Rethinking Legal Talent After Watson

In the very near future, even the most complex legal work will be deconstructed, parts broken out from the whole and assigned to the most effective yet least expensive provider. 

By Jordan Furlong 

You might have been one of the millions of people who tuned in to "Jeopardy!" earlier this month to see the game show's two dominant champions go up against Watson, a computer developed by IBM specifically for this event. Watson, to the delight of some and the consternation of many others, blew away its human challengers and got everyone talking about whether the long-anticipated age of artificial intelligence was finally upon us.

Designing a Lawyer Transition Framework

To ensure your firm's growth and long-term survival, invest in your human capital:  they are the firm's ambassadors and its future. 

By Juhi Garg and Sean Larkan

Clients and partners alike think of a firm's senior associates in terms of a hierarchy of skill and deliverables.  Excellent client service is, of course, the first rung on the ladder, followed by specialist knowledge, strategic business insights, and finally, thought leadership in their practice area or industry.  This development arc also happens to parallel the transition from senior associate to practice group leader or even managing partner.

Law firms (especially those in India) must realize that this transition will not happen naturally or by accident.  They must provide lawyers with structured guidance and consistent mentoring throughout this process, customized to the firm's culture, expectations, client requirements and market dynamics.  What they need, specifically, is a lawyer transition framework.

A lawyer transition framework can be broken into two stages:  building a base of market knowledge and firm expectations, followed by the establishment and development of key business skills and concepts.

Stage One:  Ensure your lawyers fully understand and can act on:

• your values and cultural attributes
•  your services and markets, today and tomorrow
•  your methods of delivering those services
• your understanding of your markets
• your lawyers' position and reputation within those markets
• your communications and presentation to the market, and
• your key partner attributes

Stage Two:  Establish your lawyers' grasp of fundamental concepts and critical skills (specific to your firm's goal and markets:

• business development
• client communication
• effective client service
•  teamwork and management
• the firm brand
• financial management
• knowledge management 
• leadership, and
• ensuring the lawyer's contribution to the firm

The goal of a lawyer transition framework is twofold:  not only to cultivate senior associates, but also to encourage (and sometimes push) better transitions among current partners who have yet to fully tap their potential.  Critical to the success of this effort is active management, leader commitment, performance assessment, and sophisticated analysis and feedback.

What are the benefits of a lawyer development framework?

• engagement of key lawyers ("say," "stay" and "strive" ) and resulting improvement in recruitment, development and retention
• formalized partner succession through a structured development program
• successful differentiation of the firm through lawyers' unique skills
• enhanced client service and stronger long-term relationships
• powerfully reinforced brand
• stronger firm culture, and  
• better assets for the future of the firm

To ensure your firm's growth and long-term survival, invest in your human capital:  they are the firm's ambassadors and its future.  The sooner you invest, the sooner you reap.  Contact the authors Juhi Garg and Sean Larkan

Brand (con)Fusion

 A brand can be a meaningless mish-mash that is not consistent with what a law firm or its employees offer or do - or it can be a firm's most valuable asset.

By  Sean Larkan

• ensures a firm and its employees are clear and unified about what the firm offers to its internal and external markets and stakeholders- something like Clifford Chance's recent incursion into the Australian market - very focused, in this instance around a small limited suite of service offerings;
• emphasizes that firm brand statements must match what is actually experienced by clients and stakeholders to achieve "brand fusion";
• recognizes that brand warrants a separate strategy and disciplined management, and that this strategy must tie in with organizational strategy to avoid a "brand gap";
• uses clear language and is simplified;
• involves everyone in a firm in developing and implementing brand and clarifies for them what brand is and is not - ensuring that at every touch-point, wherever others see or experience the brand, that it happens in a consistent way;
• sets a clear goal of achieving a brand for which there is no substitute;
• recognizes that brand is dynamic and needs constant renewal;
• demonstrates that brand must be managed in three major areas - for the firm, for individual partners and in relation to the firm's employment brand - each area needs specific treatment to achieve maximum brand value;
• builds dynamic resilience into the brand strategy to ensure the brand can withstand whatever the market throws at it, and
• finally, clarifies that brand is not something to be fobbed off to the marketing department; it is a strategic issue of top import requiring senior leadership and partner involvement. 

As a strategic, high-value asset, brand warrants

thorough treatment and consideration. Everyone within a law firm must fully understand and support the firm brand if this asset is to achieve its potential. This is becoming even more important as changing communication channels such as social media severely stress-test the strengths and gaps in brands.  Contact the author Sean Larkan.