Mind the Gap: Leadership Across Generations
When leaders move past stereotypes and assumptions—and help their organizations do the same—they can help everyone, regardless of age, be at their best in their environment.
The Leadership Issue (November/December 2022)
Volume 48, Issue 6
Articles
Rewarding Leaders
It’s one thing for a firm to want its attorneys to develop and exercise leadership skills; it’s quite another for a firm to effectively measure and incentivize leadership.
Lawyer Leaders of Today and Tomorrow: How Do We Build Them?
Crucial for ongoing leadership development is embracing the idea that there is no substitute for actual practice and that the learning process is never over.
Why Visionary Leadership Is Critical in Times of Uncertainty
Being able to develop a clear and compelling vision is critical to law firm leaders today. Here are some tips for developing a vision and engaging others in that vision.
Better Than a Gift Card: Holiday Gifts for Lawyers
Buying gifts for lawyers is so tough because they like things a certain way. But instead of basic presents—the mug, the gavel, the engraved notebook—they should be receiving gifts that could be more…
Effective Decision-Making: How to Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road
Here are some of the most common ways we hinder our ability to make timely and effective decisions and, more importantly, some of the best ways to get unstuck and stop kicking the can down the road.
Regular Features
Leading Indicators of Future Leaders
This is the leadership issue. This topic is broad and covers leadership within a business (even if you’re a solo practitioner), a community and among other professionals.
Perspectives: You Know Good Leadership When You See It
Good leadership. It’s tough to define and describe, but we all know it when we see it. This edition of Law Practice magazine deals with leadership in the legal ecosystem: What makes a good leader?
Frontlines
Ethics: Prudently Employing Remote Workers
Three years ago, virtual law firms were a novelty, and none of us knew much about “remote work.” Today, some lawyers looking for jobs are asking—or insisting—on the ability to work remotely.
Front Lines: How to Solve the Performance-Wellness Conundrum
Wellness is more than a massage or a vacation, although both may contribute to wellness. At its core, and for true wellness, a person’s work environment needs to be largely free from unnecessary fear…
Simple Steps: Skills for Post-Pandemic Leadership
The aftermath of the pandemic has resulted in significant changes, not only in how lawyers work but in how leaders are perceived and how employees respond to them.
News & Events: Introducing Our Lawyer Leadership Resource Center
The purpose of the Law Practice Division’s Resource Center is to provide lawyers with a gateway to available resources in lawyer leadership and management.
Technology
Product Watch: Create Digital Content with Adobe Creative Cloud Express
If you are looking to build your brand and up your social media game, a graphic design product such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express might be what you need.
Hot Buttons: Protecting Portable Devices
All firm-owned portal computing and storage devices used for firm business should be secured with encryption. Malpractice and cyberliability insurance applications are increasingly asking for informa…
Tech From The Trenches: Tech Tips from Practice Management Leaders
For this issue, we decided to offer tips from connoisseurs of and leaders in the world of law practice management. We turned to our colleagues who lead in innovation and adoption of technology from b…
Business
Future Proofing: Achieving Successful Strategic Technology Changes Within a Law Firm
At all levels within a firm—from the partnership level to smaller practice groups or operational units to individuals— there is a tendency to resist change and maintain the status quo.
Managing: The Family “Firm-First” Culture Part 2: Practical Steps
Families interact in many ways. I believe there to be at least four typical activities in a functional family, each of which are applicable in a law firm.
Marketing: Marketing Ethics Compliance Continues to Confound
Let’s face it: For all the planning and best-laid plans, the most lucrative practice areas sort of just happen. We devise clever marketing strategies and invest in business development, but the money…
Taking the Lead: Rethinking Conventional Wisdom as a Pathway to Success
How many times have we heard that lawyers fall into three categories: finders, minders and grinders?
Finance: Client Cost Advances: The Best Things in Life Are Free … Plus Tax, of Course!
Law firms focus on generating and collecting fees that fall to the bottom line—all essential ingredients for profitability. However, equally important is how law firms manage client cost advances fro…
Practice Management Advice: Confronting Low Unemployment in Legal: Retain Good People
Nothing gets blood pumping faster than when an employee decides to leave a small law office. Regardless of the employee’s role, the departure of almost any member of a team is magnified when that tea…