Articles and Resources
July 2008 | Karen MacKay
Administrators are neither part of staff or partners and steering their way through the firm requires a deft touch. The ability to seek out support and mentors in firms are some of the many challenges.
July 2008 | Karen MacKay
Este artículo apareció originalmente de The Lawyers Weekly, una publicación de Lexis Nexis en la edición del 9 de enero de 2006. Versión en español: Leopoldo Hernández Romano.
Mi compromiso es el de ofrecer a los abogados que lean éste artículo, habilidades e ideas
esenciales para el éxito, herramientas que ciertamente no se enseñan en las escuela de derecho.
April 2008 | Karen MacKay - Moderator
Orignally published in Law Practice Magazine - June/July 2008
Clients who truly value diversity are looking beyond window-dressing tactics or checkbox employment
requirements. They understand the global marketplace requires a serious ability to
embrace and leverage multiple perspectives. They look for firms that understand the calculus of inclusion—that the broader and deeper the talent pool, the better positioned they
are to compete globally and locally.
April 2008 | by Karen MacKay
Orignally published in Law Practice Magazine - April/May 2008
There is an impressive group of next-generation administrators taking the reins in law firms today. What role should your new administrator play in your firm? What competencies are important for success? What sort of educational background and professional qualifications does your firm need? Do you want someone with prior law firm experience, or are you inclined toward the fresh ideas that a professional from another sector might bring? To help you identify the ideal administrator, here are practical solutions and ideas to guide you through the process of designing the role to best serve your firm.
March 2008 | by Robert Millard, Karen MacKay
Orignally published in Iberian Lawyer Magazine
Complaints and frustrations about "the youth of today" have been around for years. Today, in our law firms and the world at large, the debate rages on. The subject has been hyped up to such a point that some suggest that what we are experiencing is nothing short of a fundamental shift in the way young adults think (their "cognitive style") as opposed to just an attitudinal or behavioral shift.
July 2007 | by Karen MacKay
The daily behaviour of partners is of paramount importance in retaining
and motivating talent. Talent goes beyond the young lawyers, to include
professional managers and support staff. Employment research provides
valuable insight into the behavior required of partners, but it must be
customized to fit the partnership environment. This article examines
the impact of the behaviour of partners on the attraction, engagement
and retention of sufficient talent to sustain the firm into the future.
June 2007 | by Karen MacKay, Edward. H Flitton
The arguments for flexible work arrangements in law firms are many.
Flex time can provide a substantial advantage in attracting and
retaining women during their child-raising years,in retaining talented
attorneys who do not desire partnership and in the ability to ease
partners out as they approach retirement. However, creating workable
flexible arrangements faces major challenges. This article shows how
one firm met those challenges.
April 2007 | by Nick Jarrett-Kerr, Karen MacKay
Effective delegation lies at the heart of a successful leverage
strategy in professional service firms. Leverage can only be
maintained, if three criteria are met: the right attitude towards
leverage among partners, the definition of a consistent process for
managing leverage and the development of partner and senior level
delegation skills. The article provides hands-on advice for each of
these criteria, including the skill of giving feedback.
February 2007 | by Karen MacKay
As you plan the orientation of your new partners in 2007, consider the
many ways you can accelerate the journey from associate to partner. How
many lawyers will your firm welcome to the partnership this year? How
will you celebrate that event? What does your firm do in order to
accelerate their development as partners and leaders of the firm in the
future? What does partnership mean to you? More, what does partnership
mean to them? Karen MacKay explores these questions.
December 2006 | by Karen MacKay, Friedrich Blase
Few statistics worry today’s law firm leaders more than their attrition
rates. And they are quick to point out that the market for talent is as
competitive as the one for client work. Some would say that the
competition is not for clients, it’s for talent: Find the right talent
and the clients will follow. Firms seem to gravitate to the same
mistake in both markets: going out of their way to lure new
talents/clients into their stable, but starving the ones they already
have.
November 2006 | by Karen MacKay
Have you ever wondered how it is that a group of your colleagues can
attend the same meeting, be given the same information and each come
away with a vastly different message? Part of the challenge is the
filters through which we all take in data. Equally important is
differing learning styles.
