Tilt Think
Originally published in New York Law Journal, September 2017.
Taking a cue from some of the organizations that have displaced traditional Fortune 500 companies, if we abandon all that we know to be true—the billable hour as the pinnacle of measuring performance, the pyramid structure comprised predominantly of trained lawyers, the adulation of sophisticated legal services—what’s left?
Co-produced with Acritas.
Law firm competitive intelligence (CI) is not new. Approximately half of the law firms participating in this study have had resources dedicated to CI for five or more years. This report, however, reveals there is significant work to be done to build CI capabilities to keep pace with the competitive and dynamic industry law has become. Download a complimentary copy now.
Unfortunately, at most firms, the planning process has become more an exercise in checking the boxes and filling in the blanks than one in energizing action. Introducing a new approach to planning can help to spot untapped opportunities and revitalize stagnant business development efforts.
What can the law firm executives of today do to make the incremental, fundamental changes to prepare their firms for what’s to come? As with any other attempt to prognosticate, the very premise of “future-proofing” a law firm is wrought with caveats and “what-if” scenarios. There is no magic bullet, no one size fits all solution. There are, however, a set of fundamental, intertwined elements that together will combine to determine the market position, financial health and, ultimately, sustainability of a law firm.
A BigLaw Director of Business Development recently lamented to me, “we want to do more with our data and CI function, but I’m just not sure the firm is ready.” Despite her firm’s best efforts to give the lawyers access to information, little was changing. Actions continued to stall, decisions weren’t being made and, most importantly, the firm wasn’t generating better outcomes as a result of the insights and analytics.
Listen to a compelling discussion of the changing business of law featuring Marcie Borgal Shunk of The Tilt Institute, Ian Turvill of Freeborn & Peters. Moderated by Geoff Frost, Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore.
Originally published in The Legal Intelligencer on May 12, 2017
Not unlike law firms, large companies constantly struggle to drive change within their organizations. When faced with monumental shifts such as the internet boom, iPhone or, more recently, analytics and artificial intelligence, several companies have profited—financially and, at times, strategically—through investments in the entrepreneurial, often smaller, companies pioneering change. Many, including big brand names Microsoft, Intel, Merck and even General Mills, do this through corporate venture capital arms, or CVCs.
Originally published in The Legal Intelligencer, April 21, 2017 (subscription required)
The past several years have seen a remarkable rise in demand for pricing and project management professionals at law firms. Consultants, businesses and entire conferences, such as The Legal Marketing Association's P3, have evolved to tackle the challenges evoked by increased rate pressure and client demand for efficiencies. For some firms approaching the concept of efficient service delivery holistically, the results can be impressive. Yet for others the improvements are isolated, limited or nonexistent—
Strategic planning exercises are rampant in the legal sector right now, and for good reason. The market dynamics demand a better way – a new way – to approach clients and outpace the competition. Alongside this shift is a seemingly unquenchable thirst for knowledge. There is an industry-wide yearning to understand where markets are headed, how client needs are changing and what the future holds.
Perfectionism is a tendency with which many of us have an intimate familiarity. In our personal lives, we acknowledge that demanding perfection from those around us, such as our spouses or children, is detrimental and can harm our relationships. In ourselves, we tolerate perfectionism as part of who we are, sometimes embracing it and other times reflecting (or needing to be reminded) that “to err is human.” Yet perfectionism in our professional lives, particularly in our approach to deliverables, is often regarded as an acceptable norm. As an extension of that, perfectionism embedded in a firm’s culture...
Just a handful of today’s law firms boast a truly sophisticated CI function; one capable of contributing at a high level to the firm’s most vital decisions: where to open a new office, whether a new service offering responds to existing client needs, what are the vulnerabilities in a competitor’s position (and how to capitalize on it), what innovations are capturing client dollars, which strategic priorities demand the greatest investment of resources in the short- and long-term, etc. Yet it is here where CI offers the most promise for the future. Why not make 2017 the year to take your law firm’s CI to the next level?
