However, as we saw in New York between 1993 and 2001 when Mayor Giuliani tackled the horrific serious crime rates in that metropolis – he surprised everyone when he focused first on petty crime. The result was that big crime was reduced by over 50% to the point where it became relatively safe for womenfolk to walk down the streets. The same can apply here.

Meetings are just one of the examples of where addressing a few little things can have an impact elsewhere. Allowing partners to consistently be late for meetings, fiddle with mobile devices or take calls, even if done quietly, is tantamount to what is depicted here; chaos, rudeness and ultimately will cause a break-down of communication and respect. Leaders need to nip this in the bud and set the example in doing so. (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

What are some little things which at first blush don’t seem to warrant making a fuss over? Let’s take meetings as an example – for instance, allowing:

1. people to be consistently late for meetings;
2. people to get away with simply not turning up and not notifying anyone in time or giving a reason;
3. the checking of emails or searching the net on PDAs;
4. people to keep their phones switched on, take calls or walk out to do so;

What message are being sent by the transgressors?

1. you are all less important than what is on my device or what I am thinking about;
2. this is boring ; I would rather be fiddling with this;
3. no-one cares if I am late;
4. I don’t respect the people or the system;
5. my mind is elsewhere but no-one seems to mind;
6. I am unable to focus on one thing at a time.

What are the other ramifications?

1. they are being selfish and thinking that what they are doing is more important than what others are doing; if not addressed, this becomes ‘okay’ behaviour;
2. they will repeat this behaviour and attitude in front of people who report to them who will learn bad habits;
3. they will do it to clients;
4. attendance at meetings will eventually drop;
5. it can lead to a chaotic situation – meetings become a shambles and lose impact. Apart from being irritating and frustrating this costs serious money in wasting the time of expensive resources;
6. it impacts leadership confidence;
7. it impacts respect for leadership roles;
8. it has a knock-on effect in other parts of the organisation;
9. it is a sign of weakness;
10. it will invariably be counter to what the firm’s values state;
11. people follow what others do or what leaders allow – it has a horrible way of being replicated.

Fortunately, these are things we can change. Essentially this is about training ourselves and others to be timely, show respect, be one-focused, one-pointed and not easily distracted in relation to meetings or in conversation with someone. Sometimes simply asking people or reminding them from time to time is not enough. It may take a tougher stance and setting the example.

As Eknath Easwaran, the influential eastern spiritual teacher taught, we can train our attention wherever we are, whatever we are doing, and the benefits are well worth the discipline.

We have all been on the highway when another driver has allowed him/herself to become distracted. It can be disconcerting and dangerous. (Sean Larkan Edge International)

He gives the example of sharing the highway with a distracted driver with his mind on other things – in the lane next to you and suddenly, without warning, he wanders into your lane. Then, with equal abruptness, he realizes what he has done and overreacts – first with the brake, then with the accelerator – and darts back into his own lane. An accident waiting to happen.

If we could only see it, everything in life suffers like this when attention wanders. A mind that darts from subject to subject is out of control, and the person who follows its whims weaves through life, running into difficult situations and conflicting with other people. But the mind that is steady stays in its own lane. It cannot be swept away by an impulsive wish to check an email or the Internet on a PDA. There is no skill more worth learning than the art of directing attention as we choose.

What to do in relation to the example given above? It is really simple:

1. meetings start on time;
2. leaders should arrive at least 5 to 10 minutes before a meeting and be organised to start on time;
3. no PDAs or cell-phones in sight or ‘on’ in meetings;
4. if anyone arrives late too bad, the meeting commences;
5. no calls in meetings;
6. if someone is addressing the meeting give him/her 100% attention;
7. emphasise that all this is not about being nit-picky but about showing respect for one another, being sensible and living the firm’s values, which 99% of the time will require respect for one another.

As Easwaran said “there is no skill more worth learning than the art of directing attention as we choose” – we do this when we arrive on time for meetings, when we do not allow ourselves to be distracted and we pay attention to someone else when they are talking to us. Such simple things. Such big impacts, throughout an organisation. And it all needs to start with the leaders.

Sean Larkan, Edge International

One needs a simple system to track these elusive, important items.