October 2006 | by Karen MacKay
I have listened to the frustrations of a number of law firm leaders,
partners and associates who are the professional talent –the only true
assets of a firm. They shared stories about initiatives that got a lot
of air time at meetings and then nothing happened. The ideas are sound,
the enthusiasm is evident, members of the group commit to them, and as
soon as they leave the room the idea fizzles like a balloon left long
after the party is over. The idea shrivels and quietly sinks to the
floor.
August 2006 | by Karen MacKay
Ever ponder your firm’s operational intricacies? Been frustrated by
support functions? Wondered exactly how things get done? Why a week to
get a conflicts search? Why is new technology unused? Why can’t our
bills be useful to our clients? How to get the answers? Consider
performing an operational review, of how things get done, and have the
courage to seek change. Increasingly, innovation is a key
characteristic of successful law practices, practices that meet client
demand for near perfection.
June 2006 | by Karen MacKay
Younger lawyers entering firms today are wired differently than
previous generations. "Entitlement" is the word most often used by
older lawyers talking about the new generation. I’ve heard statements
like, “They expect us to hand them opportunities, but they don’t have
any initiative.” And, “The partners are here on weekends - associates
aren’t. When I was a junior I was always here on weekends because I
thought I should be. It wasn’t because I had any work - I got the work
by being around.”
January 2006 | by Karen MacKay
I am committed to providing lawyers who read this column with skills
and ideas that are critical to success – things that are not taught in
law school. As I write this column it is the last week of December
2005, typically a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to
the new one. For many partners it is time to prepare for the
compensation process which causes very high stress levels in many law
firms. For many associates a New Year brings the formal review process.
January 2006 | by Karen MacKay
Leading a group of professionals, or an entire firm for that matter, is
a complicated business. It is also endlessly fascinating, equally
frustrating and especially challenging. For the managing partners I
have come to know, there are energizing highs and energy draining lows.
December 2005 | by Karen MacKay
The compensation committee in most law firms we know is typically made
up of some of the most respected lawyers in the firm. They have earned
credibility through their own practice, skill and reputation. They
carry a lot of weight and they have a huge responsibility. They
evaluate their peers which is one of the most difficult roles in the
firm. If they get it wrong and wrong decisions result in the departure
of one or more of the firm’s key partners, the result can be
devastating.
September 2005 | by Karen MacKay
What are your clients reading? What inspires them? Lawyers do so much
reading to keep abreast of their substantive practice knowledge, that
there is little time for much else. If, however, you aspire to become a
‘trusted advisor’ to your clients, you had better be aware, at a
minimum, of the books that inspire them.
August 2005 | by Karen MacKay
Over the past number of weeks I have reviewed a great number of
reference letters prepared by senior lawyers for articling students who
are not hired back. While the students are all very different, the
reference letters all look pretty much the same. Partners describe who
they are and what they do, they describe the kind of work the student
did during articles and close with a few comments and an invitation to
call. Rarely is there anything unique.
June 2005 | by Karen MacKay
We spend much of our time helping firms, practice groups and individual
lawyers develop strategies for building profile, developing business
and landing new and better work. Working for clients you enjoy serving
and doing work that you find intellectually stimulating is personally
and professionally gratifying. There are a number of psychological
barriers that hold lawyers back: lack of skill, lack of confidence and
lack of courage to name a few.
June 2005 | by Karen MacKay
Lawyers around the world are motivated by professional growth, no
matter their gender, their years at the bar or where they live and
work. Lawyers thrive on and crave learning. Unlike other factors
(motivation, reward, aspiration) there is virtually no cultural
difference in the professional development needs of young
professionals. Over 95% of both associates and partners around the
world agreed that continuous professional growth was one of the most
critical aspects of professional happiness.
May 2005 | by Karen MacKay
Around the world it appears that about 20% of lawyers are doing work
they love for people they really like; 60-70% are serving people and
doing work they can tolerate but for which they have no passion, and 10
-20% of lawyers are doing work they hate for people they can’t stand.
April 2005 | by Karen MacKay
What can you do to accelerate your mentoring relationship? How can you
get to know your mentor quickly? How can you develop a functioning
framework within the tight constraints of current legal practices? You
may want to consider the following.
March 2005 | by Karen MacKay
Law firm globalization adds cultural differences to generational
differences as firms identify future partners. What’s inside the hearts
and minds of the next generation of professionals? What motivates them?
