Asked and Answered

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. We are a 12 attorney firm in Dallas. Our practice areas are business transaction and litigation. We also have an active energy practice. The past two years have been difficult for us financially. What are some of the successful firms doing right?

A. In spite of the recent economic woes many small firms have still done well. Many of these firms were those that:

• Were focused
• Had a sense of where they were and where they were heading
• Had a vision and a strategy
• Had business and financial plans
• Had goals and measured attainment
• Fostered accountability from self and others
• Were proactive
• Worked the books and managed the RULES (Rate, Utilization, Leverage, Expense Control, Collection Speed)

I believe that law firms that fail to focus their practices, set goals, measure accomplishments, and foster accountability will fall short and not meet their financial objectives. Law firms that fail to plan are planning to fail.

Law firms as well as solo practices need to begin focusing their firms and practices, setting firm and individual production goals, measure accomplishment and implementing systems to instill accountability from all members of the team - attorneys and staff alike.

What gets measured is what gets done.

Click here for our blog on law firm strategy

Click here for my article on business planning

John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC,(www.olmsteadassoc.com) is a past chair and member of the ISBA Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics. For more information on law office management please direct questions to the ISBA listserver, which John and other committee members review, or view archived copies of The Bottom Line Newsletters. Contact John at jolmstead@olmsteadassoc.com.