Leaders need to develop a system to manage following up on the dozens of important, single items that crop up and need attention – via email, a web article, a tweet or a LinkedIn enquiry (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

Over time, all of us have probably worked up some or other system to try to do this – if they are anything like the ones I have tried, they are probably a bit hit and miss and sometimes more trouble than they are worth – this in turn creates its own pressure as you are always worrying that you may have overlooked an important item.

When I used to help run large law firms one of the things I used to say to new lawyer recruits on the subject of  ‘what it takes to succeed in a  law firm?’ is that I had seldom come across a successful practitioner who was not accessible, responsive and reliable (‘ARR’). I think this applies equally to leaders – that is why leaders need a simple system for following up emails and other electronic items that cross their desks.

Some busy leaders deal with this by simply tackling all enquiries virtually as they hit their desks – this is their system – they never sleep and seem to have an email system wired into them as an extension of their bodies – a couple of leaders of law and accounting firms spring to mind. These are seriously busy people but I am always astonished how they have always, consistently, managed to do this. Very impressive. Most of us don’t manage to effectively be on-line 24/7.

I have evolved a simple system which I would like to share:

1. create a To Do list in something like MS OneNote - fantastic for this purpose (and for many other uses) by the way as: 
   • it updates between all your devices; and 
   • you can easily select and slide headings or a group of items under a heading in your To Do list up or down according to priority, and it renumbers accordingly;
2. create an Evernote account (free) and create a notebook in Evernote (by right-clicking the heading ‘notebooks’) called ‘Actionable emails etc’. You will see that after installation (you may have to select this as an option) an Evernote button pops up on your email account e.g. Outlook or in your browser header e.g. Chrome, IE etc.;
3. any time you get an email, URL or article link that you want to track and it is not attached to a particular project you can simply click on the Evernote button, choose the ‘Actionable emails etc’ notebook in Evernote and it will automatically drop a copy in there for easy later recall or follow-up. The beauty is, once you have done this it is not going to get lost  and is dead easy to access;
4. at the top of the To Do list insert an item – ‘Actionable emails etc’ – this is merely to prompt you to flick to Evernote daily or from time to time to run through those actionable items and attend to any that may have slipped by, and of course delete those you have dealt with;

Once this is set up it is really quite easy and relieves stress and pressure as you are not worrying about items that may have slipped through the cracks. Another benefit is that it is more or less automated as well as being quick and easy. As mentioned, you can also access OneNote and Evernote from any of your devices. 

Maybe readers have other good systems they have perfected and would like to share?

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International

Look at the vision statements of most firms and chances are you will find words like ‘successful’, ‘leading’, ‘premier’, ‘top’ or similar. Nothing at all wrong with that. But the key thing to realise is that to seek and achieve such lofty visions takes serious commitment, both at the top and throughout a partnership. Without that understanding and buy-in from all partners, leaders and managers in a firm, any visioning or strategy process will be flawed from the core and likely be doomed to failure.

‘Pre-eminence’ – ‘yeah, that sounds good, let’s go for it’ one will hear law firm partners say, but how many realise that there is a price to pay for such lofty visions? The reality is that most firms seek pre-eminence or some version of it. However, if they are truly serious about such a vision, they must realise it takes enthusiastic and consistent commitment and adherence by a majority of partners to a wide range of key things. The firms that manage to achieve this rise to the top and stay there while others muddle along.  (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

What then is this price to pay if you seek such status? In essence it goes to the heart and core of everything you do in the firm but here is a framework of some key things that I feel will be an essential part of any such quest:

