VLP Law Group LLP’s Post

How would you describe the firm's culture? It's a question we get asked time and time again by lawyers we speak with and although we have a thorough understanding of the market that we work in, it's not always an easy question to answer! One way to approach it differently, might be to reframe the question. You could say "What efforts does the firm make to maintain a positive and inclusive work environment?" or be more specific and focus on the aspects of a firm that are important to its DNA. For example: Collaboration and Teamwork: How does the firm encourage collaboration among team members? Are there specific initiatives in place to foster teamwork and knowledge sharing? Mission and Values: What is the firm's mission statement? Can you elaborate on the core values that guide the firm's operations? Professional Development: What opportunities does the firm provide for professional development? How does the firm support the continued education and growth of its legal professionals? These questions can help you gain a deeper understanding of the law firm's purpose and values, allowing you to align your work and goals with the overall mission of the organisation. #lawfirms #lawyers #companyculture

When the management of your firm is rated as the best... Mills & Reeve have hit the top spot when it comes to management in the most recent RollOnFriday Best Firms to Work For 2024 survey. It's great to see such positive feedback from the team who are clearly happy with how the firm is being managed, feel that communication is excellent and that they are listened to. When you know what your firm is trying to achieve, you can be a part of it. Fancy a career here? Take a look at the current roles on offer here https://lnkd.in/dv3VNKEh #LawFirmManagement #LegalServices #Culture #LawFirmLeadership #LawFirmJobs #AchieveMoreTogether

Get to know your team and firm dynamics: Advice from a law firm leader Jeffrey L. Payne, a leader at Turner Padget Graham & Laney, P.A., shares his advice for effective leadership. He emphasizes the importance of being present and getting to know your team personally to understand the dynamics of the office and firm. He also suggests taking on responsibility for non-billable issues like marketing and recruiting. Payne has been with the firm for 33 years and has served as practice group leader and on the executive committee. He credits his success to his dedication to the firm and high expectations for service. Payne utilizes technology like scheduling tools and conference calls to benefit the firm. He advises aspiring leaders to avoid working remotely and to take on non-billable responsibilities. Payne's mentor, R. Wayne Byrd, had a significant influence on his career. Looking ahead, Payne predicts telehearings and artificial intelligence will shape the legal industry. He cautions against behaviors like infidelity, addiction, and greed that can derail leaders' careers. Payne is currently focused on listening and learning from his colleagues to collaborate effectively for clients' benefit. Subscribe to Legal Slice if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends in the legal world: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dZp_tvpt #lawfirms #law #Legal #LawFirmsLeader #LegalLeaders

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢? 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚! I was completely out of my depth, figuratively and literally at Fistral Beach in a winter storm with 12ft+ waves. Too big for me and too big for my surfboard at the time. I was young, fit and strong but was inexperienced and I had no idea what I was doing. And my surfboard was a rubbish – a 2nd hand 1980’s beginners board that was way too unstable for waves of that size. I didn’t catch a single wave, but it taught me a valuable lesson. - Ensure you have the right training and equipment for the waves. ==== Your team is your biggest asset, and your paddling power. Investing in your team—through training, mentorship, and creating a positive work environment—ensures that they are skilled, motivated, and aligned with your firm’s mission. As your firm grows you are going to need to improve your operational efficiency. This could involve investing in technology, or even opening new offices. A strong, cohesive team and improved productivity will not only deliver better results for your clients but will also make your firm more attractive to potential buyers when the time comes to exit. 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨𝙣’t 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧; 𝙞𝙩’s 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧. What specifically could be improved for: - Your internal systems? - Your teams’ efficiencies? - Your management and leadership skills? To find out more check out this week’s edition of "𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧" (𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚): https://lnkd.in/dnNyVvkC ===== John McCarthy Guiding Law Firm Owners to Scale Their Practices Global Outstanding Client Results 2022 Global Outstanding Client Results 2023 Global Coach of the Year 2024 EMEA Client Employee Engagement Winner Website: www.summitbusinesses.com Ring the 🔔 on my Profile Connect with me / Follow me ⬆️ #law #lawyers #lawfirmmanagement #lawfirmstrategy #profit

I had the chance to attend a fantastic networking session this week which included some really insightful panel discussions. Yes, there was an AI conversation, of course. There was also a panel of leadership Partners from London’s big-law market, and a client panel of senior in-house leaders from an impressive list of household name organisations. Lots to digest and lots of areas covered, I of course firmly applied my legal resource management / strategic work allocation lens to it all and wanted to share a couple of thoughts. Partner Panel So much of what the Partner’s discussed related to how they can operate efficiently and profitability. How they win and keep clients, and how they attract, develop and retain talent. There’s so much in this that can be supported and driven forward by good process around managing lawyer careers, and embracing an objective and data-driven approach to allocating and managing work. As we’ve seen with the firms we at BigHand are working with on resource management, there’s huge value in making sure you have the right people doing the right work. Including ensuring lawyers have equitable access to the work they need for their development and to serve their career interests, ensuring they have the right balance from a well-being perspective, and working to make sure matters are structured in a way that offers the right leverage of teams, the optimal use of skills and experience, and an overall profitable approach. Customer Panel The clients what to work with law firms in a better way. They want business partners who understand them and can work with them collaboratively to achieve their goals. Basically, they want a relationship. They have a real focus on costs at the moment and they want partners who will be transparent with them around how work is being delivered and who’s doing it. They would appreciate more secondment opportunities, and, they want firms to mirror their commitment and achievement in driving diversity. That last one is something they’re not seeing enough and it was a big focus of the discussion. Guess what, I believe strongly that resource management is an incredibly powerful, and proven, opportunity for law firms to answer these challenges from their clients and the market. So great to see connections old and new at the event as well. Dave Cook Vanessa J.

