increases Law Firm Income. Both Wolf and Collins stress that partners who aren't "spinning" work to associates need to face the reasons that prevent them from delegating - don't let the reasons be an obstacle.

Wolf writes:

Delegation is one of the lawyer behaviors that need to be rewarded by compensation committees. For a law firm to be most profitable partners are required to spin work down to juniors. Savvy compensation committees look at the combination of billable hours and spin earnings when allocating partner income.

Collins adds:

[A] firm’s compensation plan is often the reason Why Partners Hoard Work. That, in turn, leads to poor leverage, underutilization of associates and high turnover.

On the issue of trust, Wolf writes:

Successful people surround themselves with talent. Your challenge is to help develop the juniors so that they do the work as well if not better than you do.

Formal mentoring programs are still rare in small and mid-size firms, yet the need is apparent based on the findings of the 2007 Survey and from what I hear from partners. In a year where inflation may very well end up over 4% (over 1% higher than the annual average the past 10 years), firms can't rely on rate increases alone to maintain income. Develop programs to help associates manage more caseload. Give partners an incentive to delegate and mentor. Those who do will create the circumstances necessary to leverage and grow the firm, ultimately leading to sustainable increases to income.

Generation Y Attorneys - Is It Lack Of Motivation, Or A Difference In Focus?

Admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:00:13 GMT

While sitting on a plane on the way to the ABA Techshow, I was reading the February 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review. An article titled, Task, Not Time: Profile of a Gen Y Job, caught my eye. I often hear managing attorneys lament the lack of motivation of associates. The article in the HBR may provide a reason for the disconnect - it isn't that young associates are not motivated, but that they may respond differently than their elders to the conventions of work. Where many look to the hours you spend at the office as a measure of productivity, the HBR article suggests that the younger generation looks more to results, or task-based productivity.

Many younger employees find they can complete tasks faster than older workers,perhaps partly because of technological proficiency but even more . . . because they work differently. They spend less time scheduling and are comfortable coordinating electronically. They resent being asked to log hours and stay in the office after their tasks are done, and the idea of face time really annoys them. [Generation] Ys love to work asynchronously - anytime, anywhere. One said during out research, "What is it with you people and 8:30am?"

Does this explanation fit with your experience?

The article suggests ways to devise a better model of how to define work:

Articulate the results you expect - and tie accountability to getting the job done;
Make physical attendance in the office, including at meetings, optional;
Gauge performance on the quality of work performed;
Help managers and employees learn to measure dedication in ways other than face time;
Use today's networking capabilities to allow employees to work from anywhere;
Support the changes by creating drop-in centers

The above also appears to support what Chuck Newton has termed the 3rd wave law firm.

Make More Rain : productivity, 2008 tech shows

For Long Term Increases To Income, Partners Must Delegate Work

Generation Y Attorneys - Is It Lack Of Motivation, Or A Difference In Focus?