1. Leadership: strong, trusted leadership, not just at the top, but throughout the partners and managers, and a proper understanding of leadership and how it can be fostered and developed;
2. Direction and Vision: clear direction from the key leaders and an agreed vision bought into and understood by all as to where they want the firm to go and what they want it to be. This takes a very clear understanding of ‘basics’ such as which practice areas, industry sector areas and geographic areas will be focused on and how the firm will differentiate itself through particular ways of delivering service;
3. Values, Ethics, Cultural Attributes & Guiding Principles: agreement and understanding as to the firm’s core values, its ethical principles and cultural attributes and assurance that relevant structures are in place to ensure these are lived and not paid lip-service. Firms sometimes find it useful to couch these as Guiding Principles;
4. Strategy: essentially a high level plan for the firm outlining strategic key objectives (i.e. those things, the achievement of which, will have nothing less than a massive impact on the firm) key result areas and success factors and what actions will be taken by when and by whom to ensure implementation and achievement of this.  In conjunction there should be other strategies developed for key parts and activities of the firm like brand, people, finance and business development and all these must align and be stress-tested from time to time as to relevance and the achievement of objectives.
5. Governance and partnership matters: partners need to know what is expected of them, how they will be supported, how they will be recognised or measured, what they will be paid and how they can progress in the firm. There also needs to be clarity around the true roles of partners in a modern successful partnership which of course goes way beyond merely being a good technical lawyer and churning out the work. Partners should also understand the concept of building capital fabric™ and building personal brands. They also need to appreciate that managing partners don’t have time to micro-manage them to attend to fundamentals – they are expected to self-manage and be self-disciplined otherwise they are not worthy of being partners.
6. Good support services a sine qua non: it was not that long ago that firms differentiated themselves by how well support services were provided and run – in this day and age, when so much is now available and at reasonable cost, it is a given; every firm, large or small, should provide outstanding support, in all key areas, (HR, Finance, Information Management, Business Building/BD, Communications, IT etc.) for partners, lawyers and staff.
7. Brand: a clear understanding by all members of a firm of brand, what it is, what it is not, its value, what the strategic key objectives should be in relation to brand, the challenges relating to building a brand around essentially invisible services as compared to visible products, the three key types of brand relevant for law firms, how to achieve brand fusion™ and avoid brand gaps, and the role of each and every member of a firm in building and supporting the brand.

If partners are truly serious about a vision of achieving pre-eminence or similar, they must realise it takes enthusiastic and consistent commitment and adherence by a majority of partners to a wide range of key things. Some of these are listed above. Firms that manage to achieve this commitment rise to the top and stay there while others muddle along.

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International       sean@edge-international.com

Internet-related marketing activities are getting a lot of attention, quite rightly, but as practitioners have only so much time available for marketing, there appears to be an opportunity developing to selectively revert to old marketing practices. As lawyers have moved away from more traditional relationship building practices they may be leaving a gap for a return to old tried and trusted methods. (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

Many of us have said or heard said how clients no longer like to be lunched or invited to too many social functions. A quick coffee has become the new ‘client lunch’. Anecdotal evidence suggests however that some clients may be missing the more personal touch of old. They also, it seems, like the trust and closeness of these personal relationships that are steadily built up and strengthened over time.

Law firm leader Scott McSwan of Queensland mid-tier McKAYS feels there has been a shift – he has always been willing to try innovative new ways of delivering service or differentiating his practice or firm (he was one of the first practitioners I knew who geared up a matrimonial practice to 10 to 1) – when he mentioned he had picked up on changing trends and a possible gap he felt existed around building client relationships I took note: ’lawyers now have ever more kinds of marketing activities to manage, undertake and keep track of – particularly via the Internet and using social media channels. However, everyone has only so much time to do non-billable work and the more time that lawyers give to these other kinds of marketing, the less time they have to give to the more traditional kinds of marketing like client relationship building!’

And what are some of these new marketing avenues which are getting attention? Scott:‘It depends very much on the area of practice. Some areas are more conducive to, say, Internet marketing, social media channels, electronic wire and news snippet services and so on, than others.  Certainly a lot of firms are giving more time to their online profiles and websites which of course is necessary and good, but at what cost? There is an interesting marketing shift. With the advent of the Internet the effectiveness of the traditional methods are in my view being eroded. There is proliferation of accessible alternatives online now available to the prospective client.’

This may leave a gap for the re-introduction of the more traditional ways of developing and nurturing client relationships – back to a more personal touch.

