Managing a Law Firm
There is a timeless truth in our profession that every attorney eventually confronts: being a brilliant legal tactician does not automatically make you a successful business owner. Running a modern law firm requires an entirely separate skillset—one that balances financial precision, operational scaling, and team culture.
If you are ready to stop firefighting administrative tasks and start building a highly profitable, scalable enterprise on your own terms, explore our complete, interactive master handbook: Managing a Law Firm: The Modern Partner’s Blueprint.
For targeted strategies, quick operational toolkits, and curated expert columns, browse our deep-dive archives directly below.
This Friday, let's clear the decks and lay down some fresh thinking. You know, the kind that changes up the way you do things, results in better service to your clients, makes people in the office happier and gets you out of that rut. There's a ...
Merrilyn Astin Tarlton - March 13, 2015
Think back through a couple of recent decisions you’ve made or helped make, whether at work or in personal life. Did they turn out well? Was that because you did a good job of choosing? Was there any wasted motion or acrimony? Be honest. On ...
Marc Lauritsen - March 11, 2015
Recently I attended the Dad 2.0 Summit, a conference for men who blog about fatherhood. I didn’t realize there was such a strong community among dad bloggers. They are active parents and exceptionally genuine about their triumphs and ...
Ruth Carter - March 9, 2015
It gets to be a bit much, all the chatter about the legal profession changing at the speed of light. Even if it is transforming into something quite great — I know, maybe it is and maybe it isn't — it seems nearly impossible to figure out what ...
Merrilyn Astin Tarlton - March 2, 2015
Question: From a firm administrator’s perspective, what could a lawyer do to be a better boss? Supervising staff can be a challenge, but any lawyer can be a good boss with a little conscious effort. In this edition ...
The Editors - February 25, 2015
Everyone makes assumptions. You might be surprised, though, at how many malpractice claims result merely from a lawyer working under a false assumption. Take the attorney who allows her workload to grow beyond a reasonable level — she might ...
Mark Bassingthwaighte - February 19, 2015
If you are an attorney in your own firm, you have made the leap — you are an entrepreneur. You probably started your firm because you wanted that feeling of autonomy and control — you wanted to call the shots. But how much control do you really ...
Micky Deming - February 18, 2015Okay, don't get your knickers in a knot. We're not talking about illicit affairs steaming up the supply closet, or after-hours trysts with clients. Today, in the first of a two-part series, Christy Cassisa is talking about an entirely different ...
Christy Cassisa - February 17, 2015
The modern world is a raucous symphony of noise. The squawks and pings of mobile devices are only the latest additions to a cacophony of rings, bells, announcements, conversations and other noises producing distractions, even stress, in our ...
Paul H. Burton - February 13, 2015
Do you ever feel like everything you do is for someone else — be it clients, colleagues, staff, family members, the kid at the door selling candy bars to fund his class trip — when, truth be told, you are feeling pretty darn needy yourself? Most ...
Merrilyn Astin Tarlton - January 29, 2015