Some time ago, I met an old friend of mine, an experienced general manager who was in the first 100 days of his new role as COO at a City law firm. And to be blunt, he was surprised and not a little shocked by what he described as the unsophisticated management and working practices that he found. His view, although at the critical end of the scale, is reflected in the views of management commentators and indeed many of the professional managers (IT, marketing, HR, finance) in law firms themselves.
‘So what?’ you may say. Despite downturns in most major markets in the past three years, law firms continue to prosper. Current performance remains acceptable and so, therefore, do partner drawings.