Candice de Bruin, the dynamic young CMO of Werksmans confirms this: “We see it come up more and more that investing in long-term relationships has real benefit for the client and for the firm.  However, it is incredibly time-consuming when it comes to thoroughly understanding your clients’ business needs, but I’m sure most lawyers will admit that the clients they have known for years and where they have built up a trust relationship, get more insightful and targeted advice than newer clients.  And the benefit works both ways; those long-term clients are the ones who view us as long-term partners, not just short-term advisers.  I’m not  saying there is no place for online marketing.  There are many benefits: it’s got wide reach, it’s more immediate, can be cost effective and can be tailored to suit the needs of a particular target market – but I would think that this can’t and won’t ever substitute for getting to know your clients and their business. Thankfully, this is still very much the driving ethos at at our firm.”

So, what are some of the more traditional means of marketing/building relationships that are coming to the fore as possibilities?

In this context Scott feels that: ‘clients experienced in choosing legal services – and those that have substantial spends on legal services – and these are the ones we target, are not (in my experience) using online alternatives to do their real choosing. Furthermore high value referrers of work are not using online alternatives. They are still staying with traditional personal referrals and personal contact driven methods of identifying and selecting legal providers. I believe that law firms that seriously diminish their personal network are, to that extent, excluding themselves from consideration. 

Looking ahead – any implications?

Candice: I feel strongly we need to take care to  ensure the importance of an investment in the long-term relationship is instilled in the younger lawyers too. We must never lose sight of this. Scott adds: ‘There is an opportunity here – law firms that ramp up their personal contact can fill the gap increasingly left by other lawyers who are possibly occupied with or even distracted by online and related marketing activities which is necessarily less personal. I also anticipate in time there will be a generational gap and loss of marketing know-how… as junior lawyers are less likely to have been role modelled relationship marketing by partners they report to.

LLB: I think there is something in each of the points made above -

• things have undoubtedly changed; one has only to stop to think for a minute where all the attention is being given from a marketing and relationship development perspective;
• also, many clients still hugely value the comfort and business benefit that comes from being engaged in a long term strategic relationship built around a deep understanding by the practitioner of a client’s needs and imperatives;
• while there is massive benefit that can be achieved taking full advantage of the many new avenues of marketing activity (while not as personal as the more traditional ways, they still involve sharing and building very good relationships, even if some of these are ‘online’) sight should not be lost of the value and place in a marketing mix of retaining and nurturing the traditional client relationship building methods and skills;
• it is also imperative that these skills are passed down to young practitioners – this will not happen on its own, it is something that will require recognition of the challenges and opportunities, and then leadership, drive and implementation.

As markets and client prerogatives have  evolved and younger professionals have more actively adopted new strategies to cope with them like embracing social media and Internet marketing in all its forms and all it has to offer, they have left some gaps for experienced practitioners to use the tried and tested methods of old – ‘the old dogs can come out to play’. What I am talking about simply is taking a step back to when building business and client relationship management was all about doing just that, building personal relationships and trust and putting real time and effort into that side of things. Nowadays there is a danger that some will overlook these fundamentals. I think both approaches have their place and I suspect that when we look back in ten or so years’ time we will find them co-existing; just two approaches to the same thing – building rich, long-standing client relationships around trust and respect and a mutual sharing of information.

Sean Larkan, Edge International   sean@edge-international.com

The 2013 LEX AFRICA Guide to Doing Business in Africa – the investors’, business persons’ and professionals’ ‘must have‘ to considering commercial or legal activity in all of Africa. (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

Long a ‘must have’ reference for anyone doing business in or undertaking legal or professional services work in Africa, this unique Guide (PDF) is updated annually and provides a summary of key matters which need to be taken into account when considering doing business in 30 African countries.  LEX AFRICA is the largest and longest-established (founded in 1993) African legal network, currently with members in 24 African countries.  More information is available from www.lexafrica.com.

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International

Jordan Furlong, in “Law Firms and Women Partners: You’re Doing it Wrong‘ emphasises that if firms are following typical practices in how they promote women into equity positions they are missing a strategic opportunity and effectively sabotaging their own market viability by:

Too many firms are making a dumb mistake when it comes to hiring and promoting women partners (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

• wasting vast talent opportunities;
• overlooking or ignoring what women (half the population) could bring to firms in various ways;
• a continued reliance only on hours to measure productivity and contribution which short-changes women.

As a result firms are less capable and less competitive. He leaves us with the tantalising idea of the benefits that will be enjoyed by the firm which ‘gets this right’!

LLB view on this issue?

