Until recently, most law firm leaders have successfully juggled their producer and manager roles, succeeding in both getting the work done and motivating the law firm’s professionals. However, the current environment is much more competitive and challenging than ever before. Not only do clients and associates expect more, issues of size and increasing corporatisation, geographic coverage, and mergers and acquisitions that rarely deliver the expected value have added significant complexity. So, too, has the trend in some sectors for industrial organisations to enter the professional services arena.
With law firms facing a volatile and competitive environment, which shows no sign of abating, we believe that leaders can no longer deliver success by balancing their producer and manager roles. That balancing act has always been difficult, now we believe it is impossible. For this reason, we would like to pose an alternative integrated leadership model.
