Was flying home from New York this afternoon catching up on some reading. The November 28 issue of The National Law Journal had an article entitled "A hot topic: associate to partner leverage." The article focused on several Los Angeles firms who are consciously seeking to increase the number of associates in order to increase the partner's profits. I started laughing to myself as I was reading.
A piece of free advice. If you are going to add associates (which does not automatically translate to more work), don't advertise that fact to your clients. They already don't think they need the headcount they have on their matters. And certainly don't brag about your brilliant strategy. That is like throwing cold water at your clients.
It is clear the firms that continue to focus on leverage on stuck in the old way--looking at hours and hourly rates and not figuring out new ways to enhance profitability. The slower big firms move, the better as far as I am concerned.
Comments