One thing law firm leaders can do much better is to actively communicate with and keep in touch with prospective women equity partners in their firms. Too often one hears of a female partner who, rather than make a fuss, quietly leaves and joins a corporate or maybe takes a break from law, too often lost forever. Also, a multi-pronged disaster for a firm. Maintaining this type of active contact and keeping the communication lines open can avert this type of issue cropping up. It requires a genuine effort from leaders which builds trust, as well as a good dose of flexibility.

In ‘Five Keys to a Successful Lateral Hiring Strategy‘, Ed Wesemann argues that law firm lateral hire strategies often don’t work , due mainly to poor execution, not the strategy itself. He sets out a workable strategy for firms to follow when lateral hiring:

1. set the bar high enough to ensure you hire winners not losers;
2. use internal networks to identify good candidates;
3. do some research around your short-listed candidates;
4. be in direct touch with candidates – they appreciate this and you will learn a lot more; and
5. find out what the candidate is truly trying to achieve by making the move to your firm.

LLB view on this issue?
Lateral hiring should be undertaken as the implementation of an agreed strategy. Too often it arises as a partner in another firm or a search executive has approached a partner in one’s own firm. While this can sometimes still result in a happy ending, it can also waste time and divert a firm’s leadership away from the key issues and even the areas where truly strategic hires should be made.

A focused strategy using Facebook’s very own rich data on users can prove to be a boon for carefully targeted business building strategies by law firms (Sean Larkan, Edge International)

Jeff Morris offers a very interesting take on using Facebook strategically to target and engage with very specific potential client groupings in “Strategic Social Media‘. This is made possible as Facebook has very rich searchable data about their users. This provides a very unique opportunity to target your audience very carefully and strategically, not by talking about or trying to ‘sell’ your firm but by sharing, and doing so with content that users want to read. Jeff throws up some fascinating insights and great ideas.

LLB view on this issue:

Many law firm leaders do not view social media as a strategic tool that firms can use in this way or that they should pay much attention to. I disagree, social media interactions provide a very powerful window into the heart and soul of a law firm (and this is how others connect with us emotionally, which is critical as this is how they assess our brands) and a fascinating picture of a firm, and its all up there for everyone to see and experience. In some respects, a ‘brand offer on steroids’. So, very strategic.

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International

Also, once they are embedded in the culture and way of doing business of a firm, they are hard to eradicate. Often they arise due to simple failings around fundamental matters such as communication, consultation, trust and respect or lack thereof. Addressing them requires a direct interest and commitment from senior leadership. Failing this, nothing changes.

Silos are insidious; they can develop by stealth both vertically and horizontally and once embedded in your culture and way of doing business, can be difficult to dislodge. Left to mature they can be hugely damaging. The best bet is to recognise the danger, assess your position and start tackling the problem (Sean Larkan graphic – Edge International)

These silos, or what I have termed ‘horizontal’ or ‘vertical’ silos, even rear their heads in the most successful of firms. Only last week while on assignment in New Zealand a senior partner in a blue-chip corporate firm commented in regard to horizontal silos, ‘it is an issue which seems to have crept up on us – too many of our younger lawyers mix and share very well amongst themselves, but mainly within their levels or hierarchies, not above or below. This holds them back and impacts the effectiveness of the group in servicing clients. The problem is that management don’t seem to recognise this and get defensive if it is raised’.

They can even arise in the smallest of firms – I encountered such silos in a highly leveraged and successful south-eastern Asian two-partner firm!

Firstly, Vertical Silos; what do we mean by them? Essentially a body of people within the firm that, notwithstanding position, role or seniority, tend to work somewhat alone and isolated from others. They do their own thing and are characterised by a lack of sharing and communication. This may apply to practice or industry sector groups, partner teams, offices or even floors within offices. We have all seen them and experienced them at some time or another.

Secondly, horizontal silos; these can develop when there is a lack of communication, sharing or interaction between groups defined by role or seniority. The most obvious examples here are when salaried partners say are not treated as ‘partners’ but as ‘glorified employees’ which causes resentment, a lack of sharing, under-performance, lack of recognition and file or client hogging.

In both cases there will be examples that I have not listed or thought of.

What makes vertical and horizontal silos a challenge?

