tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277549.post2939285085250649450..comments2023-08-25T03:39:09.015-04:00Comments on Inside the Firm of the Future: Changing Lives . . One By One . . Until We're All Done!Christopher Marstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11091974667607891404noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277549.post-60591410107070377812007-02-13T00:12:00.000-05:002007-02-13T00:12:00.000-05:00Dear Anonymous, Your comments are very close to me...Dear Anonymous, <BR/><BR/>Your comments are very close to me and I appreciate your willingness to openly talk about the issues you see. As a law firm leader, I am particularly passionate about solving those problems and, as you realize, they are products of a broken system and structure, not simply a management style. As you know, Lawyers are horrible managers of other and there is almost no training on how to be a good manager. It is our goal to have a Peter Principle Free organization! Imagine what work we have ahead of us! :-) Best to you and please stay in touch!Christopher Marstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11091974667607891404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277549.post-21251071123126828132007-02-11T06:59:00.000-05:002007-02-11T06:59:00.000-05:00I just came across your blog for the first time an...I just came across your blog for the first time and agree with everything you say. I want to add another symptom of the corrosive state of many law firms today from my perspective.<BR/>I'm an experienced human resources professional, with many years' work at big London law firms behind me. I'm currently with the London office of one of the big U.S. firms and I see the same problems in both U.K. and U.S. firms.<BR/>The patterns of behaviour you describe impact on the service we try to provide to the partnership, as well. Minimal time is spared to develop the lawyers as professionals and none as people or, crucially, as future people managers, because it's non-billable. The so-called "soft" skills are mocked and our advice and experience as professionals in our own right is brushed aside.<BR/>Partners fight each other from the practice group fiefdoms they have built up, and use junior associates as cannon fodder. We see the results frequently as exhausted attorneys - male and female - break down and weep in our offices.<BR/>And the same pressure is brought to bear on our team and all the other senior support people: we are expected to work long hours and put up with abusive behaviour from some partners. We are not respected because we are not lawyers. The huge contribution we could make to the business is ignored. The only support director invited to Executive Committee meetings is the Finance Director! And so professional support staff are also leaving in droves or, worse, staying and becoming bitter and ineffective.<BR/>Some changes are being introduced, in our firm and other City players, but they are just tweaking the existing system, not looking at new models. In many ways I love working with lawyers - your intelligence, speed of uptake, and breadth of knowledge - but I'm also thinking of getting out.<BR/>My apologies for posting this anonymously; I have my own blog but it is under my real name and I can't take a risk that these comments would get picked up.<BR/>Good luck to you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277549.post-76824378613056018512007-02-06T22:47:00.000-05:002007-02-06T22:47:00.000-05:00Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for the kind comment. ...Dear Anonymous, <br /><br />Thank you for the kind comment. One of the most interesting things about what we are doing is that every piece of the model is perfectly sound from a theoretical and logical perspective, but what often gets overlooked is the significance of emotional satisfaction in what you do every day. I would much rather build a firm full of people who love what they do than a firm full of people who understand that what they do is logical. Even the most sound theory is hollow if your people go home every night feeling disconnected with what they do. Thanks again for the comment I appreciate you following our progress.Christopher Marstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11091974667607891404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22277549.post-12775738007260156632007-02-06T10:37:00.000-05:002007-02-06T10:37:00.000-05:00After following your blog every week, I want to sa...After following your blog every week, I want to say this one is the best one yet. Clear, concise, and makes your point understandable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com