Page 49 - Leaders in Legal Business - PDF - Final
P. 49
ethics panel ruled,2 in so many words, that even allowing a business person to have a “chief” title
implies that businesspeople have undue influence over a law firm’s practices, creating an ethical
breach and a conflict between good business sense and the practice of law.
Leaders have discovered, however, that good business sense prevails. In law departments,
there is a rise of legal operations executives tasked both with managing the day-to-day activities
of the legal function and with finding ways to improve quality, throughput, and responsiveness
while decreasing costs. Law firms have sought highly-experienced corporate executives to lead
practices (sitting alongside the practice group chair who is, as often as not, deemed worthy of the
role based on the ability to generate business rather than any observable capabilities in running a
complex business) and the sophistication of those in longtime C-level roles, e.g., the CFO, CMO,
or CIO, continues to increase as the duties of these functional siloes intersect at an increasing
pace. One of the fastest growing roles in large law firms in recent years is the pricing director,
which is often combined with supervision over project management and process improvement.
However, law firm leaders are slowly but steadily recognizing that these are distinct business
functions requiring unique skill sets.
Both law firm chairs and chief legal officers of law departments are increasingly turning
to consultants to help them navigate the organizational and market changes. Just as some leaders
who became rock stars and thrived in the earlier era are now embattled or have stepped off the
stage, there are some notable consultants whose expertise was also attuned to a bygone era.
Many, however, have long been encouraging firm management to adapt to the new economy,
and can provide expertise gained from experience in industry or in other professional services
fields and this expertise is in great demand. The role of a consultant may vary. In one
organization, the management has a clear growth vision but need help selling it internally, and an
objective and respected outside voice is additive. In another, the executive committee may have
good intentions, but has a limited understanding of how to conduct a rigorous strategic review or
initiate enterprise-wide multiyear business process improvement efforts, so they seek specific
subject matter expertise. Still others may seek a consigliere, as trading ideas with a respected and
independent peer can offer more benefits with fewer downsides than revealing confidences and
asking for help from one’s law firm partners or law department senior staff.
Change Management
A principal role of a consultant is to help the organization embrace change. There are
plenty of good ideas, but many organizations falter upon execution because of a poorly designed
process to engage stakeholders, or they fail to factor in the how when devising the why and the
what.
The chief legal officer for a brand name multinational corporation recently solicited
proposals for a consultant to assist her in reengineering the global legal function. During the
open Q&A session with prospective consultants, she shared that while her deputies were aware
of the initiative and had offered their unconditional support, none would be involved in the
process beyond providing access to financial information and easing access to interview internal
stakeholders. Furthermore, her internal clients in business management had no idea that this
effort was under consideration, and their participation was deemed unnecessary to produce a
quality recommendation.
2 Opinion 642, TEXAS CENTER FOR LEGAL ETHICS, http://legalethicstexas.com/Ethics-Resources/Opinions/Opinion-642.aspx.
35
implies that businesspeople have undue influence over a law firm’s practices, creating an ethical
breach and a conflict between good business sense and the practice of law.
Leaders have discovered, however, that good business sense prevails. In law departments,
there is a rise of legal operations executives tasked both with managing the day-to-day activities
of the legal function and with finding ways to improve quality, throughput, and responsiveness
while decreasing costs. Law firms have sought highly-experienced corporate executives to lead
practices (sitting alongside the practice group chair who is, as often as not, deemed worthy of the
role based on the ability to generate business rather than any observable capabilities in running a
complex business) and the sophistication of those in longtime C-level roles, e.g., the CFO, CMO,
or CIO, continues to increase as the duties of these functional siloes intersect at an increasing
pace. One of the fastest growing roles in large law firms in recent years is the pricing director,
which is often combined with supervision over project management and process improvement.
However, law firm leaders are slowly but steadily recognizing that these are distinct business
functions requiring unique skill sets.
Both law firm chairs and chief legal officers of law departments are increasingly turning
to consultants to help them navigate the organizational and market changes. Just as some leaders
who became rock stars and thrived in the earlier era are now embattled or have stepped off the
stage, there are some notable consultants whose expertise was also attuned to a bygone era.
Many, however, have long been encouraging firm management to adapt to the new economy,
and can provide expertise gained from experience in industry or in other professional services
fields and this expertise is in great demand. The role of a consultant may vary. In one
organization, the management has a clear growth vision but need help selling it internally, and an
objective and respected outside voice is additive. In another, the executive committee may have
good intentions, but has a limited understanding of how to conduct a rigorous strategic review or
initiate enterprise-wide multiyear business process improvement efforts, so they seek specific
subject matter expertise. Still others may seek a consigliere, as trading ideas with a respected and
independent peer can offer more benefits with fewer downsides than revealing confidences and
asking for help from one’s law firm partners or law department senior staff.
Change Management
A principal role of a consultant is to help the organization embrace change. There are
plenty of good ideas, but many organizations falter upon execution because of a poorly designed
process to engage stakeholders, or they fail to factor in the how when devising the why and the
what.
The chief legal officer for a brand name multinational corporation recently solicited
proposals for a consultant to assist her in reengineering the global legal function. During the
open Q&A session with prospective consultants, she shared that while her deputies were aware
of the initiative and had offered their unconditional support, none would be involved in the
process beyond providing access to financial information and easing access to interview internal
stakeholders. Furthermore, her internal clients in business management had no idea that this
effort was under consideration, and their participation was deemed unnecessary to produce a
quality recommendation.
2 Opinion 642, TEXAS CENTER FOR LEGAL ETHICS, http://legalethicstexas.com/Ethics-Resources/Opinions/Opinion-642.aspx.
35