1. they are not always that easy to pin-point and may not occur uniformly;
2. even when you can and do, it is not always easy to convince others of the problem, particularly those causing it, nor to get key leaders and managers committed and actively involved in addressing it;
3. it is not always easy to think of practical, simple ways of addressing them. Most firms will say something about them but that, too often, goes in one ear and out the other;
4. because they become embedded in culture even recognising them and communicating a strategy to counter them does not always get immediate results. It takes time and strong, firm leadership from senior leadership but also from support service managers and partners in leadership roles.

What should leaders do about silos?

1. be very aware of the issue;
2. do a stock-take from time to time and get an accurate assessment of the true position. Be aware that in some quarters defensiveness may get in the way;
3. recognise the damage that can flow;
4. find practical ways to address the issues and tell everyone about the issue and what is being done about it – ask for ideas and inputs on this – get as many partners and senior staff involved as possible;
5. while it is important to talk about it and communicate around these issues, it is more important to find practical ways of breaking down barriers. Last year I was consulted by a firm which could not understand why salaried partners as a group were under-performing and seemed de-motivated. It quickly became apparent that a well-established horizontal silo existed and over time had become so entrenched that serious resentment existed between the equity and salaried partner groups. Fortunately we were able to address this by convincing equity partners of the issue, communicating and consulting with salaried partners, building trust and respect, and taking steps to break down unnecessary barriers.

Of course there are many other steps which may need to be taken and each will depend on the nature of the ‘silo’ and its seriousness. I hope I have prompted you to think seriously about this issue and determine and decide if it is an issue that requires attention in your own firm. If it is it could be causing some real harm and should not be left to ‘go away’. Silos tend not to and need proactive leadership and management.

Sean Larkan, partner, Edge International –  sean@edge-international.com  +61 2 6566 1806

Getting partners or groups of partners in practice or industry sector groups working together to build practice areas, industry sector specialties or build interaction and relationships with clients can be the most powerful business building a firm does. It also has many off-shoot benefits. (Sean Larkan – Edge International)

Quite understandably, most marketing and business development efforts are focused externally – functions, publications, client visitations, media, relationship management and so on. However, as is so often the case , there remains real potential within.

Due to the nature of the profession and the professionals who people it, we tend to be competitive, individualistic and not natural sharers. We are usually of a fixed mindset disposition and to win is everything and we have an abject fear of failure. We play our cards close to our chest. But right here, amongst this partner group, lies the greatest potential to kick-start your marketing and business building efforts. Getting those self-same partners to start working together, sharing, swapping ideas, helping one another succeed.

Getting partners and groups of partners in practice areas or industry sector areas to start working together and to do so strategically and actively is not easy. But back in the time I was helping to run large corporate law firms this is where we got the most mileage. In in some cases it was startlingly successful. The good thing was that this success did not come from the leadership group – it came from the efforts and leadership of practice and industry sector heads. But, not alone, rather in conjunction with colleagues in other groups or sectors.

How to go about this? There are obviously various ways to tackle this but I have found the following framework helps things along:

1. get partners in similar practice areas or industry sectors talking and meeting and in time they may be working together e.g. planning and environment with property; mining with oil & gas; education with dispute resolution, and so on;
2. in regard to the groups you start with it helps to choose areas where the partners are ‘mates’ or respect one another;
3. try to pick one or two to work with first and work closely with them to get things going – follow up to make sure they keep the pot boiling;
4. encourage them to start small – just a few key people – they can always expand the group later;
5. note all successes, however small – quietly get the word around. Get the partners to talk about these at meetings where other partners are present;
6. where possible identify financial benefits that have flowed from these successful interactions and spread the word;
7. last, but arguably most important, get marketing staff involved – ideally appoint one person to support each interactive group of partners – have them attend all meetings of the joint group and keep notes and follow up and assist the group. It enhances their roles and the groups benefit enormously. Over time these become ‘partnerships’ caste in stone.

What are the benefits?

