Category Archives: For Business
Just how hard is it to prove breach of non-solicitation?
1 May 2012 Full StoryEvery business has information that it considers both integral and invaluable to its ongoing success. Restricting the use of this information by employees after they have left your employment may be vital to the protection of your business or customer contacts. A former employee who has knowledge of your technology, strategic information or clients may [...]
Read MoreDeveloping a Competency Framework
1 May 2012 Full StoryThe term ‘competence’ is used to describe what people need to do to perform a job and is concerned with effect and output rather than effort and input. ‘Competency’ describes the behaviour that lies behind performance, such as critical thinking or analytical skills, and describes what people bring to their role. A ‘competency framework’ is [...]
Read MoreTeams beat individuals
1 May 2012 Full StoryOne reason why law firms may seem dysfunctional is that they act like a collection of competing individuals rather than acting like a team. We all know from the world of sport that a well organised and coordinated team will beat an opposing team which may have more talented individuals who do not play together. It is [...]
Read MoreThere is a silver bullet
1 May 2012 Full StoryThis is a difficult time for all legal businesses. The UK economy is not helping you to thrive. The deregulation of the market makes everything you thought you knew about competitors redundant. The pace of change is increasing and you do not know who you will be competing with or what they will be doing. [...]
Read MoreHow Well Do You Develop Your People?
26 Mar 2012 Full StoryTraining and Development is key to an effective team When you manage a team, how well it performs often depends on how well you’ve trained and developed your people. Individuals need ongoing training and development to help them become more effective, and take on bigger and more significant challenges. More than this, they need help [...]
Read MoreGiving and Taking Feedback
21 Mar 2012 Full StoryGiving feedback effectively is a skill. And like all skills, it takes practice to build your confidence and improve your technique. Many managers save up comments and notes on a person’s performance and then spring a year’s worth of “constructive criticism” on them in their annual review. The process of giving feedback to employees is [...]
Read MoreAnother delay in ABS implementation but it will come
21 Mar 2012 Full StoryA news report this week indicates that the much heralding deal between law firm Parabis and private equity house Duke Street will not be completed on time due to delays in obtaining regulatory approval from the SRA. Similar problems have also reportedly affected the deal between Silverbeck Rymer, AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio. Is anyone surprised? Implementation [...]
Read MoreLateral Hires – Business Plan or Following? The difference is….
20 Mar 2012 Full StoryWhen we introduce a senior candidate, whether through a retained search or not all law firms ask the question: “Do they have a following?” In the current climate this is a reasonable and understandable question to ask. But step back a second. If a lateral partner hire brings that magical “following”, does that really add [...]
Read MoreThe No G*t Rule
20 Mar 2012 Full StoryThere has been a lot of focus on the need for consolidation in the legal market and the fact that large firms need to merge. There has also been a lot of discussion about the squeeze being applied on the mid range law firms from new entrants below them and the legal elite above them. [...]
Read MoreMerger & Consolidation Summit
22 Feb 2012 Full StoryLittle less conversation little more action needed, merger conference hears “Lots of talking but little action” is endemic among law firms in respect of merger and consolidation but it is fear of not knowing how to merge, rather than not recognising the opportunities that merger presents, that is holding law firms back, according to speakers [...]
Read MoreAre you a lion or a lamb?
21 Feb 2012 Full StoryThe combination of the tough economic climate and the visible raft of merger activity is causing some perfectly good law firms to panic and to surrender their existence to predators. Why? There is no reason apart from the fact that they are finding the job of surviving and thriving is hard these days and looks [...]
Read MoreMerger News
17 Feb 2012 Full StoryThere have been major developments in the last month: Software and Outsourcing firm Quindell Portfolio acquired Silverbeck Rymer for £19.3m Duke Street Capital acquired a majority stake in Parabis for somewhere between £150m and £200m Slater & Gordon acquired Russell Jones & Walker for £53.8m Pinsent Masons announced they will merge with McGrigors on 1st May [...]
Read MoreBetter Recruitment
17 Feb 2012 Full StoryLaw is a people business. However good your systems it is the people who make the difference. We all like to develop our own people but we also have to recruit. Many medium sized law firms spend six figure sums on recruitment but the agencies send you the Candidates that it suits them to send you. You [...]
Read MoreBetter Together – New Law Journal Article
4 Feb 2012 Full StorySee the article by Phil Jepson and Viv Williams on Law Firm Mergers in the New Law Journal 13 important merger lessons Get help—DIY doesn’t work. Follow a merger matrix (a document that helps see early in negotiations which parts of the businesses fit and helps decide if each candidate is worth pursuing) and have [...]
Read MoreHow to do Merger
20 Jan 2012 Full StoryIf you are a firm which is considering combining your business with another then how can you best prepare and execute? Be clear and honest about why you are doing it You may have clear objectives and a strategy in place to take you towards them, in which case a merger could be a way [...]
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