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Profitability and Law Firm Management is designed to help partners and others involved in law firm management think about their firms differently and identify ways of making them more successful. Its purpose is to help you move your firm forward.

Andrew Otterburn combines strategic management and financial accounting perspectives to provide a comprehensive treatment. This edition offers:

• personal insights from managing partners of leading law firms
• new and updated case studies
• discussion of current topics
• key figures and benchmarks drawn from the most recently available Law Management Section financial benchmarking surveys.

For most firms simply having good lawyers is no longer sufficient. Having well motivated people with business acumen, able to lead and build teams is more important. Effective business skills, an ability to spot and take advantage of opportunities and an ability to plan, manage and lead a team of people are key skills to nurture and develop. Successful firms identify people with these skills at an early stage and provide training and support to develop them.

This book tries not simply to indicate what to do, but to provide some ideas on how to do it. It is not intended to be the definitive or only way of doing things but is designed to help partners and others involved in law firm management think about their firms differently and identify ways of making them more successful. Its purpose is to help you move forward.

Contents

Part one - Strategic focus:  1. Values, brand and target market position  2. Developing the plan  3. Asking some difficult questions.  Part two – Leadership:  4. Leadership and management  5. Managing change  6. Managing partners and CEOs  7. Team and departmental leadership  8. Professional managers.  Part three - Making sense of the figures:  9. Profitability - the underlying drivers  10. KPIs  11. Team profitability  12. Making sure everyone understands the figures  13. Working capital management  14. Understanding your firm's cost base  15. Information  16. Conclusion. 

About the Author

Andrew Otterburn is a leading law firm management consultant who has advised around 250 firms of solicitors and barristers chambers in the UK and Ireland. He has undertaken extensive consultancy work for the Law Society of England & Wales, the Legal Services Commission and the Ministry of Justice. He is vice chair of the Executive Committee of the Law Management Section and a founding member of the Law Consultancy Network.