1. you get partners working together and often ‘hunting in pairs’ which quells nervousness about out and out marketing or business building;
2. partners who would otherwise be nervous about business building activities find they can tackle these exercises in a secure, private world and work with others in doing so. This grows confidence;
3. partners start behaving like leaders and thinking strategically, thinking beyond the square;
4. success doesn’t come overnight – wins are often subtle and slowly crop up – this teaches partners that with most things in this sphere success takes persistence and consistency over time;
5. other partners start noting successes and can be more easily persuaded to take similar steps;
6. this builds confidence for other more ‘out there’ business building efforts.

When I talk to law firm leaders about growth strategies to kick-start their firms I usually pose a few questions for them – one is ‘what are the sources of unrealised potential within your firm?’ There are about a dozen that we end up agreeing on. However, it is surprising, always, how few pick them.

What we have been discussing in this post is definitely one of them. Most firms do this reasonably well or have at least attempted it. Too many don’t realise its potential or give up after struggling to get partners to interact, share and work together to a common goal. It is truly worth the effort, I promise you. Give it a go or give it another go if you have tried it before and it never worked.

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International.

Here’s looking at you kid, that is, if you are on my right-hand side and are the right colour – the Gouldian Finch chooses its mate by using only  its left brain and right eye. While clients may not do precisely this, we need to recognise they are all individuals, are different and use different criteria to choose our firm or our partners for that next assignment. It is also these individuals who determine the power or otherwise of our brands – Sean Larkan (Image: (c) www.birdsville.net.au)

This provides a timely reminder – we somehow seem to assume that all clients fall into one amorphous group – ‘clients’  - and that all our marketing and approaches to them can be similar and should produce the same results. Of course, this is wrong. Each client is very different. Each individual at every client is different. And it is these individuals who choose our firms or the partners at our firms for their next assignment. It is also what they think, these individuals, that constitutes our firm brands, and the individual personal brands of each of our partners. Some of these individuals are notoriously one-eyed. Others adopt what one may call a balanced approach, taking all factors into account. In each case we need to understand and respect this.

What can we learn from or do as a result of this?

1. firstly, simply understand and respect their individual differences. Some clients are definitely left-brainers, detail people,  even pernickety (excessively precise and attentive to detail; fussy), want every ‘i’ dotted and ‘t’ crossed, while others rely on trust and relationships and that you will do the right thing by them and ‘sort out the detail‘ – the ‘just tell me where to sign‘ type. Others are a wonderful balance between these extremes;
2. understand what constitutes your firm’s and your individual partners’ brands (and what gets them chosen); it is what these same client individuals think or do not think. It is not what your firm offers to market or what their organisations think – organisations don’t ‘think‘. We should never forget this;
3. therefore, go to a lot of trouble to truly understand what makes the key individuals, usually the decision-makers, at your key clients, tick. What are their preferences? How do they, individually, like service to be delivered? What are their typical styles of behaviour, thinking – how do they interact with others? Are they generally constructive in their styles or defensive, either aggressively or more passively, in the latter case tending towards avoidance and compliance or conventionalism at all cost. Our partners all say they understand this, but do they really? Too often changes at key clients, which may have been months in the making, take place and catch us by surprise.

I have learned this first-hand in a roundabout sort of way through my consulting work. It has made me approach this area of interaction very differently.

A lot of my work constitutes organisational turnaround and growth strategy work, and as a result, I work closely with leaders. In turn many of them are interested in developing their leadership skills and as a foundational element for this we usually have them undertake a scientific diagnostic (in my case via Human Synergistics with whom I am an accredited practitioner) around their leadership styles of behaviour, thinking and interaction with others. I have learned through this, that each client is uniquely different (but no less successful), and has different buttons that need to be understood in dealing with them. It has been a massive help and made me look at individual relationships and how they unfold and should be managed, very differently. I think we need to have this sort of understanding of every key individual at key clients.

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International  sean@edge-international.com  +61 2 6566 1806

As Nigel Shaw of founding firm Kaplan & Stratton in Kenya told me recently growth for this leading African legal network has not been a numbers game; it has been all about quality. : ‘. . . . in time, building on our founding principles, I would like to see us have a network that covers the whole of Africa and still with firms of lawyers who are considered to be the very best in their jurisdictions’. LEX AFRICA has long recognised that doing business and undertaking legal matters in Africa presents some special challenges. As a result, one of the key founding principles for the network was to only admit as members leading law firms from strategically important African countries – this underlying principle has built a strong foundation of quality to ensure clients referred to any member will be in good hands. This provides comfort to both the referrer and clients.