25 years! I began my Articling Term at #BLG (then Borden & Elliot) on July 2, 1999. My most immediate reflection is I cannot believe how quickly time passes. I still have vivid memories of that first summer. I recall being blown away at a downtown restaurant that had pre-printed a menu just for our Articling Group Dinner! It was truly the height of luxury. Over the years, I've had wonderful mentors and colleagues at BLG (too many to mention by name), introducing me to a diverse group of clients who look for support with real estate and development matters. With some reservations about providing advice (what works for me may not work for you), here are 3 nuggets for those interested in developing a practice in a large law firm: 1. When starting your career, look to work with a variety of partners. You'll observe practice styles that you can imitate (and want to avoid) and learn how different personalities practice differently. 2. Similarly, when it's time to delegate work, make sure to delegate to a variety of people. This will help avoid burn-out and will build team camaraderie. In order to make sure your clients don't see a revolving door of people working on their matters, you can keep distinct client teams. This will create great balance in your practice. 3. Engage with an industry organization that isn't law-centric. It will introduce you to a variety of people who problem-solve with a different lens, create some seeds for business development, and give you more interesting topics of conversation at social events. My recommendation is to join one industry organization and participate heavily, rather than have "shallow" participation in a number of different organizations. Most organizations have a young leaders group that you can start with. For me, it's been #ULI Toronto. The practice of law has changed over the years, but in many ways what keeps you motivated on a daily basis remains the same: A great team that genuinely enjoys working together on interesting and challenging work. If you can make that your reality, 25 years can go by pretty quickly!

My recent leadership retreat in Samoa was awesome (see previous post). It was so awesome that I decided to take my whole team and partners to experience it in December this year. Every year since I started Norling Law Limited in 2015, we have taken the entire team and partners away for a weekend at the end of the year. It is usually competitive, action packed and it is always full with great food, venues and ofcourse, company. The location is always a surprise as is the entire weekend. This year, we are going for something different. We are going to go for relax and reset. Because I know that this year is going to have its challenges. As a team of litigation and insovlency lawyers, we are dealing with "hard stuff", every single day. Some of the conversations are brutal. Often our clients are going through the hardest time of their life and it is our role to guide them through that uncertainty. Then there is solving the issues which does take a toll. So the stuff we do daily to balance that really matters. How we operate as a team, really matters. I am very proud of my Ateam. Norling Law has gone through many iterations, as you would expect of such a young firm. But right now, the culture is better than its ever been. The levels of trust are extremely high and the firm couldn't go from strength to strength without a solid team behind it. This will be a much needed reset at what I know will be a challenging year. I could have said, if you meet these KPI's we will do X. But, I trust my team to deliver and as such, we are booking it in advance, knowing that the KPI's will be smashed. By the way, due to growth, we have multiple roles available for experienced litigation and/or insolvency lawyers in our EPIC team. Reach out for a no obligation coffee if you are interested in exploring where your career could go next. No need to jump straight into an application and interview. Lets just talk and see where that goes? In the interests of never being complacent with culture, what are your top tips to grow a high performing culture? #teamculture #norlinglaw #litigation #disputeresolution

I spoke with an owner of a law firm recently; he kept telling me how much profit he was making (it was a lot!). But if he wasn’t in the office, it all fell apart. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 “b𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀”! He couldn’t take a holiday without being attached to his laptop every day. I see this happening quite often, and it can be avoided. Some law firms are making a lot of profit, but the shareholders can’t take more than a few weeks off without being tied to their laptops. This is not what a “successful” business looks like. This is why Step 8 & Step 9 of the 9-Step Roadmap focus on building good leadership management and team engagement. I’ve shared the 9 Steps in my Olympics themed newsletter. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟴 – 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹): To find out more check out this edition of "𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧": https://lnkd.in/d3xhR3dk ===== John McCarthy Guiding Law Firm Owners to Scale Their Practices Global Outstanding Client Results 2022 Global Outstanding Client Results 2023 Global Coach of the Year 2024 EMEA Client Employee Engagement Winner Website: www.summitbusinesses.com Ring the 🔔 on my Profile Connect with me / Follow me ⬆️ #law #lawyers #lawfirmmanagement #lawfirmstrategy #profit

Interesting work, mentoring opportunities and a well rounded balance of work and social activities: hear from Monique Burr about why she loves working at Hall & Wilcox, how she uses Smarter Law to better support our clients and how the firm’s culture allows people to bring their whole self to work. #legalcareers #SmarterLaw 

The article argues that the traditional way of law firm’s business development is no longer effective in the current market. 📊 It claims that client loyalty has dropped to 50% and will continue to decline to around 30% in the next few years. This means that clients are less likely to stick with their “usual partner” and more likely to look for alternatives. 📈 The article suggests that this trend is driven by the pressure on rates, billable hours and advisory fees, as well as the decentralization of the decision making on the choice of consultancy partner to the team that actually needs the service. The article also states that this trend is based on data from the US, but it implies that (Eastern) European law firms should not ignore the changing dynamics. #DAOLawFirm #lawyers #lawfirms #legalinnovation #futurelaw24