How Can My Firm Avoid the Pitfalls in Implementing Effective Practice Management?
Susan Raridon Lambreth September 2005 Most medium-sized and larger law firms have implemented some kind of practice management structure. But, as we have discussed in past columns, many of them have not been very effective or as effective as the firm leadership would have liked. This is usually a result of one of two causes: they did not implement all seven elements that are critical for effective practice management — firm strategy, a compensation system that rewards contributions to group performance, not just individual performance, partner buy-in to group management, support from firm management, leaders with clear authority and responsibilities, and firm-wide practice groups and primary assignments (see the June column) or they made one of the fundamental mistakes in trying to implement these. First, what is practice management and what is it designed to do? Practice management encompasses the management of legal work, the client relationships and the professionals. Effective pra
