At its heart, leadership is best understood by what is observed: how leaders behave, think, and make decisions. The purpose of this book is to uncover the essential nature of leadership as it is lived by today's law firm leaders. The authors interviewed thirty-one highly effective law firm leaders from firms of all sizes and types, speaking with emerging, current, and succeeding leaders to get as broad a view as possible. They talked with thirteen firm chair, nine managing partners, five committee chairs, three practice leaders, and one office managing partner with the goal of discovering the wonderful and burdensome aspects of life as a law firm leader. This new book illuminates how these professionals lead in the face of obstacles presented by a competitive legal marketplace and the nature of a law firm as an organization.

Learning from Law Firm Leaders imparts what these legal professionals learned from their experiences; and allow you to expand your own thinking on the topic of leadership. The book aims to crystallize views on a number of relevant aspects of leadership that have not been discussed in great depth in the current literature on leadership. You'll discover how the law firm environment is influencing both current and future leaders and what that may mean for the success of law firms in whatever type of marketplace they find themselves. You'll find information on the perceived leadership deficit as the Baby Boomer generation approaches retirement and how the next generation of leaders will be prepared to meet the challenges of changing markets and client demands.