Case Study 2
Small Firm Success
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12-year-old family law firm with 3 partners and 3 associates, founded by 2 attorneys that left a mid-size firm to form their own.
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Firm experienced steady growth but was disorganized and unintentional about caseload management, creating a stressful environment.
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Everyone felt overworked, clients were not attended to, and an experienced paralegal recently left for another firm.​
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2 of the associates expressed interest in partnership, but the founders had not provided them with criteria on how to get there.
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Their office administrator had been with them since the beginning, but had personality conflicts with most of the team.
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The partners needed assistance in determining a rate schedule that delivered affordable yet value-based pricing.
1
Assessment
We conducted individual and confidential interviews with the partners, associates, and key staff, carefully assessing and comparing their perspectives, experiences, and sensitivities. We also reviewed and evaluated their marketing materials to get a feel for their brand. In addition, we reviewed the firm's current clients, rates, attorney skill sets, market opportunities and realization rate to identify ways to boost profitability.
2
Alignment
We facilitated a 1-day planning session with the partners to promote candid and productive conversations around concerns, challenges, strengths, collective vision, and solutions. At the end of the session, we had a clear picture of the firm's refreshed narrative, a list of short and long-term goals, specific tasks with timelines, and task owners. Despite some contentious discussions, the session ultimately deepened the trust shared between the partners, and set the stage for future progress.
3
Engagement and Implementation
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We helped the partners establish well-defined expectations and roles for themselves, the other lawyers, and staff.
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We addressed the damaging and disruptive effect the office administrator had on workload management, client service, and firm morale. We created a plan for approaching her, steps to take to remedy the situation, and clear consequences for non-compliance.
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We established targeted client profiles for identifying opportunities for the firm to be more profitable and impactful.
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Developed a strategic marketing initiative to position the firm for lawyer-to-lawyer referrals.
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Created a client journey roadmap laying out the firm's processes for acquiring, onboarding, and delivering excellence to prospective and current clients.
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Designed a thought leadership platform as a marketing tool for one of the partners.
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Engaged the associates in quarterly business development and leadership training.
4
Measuring Results
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The lawyer expectations document provided a clear path to partnership for the 2 associates, setting them up for a successful transition to leadership.
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The firm decided to replace the office administrator with a more qualified professional that reduced office conflicts and improved efficiencies in billing practices, processes, expenses, and management, contributing to a $72,000+ boost in first year revenue.
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The partners generated 6 new lawyer referral sources that led to 3 significant client matters worth $90,000+ to the firm in first year revenue.
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We raised the partners' rates by $35/hour and associates' rates by $25/hour, as well as raised the fees on fixed fee work, which translated to $300,000+ in first year revenue.
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Internally generated referrals of 2 new hires, saving on recruiter and advertising fees, leading to a savings of $45,000+.
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MINIMUM PROJECT ROI (1st year): $440,000+