Why merge? Forces driving consolidation in the UK legal services market

Chapter 3 of The Law Management Section Merger Toolkit A merger is a means by which a strategic objective may be achieved; it is not a strategic objective in itself. This is, perhaps, an obvious statement, but one which seems to elude many management teams when discussing strategy and the options available to them. A […]
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Organic Growth Strategies: Back to Basics

Published in The Cambridge Marketing Review   The challenging market conditions of the last four years mean that organic growth is a significant issue for many organisations. My own practice is focused on the professional service sector and commercial law firms in particular. This particular market has suffered from the pincer squeeze of economic recession […]
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Getting Profit-Sharing Arrangements Right in a Merger

Published in Managing Partner magazine A merger makes sense if the new firm is better able to compete than either of its antecedents. For some firms, ‘compete’ means that the merged entity simply has a better prognosis for long-term survival, while for others it will be characterised by more opportunities, an improved market position and […]
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A merger is an opportunity to bring about positive cultural change

Published in Managing Partner magazine A firm’s culture is both one of its core defining characteristics and, for better or worse, a driver of its longer-term performance. Changing a deeply-embedded culture is one of the most challenging and transformational opportunities for any leadership team. At a time of merger, it is one way in which […]
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The Innovation Advantage

Published in The Future of Legal Services – Expert Analysise THIS ARTICLE is concerned with the ways in which innovative approaches have already changed the nature of law firm practice, and how they will continue to do so at an accelerating pace in the future. In particular it will consider service innovation and how firms […]
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Service Quality and Reputation Management Strategy

Published in Business Continuity Planning and Management for Law Firms   AS BENJAMIN Franklin so wisely said: ‘It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it’. His words should be a wake-up call for managing partners that have placed their trust in the fingers-crossed method of […]
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Mergers can be effective in moving partners out of their comfort zones

Published in Managing Partner magazine   Many merger business plans talk about creating a firm which is better than the sum of its parts by taking an external view. They wax lyrical, for example, about new markets, additional revenue streams, sweating the client base through broader and deeper practice capabilities and a strengthened brand. The […]
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Horizon Plan

Published in Managing Partner Magazine Andrew Hedley discusses how continuous planning can help you to improve the implementation of your firm’s strategic vision. It is self-evident that, without a clear and robust approach to implementation, even the most well-crafted of strategic plans will founder. A continuous longerterm planning cycle is required. This article considers how […]
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Where did all the fun go?

In the brave new world of Six Sigma, LPO and BPR it is all too easy to forget that, for the vast majority, this approach to legal service delivery isn’t what was signed-up to when entering the profession. However, with pricing under pressure and a fixed-fee basis increasingly the norm, better management is needed.  But […]
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Are You Clear About Why Your Firm Is Seeking A Merger?

Published in Managing Partner Magazine   This is the first of my regular Managing Partner columns on law firm mergers. Over the coming year, I will be exploring mergers as a strategic option from a range of perspectives. Beginning by understanding the drivers that suggest merger as the best means of achieving objectives, I will […]
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Taking the Inside-Out Perspective

Published in PSMG Magazine   In devising their marketing and business development strategies, firms tend to focus on being ‘client-led’ and ‘competitor-aware’. I term this an outside-in approach, founded in the belief that the organisation should configure itself to present the best possible fit with current and emerging opportunities whilst simultaneously nullifying competitive threats. Whilst […]
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It’s time to compromise on merger candidates: start looking for a doable deal

Over the past four years, the ‘perfect storm’ of deregulation and economic downturn has crystallised issues for managing partners. Having drawn comfort from the belief that they had a strong and profitable business, albeit protected by regulatory barriers and driven by an exceptional period of bull market activity, firms have come back down to earth […]
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Firms should focus on doing the simple things well

Managing Partner Magazine BLOG   It never fails to surprise me how consistently firms fail to adequately prioritise their time and efforts to doing the simple things well. Surely putting one’s own house in order would deliver the most returns most quickly, whether by securing existing client relationships, expanding those that are nascent or providing […]
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Client Service and Relationship Strategy

Published in Best Practices in Legal Marketing   Despite having been centre stage for almost two decades, it remains the case that the effective management of client relationships and the delivery of quality and consistent levels of client service are two of the key management challenges facing many firms. These obstacles are multi-dimensional since the […]
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Market Changes – Dealing with Uncertainty Using Scenario Planning 

Published in Best Practices in Legal Marketing   In the turbulent business environment faced by modern law firms it is imperative that any strategy is robust. By this I mean that it has inbuilt flexibility, enabling it to respond appropriately and quickly to changing circumstances, as well as having sufficient resilience to allow firms to […]
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Emerging Opportunities

Published in the Emerging Markets: Taking the Plunge review   An effective strategy for capitalising on emerging market opportunities is a standing agenda item for the boards of internationally-minded firms. Indeed, the topic is so enduring that some markets have moved from emerging to emerged in the time that the subject has been under consideration. […]
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The Role of the Partner in Delivering a Marketing Strategy

Published in Best Practices in Legal Marketing   While it may be self-evident that the law firm partner has a central role in the creation, development and implementation of a successful marketing and business development strategy, the nature of this role is less well articulated. This chapter considers the nature of this role and the […]
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Effective business development = low risk + high trust

Managing Partner Magazine BLOG   The best approaches to law firm marketing and sales share two characteristics: they aim to minimise perceptions of risk and to maximise feelings of trust between the decision maker and the firm. For clients, it is crucial that trust is high and risk low when engaging lawyers. Their often-subliminal thought […]
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Client Strategy in a Changing Market

Published in Professional Marketing magazine   Client strategy sits at the heart of all strategy. Without the ability to attract and retain clients, at a price which delivers an acceptable level of profitability, no business can be viable in the longer term. A firm’s client strategy should be under constant review in order to ensure […]
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Live to Serve

Published in Managing for Success, the magazine of the Law Society’s Law Management Section   Along with the other ‘traditional’ professions, law firms have witnessed real transformational changes in the last 25 years, in some cases willingly, but in many, as a response to market demands. One of the most significant changes has been in lawyers’ […]
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Effective business development = low risk + high trust

The best approaches to law firm marketing and sales share two characteristics: they aim to minimise perceptions of risk and to maximise feelings of trust between the decision maker and the firm. For clients, it is crucial that trust is high and risk low when engaging lawyers. Their often-subliminal thought processes centre on issues such […]
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Fit for Purpose?

“I am not concerned that I have no place, I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.” Confucius As firms face the twin challenges of continued economic uncertainty and deregulation, those best equipped to prosper demonstrate clear alignment of vision, strategy, market positioning, target clients, internal structures and operational processes. They know what […]
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Have we forgotten about clients in merger discussions?

Law firm mergers are fascinating things. They mix high drama and Greek tragedy as courting parties – initially with uncharacteristic coyness and latterly with a disregard to sensible decision making – waltz towards ultimate consummation. However, much of the discussion is tangential to the real issues at play. Understandably, negotiating teams are keen to present […]
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Resourcing Strategy

Published in Managing Partner magazine   For most law firms, a successful strategy must blend the concept of opportunity-fit with that of resource-stretch. This is because, having identified new client or market opportunities, it is often not a simple task to re-engineer the firm to provide an alluring competitive fit. Firms are constrained by relative […]
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Playing the Keeps

Published in Managing for Success, the magazine of the Law Society’s Law Management Section (www.lawsociety.org.uk/lawmanagement)   Programmes designed to support better management of a law firm’s most important clients have three distinct stages – acquiring, developing and managing. You start by acquiring the client and securing it from competitors; then move on to deepening the […]
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