What rewards do they value? Karen MacKay surveyed associates and
partners around the world during 2004. This article, the third in a
series, explores the issues of monetary and non-monetary rewards that
associates value and challenges the traditional thinking in law firms.
February 2005 | by Karen MacKay
Chance meetings usually begin with a smile. One person says “how are
you” and doesn’t really want an answer. The other person replies with a
nod and something like “how are things going”. “Busy, really busy” is
the typical response because for some reason we take pride in being
very very busy. In the rush back to the office with a cell phone in one
hand and a PDA buzzing in a pocket they rush off with “I’ll call you”
or “let’s get together for lunch”… “yeah sure…….”.
January 2005 | by Karen MacKay
A meeting is called for all lawyers in your group/firm for 4:30.
Administrative people involved (CFO or COO) will show up on time. You
enter the room at 4:33 and neither the practice group leader who called
the meeting nor any other lawyers there. You have time, so off you go
to make a phone call and return. When a critical mass forms the meeting
gets underway (by 5 if you’re lucky). Some lawyers are reading files
and some are reading e-mail on their PDA. If this sounds familiar read
on.
December 2004 | by Karen MacKay
Meetings are a critical part of professional life. Job interviews,
practice group meetings, client meetings and business development
meetings. Meetings in the office, meetings over lunch, meetings to
negotiate a transaction and meetings in chambers - their boardroom, our
boardroom and off-site boardrooms. Opportunities to participate in
meetings happen several times a day.
December 2004 | by Karen MacKay
Junior lawyers leave law firms — that’s a fact of life. Within reason,
that’s a sign of a healthy firm open to fresh ideas and innovative
thinking. But left unchecked, it can rip the heart out of your firm.
Here’s how law firm partners can take steps to keep associate attrition
under control — and secure their own financial position in the process.
November 2004 | by Karen MacKay
How many times have you met a contact, a colleague, a client or an
acquaintance and closed a short conversation with “I’ll call you?” How
many times did you actually follow through? Much has been written on
the topic of networking, however, it’s still the Achilles Heel that
many of our clients struggle with. If you approach networking as this
“big project” that requires a vast number of contacts, think again.
September 2004 | by Karen MacKay
What role do individual partners play in retaining/motivating a firm’s
talent? A significant one. Talent, broadly, is everyone employed by the
firm, from administrative managers to support staff. Highly motivated
employees at every level can accomplish a lot, and their absence is
correspondingly felt: in loss of leadership, service to clients and
support to professionals. Look at the attorney who is between
assistants to understand the frustration and stress caused by high
staff turnover rates.
July 2004 | by Karen MacKay
Law firm managing partners and COOs hear top performing associates
saying “thanks but no thanks” or “let me think about it” when presented
with partnership opportunities. Statistical evidence shows that the
next generation (25-35 year-olds, 77% of associates in law firms today)
sees the prestige and status of partnership at lower levels compared
with current partners. They don’t see partnership as “the plum it used
to be,” but more akin to a pie eating contest in which the prize is
more pie.
June 2004 | by Karen MacKay
In a business whose primary assets arrive and leave each day,
motivating talent is critical. Can we motivate others? Probably not.
The right people are motivated from within. However, the right law firm
environment can foster motivation while the wrong environment can
neutralize it or even extinguish it. This article will assist senior
management to break the code of cultural and generational differences
to create an environment for peak performance and high satisfaction.
April 2004 | by Karen MacKay
According to management guru Tom Peters, a professional’s career today
can mean as many as 10 jobs, in five companies or firms, in three
industries. Young professionals are on the move. That makes finding and
keeping talent--the key component to competitive advantage--a huge
challenge for law firms. Help your lawyers build their skills and
develop their careers, and both they and the firm will reap the
benefits. Karen MacKay led a discussion that resulted in a wealth of
ideas on these issues.
January 2002 | by Karen MacKay
You may have considered an international opportunity some time in your
career. You’ve likely seen them advertised and wondered “what if?”
You’ve heard of other lawyers who have landed international
opportunities and who, after adjusting, are extremely positive about
their experience, having thrived as a result of it. Would you? We spoke
with a few of these Canadian ex-pats, and what we found was that while
some perspectives and experiences are different in many ways, others
resonate.
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