Challenges in Selling a Legal Practice
Generational change in the legal profession of Australia and New Zealand has led to discussion around the value of a legal practice – is there any, or is it just…
Continue readingMerger Fever in the Air
2018 is shaping up as the year of the merger. Somewhat understandably, the legal media only report the larger mergers and there have been three of them – one concluded…
Continue readingIn Defence of Holidays
I’m on holiday. On vacation (Verb and Noun; fixed period of cessation from work), not doing work stuff, painting the deck, swimming, walking, surfing, flagrantly abusing new year’s resolutions to…
Continue readingStrategy on the Back of an Envelope
I’ve just participated in a two-week charity fundraising event, driving 40-year-old cars 5000 kilometres through the Australian outback to raise money for disadvantaged kids. The fleet consisted of 95 pre-1976…
Continue readingThe Importance of Deciding to do it
Two consulting engagements in the past couple of months illustrate why some firms fly and some firms flounder, particularly in the smaller end of the market. There were a lot…
Continue readingSome Thoughts on Cost of Production
Not that long ago, law firms were price setters. We decided what profit we wanted, tallied up the expenses, set a chargeable hours budget, and hey presto: we had an…
Continue readingLaw Firm Capital
This article looks at specifics around law firm capital, and should be read in conjunction with the excellent article by Sean Larkan entitled, “Ignore your law firm capital structure at…
Continue readingNew Partners
I have just spent the weekend with a smallish firm about to introduce 3 new partners. These people are currently associates with the firm and have been employed by the…
Continue reading2018 – Australian and New Zealand Legal Profession Outlook
One of the benefits of writing an article at the end of the year is the opportunity to look back over the past 12 months and make some predictions about…
Continue readingSuccession – Large Firms
When it comes to succession in larger firms there are a number of facets that need to be considered – transition of clients from one generation to the next, the…
Continue readingGreen Shoots Showing in Australia and New Zealand Legal Markets
After a number of years of patchy performance, the legal market in Australia and New Zealand appears to have found its feet and is performing strongly – that said, those…
Continue readingDo We Need to Slice the Pie Differently?
Recent client engagements have had a heavy emphasis on partner compensation. What makes this newsworthy is that many of these firms have historically been committed to equal profit share but…
Continue readingSuccessful Succession
As has been predicted for a while now, the legal profession is undergoing a significant transfer of ownership and clients from one generation to the next. This is happening whilst…
Continue readingEight Reasons for Optimism
There has been no shortage of pessimistic predictions for the future of legal practice. Issues such as graduate oversupply and underemployment, digital disruption and increasing disintermediation, increasing price competition coupled…
Continue readingEdge International Welcomes Sam Coupland and Neil Oakes
Edge International has extended its market-leading reach in Australasian legal-services consulting with the appointment as principals with the organization of Sam Coupland and Dr. Neil Oakes of FMRC, Australasia’s leading professional development consultancy. They join Sean Larkan, Edge International’s first Australasian…
Continue readingThe Changing Nature of “Leverage”
Ten years ago, profitability was relatively straightforward: leverage, price and productivity, right? The more the better. Ten years ago, one of the strongest correlates to ‘high-profit performance’ was ‘employed lawyers with…
Continue readingDue Diligence – What to Look for Under the Bonnet
In recent months I have been working with a number of firms going through the process of either merging firms or involved in a sale and purchase. That this activity…
Continue readingRethinking Fee Earner Budgets
Law firms of all shapes and sizes have been setting fee earner budgets for many years. In many firms this process has involved some common and consistent features: Fifteen years ago…
Continue readingAre Traditional Profit-Sharing Models the Enemy of Diversity?
Methodologies for sharing profit among equity partners have been an interest of mine for many years. Some time ago I wrote a doctoral thesis on the behavioural consequences of alternative…
Continue readingVariable Cost Base: Why, What, and How?
The legal profession, and arguably all professions, have to date been comprised of top-line focussed firms. In its simplest terms, the management thinking could be summarised as ‘If we get…
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