In the 12 years of my practice, I have been employed with various law firms. When I decided to open my own practice, I began to think of the quality that formed the best law firm. In determining the best law firms do you include things like the benefits of employees, corporate culture and employee turnover? Or do you focus on the quality that affects the commodity of the most valuable law firms – clients? I took this is that the best law firm employs a quality lawyer and staff with the highest ethical standards and the desire to fight in their ethical boundaries for their clients.
One key factor in having successful legal practices is an effective leader. A good leader will have a vision for the company’s direction, commitment to serve his clients, and the desire to find the same-minded people who believe not only to clients, but the company brand. I have found in my practice that effective leaders can quickly change successfully and growth. They often lose contact with people who help them grow into a successful power plant. It’s easy to switch from a weekly partner scenario / lunch hook to rarely, if ever, see a partner in the office. Effective leaders in the best law firm have a good understanding of legal work that comes out of office, the overall satisfaction of his clients, and awareness of the overall job satisfaction of employees. With success and growth, it is easy to lose contact with these important factors, but good leaders will still be aware of these factors, even with the exponential growth of the company.
The best law firm also has mercy for their clients. When a lawyer in these companies met with clients, it never shared the success of lawyers. Instead, it listens to the worries of your clients, determine their overall goal through representation by the company, and show empathy for their situation. Many lawyers see their clients and see signs of the dollar. They see the opportunity to collect or the total cost they will get on the possibility of a large settlement. This lawyer failed to remember one of the most basic ethical considerations about lawyers, acting in the best interest of clients. Because in the end, all hours that can be billed in the world will not make successful practices if you are not satisfying and caring for your clients well. Companies with this mindset often have high turnover rates because they make priority billing. They burned their lawyers and brought a new lawyer and started the process fresh with them. This can easily cause dissatisfaction by the client. They may not know from one month to the next pioneer that represents them.
Another key quality of the best law firm is a narrow focus on certain legal fields. The days of general practitioners are (or should) disappear. The law is complex and can change in an instant dependent on the law or new case law that is reduced by the Court of Appeal. The best law firm has a focus on one legal field and becomes very good at it. They know the latest changes and develop changes in their practice fields. With a narrow focus, they can change strategies in an instant and become authority for their clients by showing their knowledge in certain legal fields. Beware of lawyers who claim to practice in all fields of civilian litigation. Meanwhile maybe, consider that opponent’s advisor might have a narrower focus. They may have gold nuggets information that can make winning cases for them and losers for your clients.
There are a number of other factors that need to be considered when trying to determine the best. That might be a discussion for upcoming articles. But what is discussed here is, in the opinion of this writer, the most important factor to consider when trying to find out what makes the best company.