There has been an increasing interest in and focus on Africa in recent years not least of all due to the location of the SKA (single kilometre array) satellite station on the continent. Member firm Werksmans played a pivotal role in SKA project and it is anticipated member firms will continue to provide support to it.

I chatted to a few long-standing members and include some of their thoughts below but need to declare my interest – while managing partner of Werksmans back in 1993 we founded the network so I have remained keenly interested in its phenomenal growth and evolution over the past 20 years. I was chuffed to attend the AGM in 2012 in Maputo and be part of the 20th anniversary celebrations recently in Cape Town RSA. What struck me when I met many of the members at the Maputo meeting was how well they seemed to know one another. Clearly, regular personal contact and the building of relationships over many years seems to have built trust and respect and ensured active communication amongst members. It appears to have stood LEX AFRICA in good stead.

1. I asked Osayaba Giwa-Osagie of Nigeria what initially attracted him to the LEX AFRICA network and what has kept his firm so active and committed since then?

As the Senior Partner in Giwa Osagie & Co, it was my responsibility to attract new clients to the firm and also to expand the firm. Many years ago I met Charles Butler, CEO of Werksmans and we struck up a good relationship after we had some good dealings with each other. We joined because we wanted to belong to a reputable network with a strong brand that would provide comfort to anyone who dealt with us. In turn we were comfortable knowing we had to earn our keep and produce quality legal services.

2. What do you find most powerful/valuable about your membership? What do you like best?

I like the fact that I belong to the oldest network in Africa. A network where the partners in member firms are reputable. They meet their financial obligations to the network and the professional standards within the network are very high and are monitored by a well-organised management structure.

3. What are your thoughts/aspirations about the future for LEX AFRICA?
   

   LEX AFRICA is well positioned to provide advice to anyone seeking assistance in relation to investing or doing business anywhere in Africa. The best place to start is the annually updated LEX AFRICA Business Guide which can be downloaded from the website.

I believe we will increase the number of members to over 30 member countries. I believe we will place more emphasis on specialisation and high level work being produced by member firms for clients. We will continue to be a good entry point for international companies or professional service firms that require a reliable network of reputable, experienced lawyers across the whole of Africa.

My aspiration for the future is that the network goes from strength to strength and as we celebrate the 20^th Aniversary of LEX AFRICA, it shows once again that LEX Africa is the predominant legal network in Africa.

4. What do you find are the most useful features of the network from a client’s or user’s perspective?

If someone accesses one member firm of LEX AFRICA, through that firm, he or she can reach all other member firms on the network. Through that one member firm, someone can reach the whole of Africa. They can also have comfort that professional and ethical standards are paramount for member firms - LEX AFRICA has a strict code of conduct and guiding principles for all its members. 

LEX AFRICA will shortly launch its dedicated blog site LAWYERS for AFRICA through which it aims to share interesting information and build even stronger relationships with the African and international business and legal communities. LLB will provide more information on this shortly.

Rob Cloete (robcloete@triplec.co.sz) of Cloete Henwood Swaziland, another founder member, made these observations:

At the time we started talking about LEX AFRICA all those years ago, we had no idea it would grow to what it is today. At the time I think we envisaged some collaboration between some Southern African firms on a regional basis and other than Kaplan and Stratton in Kenya, that was indeed the make-up of members.

Having leading firm Werksmans as the big brother was what probably gave us most encouragement at the time.

I like the way the LEX AFRICA brand strategy has evolved – the high standards set for all members gives all members confidence as a group and ultimately that translates to comfort by clients who are looking  for legal expertise and support anywhere in Africa.

The organization is definitely exciting for the younger generation of lawyers who are taking it to heights and a position of strength we never dreamed of. The real challenge will be to maintain standards and discipline, especially as we grow and now have the whole continent covered. I feel confident that this is in good hands! 

Exciting times ahead for LEX AFRICA!  Legal Leaders Blog (LLB) extends its congratulations and best wishes for the next 20 years and beyond.

Sean Larkan, Partner, Edge International – leading the evolution of the global legal industry