Law Firm Succession & Exit Strategies – Transitioning Client Relationships and Management Roles

Two Key Components of Any Succession/Transition Plan

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC

Law firm succession and transition is a big deal and will become even more so over the next decade. The pending retirement of the baby boomer generation and the unrelenting challenge of finding and keeping talented staff can have grave consequences for law firms that fail to develop a succession strategy. Steps that you take or do not take five years or earlier prior to your actual retirement will determine whether your practice, clients, employees, and your legacy transitions to another generation. For a small or solo practice, these steps may determine whether your practice has any terminal value at all.

Many are asking, “What do I do with this Practice?” “Is there value or goodwill? “Where and how should I start?

According to the 2013 Altman Weil Law Firms in Transition Survey respondents reported the following:

Early planning will pay dividends. Many firms are in “reactionary mode” and are not adequately prepared to transition firm leadership and client relationships.  A firm’s very survival may very well depend upon the quality of its succession/exit plan.

How well senior attorneys transition clients and managerial roles will determine the ultimate success of any succession/exit plan. Transition of clients and managerial roles are the two critical components of any succession/exit plan.

Client Transition

Transitioning client relationships is difficult, it takes time, and it takes more than one simple introduction. It is a lot like cross selling that attorneys talk about but often fail to put into practice.

In a recent BTI Consulting Group report on Benchmarking Law Firm Marketing and Business Development Strategies, the section on cross-selling was titled, “Achilles Heel for Law Firms.” When BTI interviewed 120 Chief Marketing Officers and Directors of Business Development at leading law firms, they found that only 4 percent of law firms rated themselves as highly effective in cross-selling, and 77 percent thought they were ineffective.

My experience and our surveys of our clients and their clients have shown similar results. Cross-selling is talked about a lot and seldom implemented.

Cross-selling can be an effective strategy – but it is not easy and it requires trust, commitment, communication, hard work, dedication, and organizational alignment.

What is Cross-Selling?

Cross selling is selling additional services to an existing client whereby an attorney other than the primary relationship attorney may perform these services.

David Maister says it best in the book, The Trusted Advisor, that he co-authored with Charles Green and Robert Galford, in which he states that:

New relationships are at the very heart of cross-selling. In reality, we have two strangers trying to get to know each other, each carrying a heavy burden of real and presumed reputations and expectations. Cross-selling is as much about strangers as it is about relationships. Cross-selling is like meeting your prospective in-laws for the first time.

Challenges and Hurdles

Transitioning clients to another responsible attorney(s) within your law firm or to another attorney in another law firm involves numerous challenges that have to be overcome.  Consider the following challenges and hurdles:

  1. Relationships take an investment of time and must be nurtured on behalf of the parties making the introductions and connections as well as the parties trying to form the new relationship. Attorneys often want immediate gratification and the “quick fix” and are unwilling to invest time needed for longer-term results. More than a “one-shot” simple introduction is required.
  2. Clients hire lawyers not law firms.
  3. Client transition requires trust on the part the client, the relationship attorney, and the future responsible attorney. A high level of trust must exist between the attorneys involved and with the client.
  4. There is potential risk of embarrassment for all concerned. The relationship attorney could risk losing the client if the other attorney does poor work for the client. Another issue is the loss of control over the client. The individuals in the client organization could also risk criticism (or even their jobs) if the new relationship does not pan out.
  5. Many law firms are “lone ranger” rather than “firm first” or “team based” firms. As a result, there is no inclination or incentive to either invest the time and effort or take the risk to refer work to others in the firm.
  6. Lack of knowledge regarding other partners’ practices.
  7. Fear of losing clients.
  8. Fear of losing client control.
  9. Compensation systems in many law firms encourage hoarding of work and discourage the referring of work to others.
  10. Communication systems in some law firms do not facilitate relationship building among attorneys. Effective client transition is simply not possible without strong relationships and high levels of trust among attorneys in the law firm.

Why Bother

Research conducted over the years by numerous research organizations has shown that on average it costs five times as much (dollars/time investment) to get new clients than it does to get more business from existing clients. It just makes good business sense to leverage and transition existing relationships.

Institutional clients are reducing the number of law firms that they use. According to BTI Consulting Group, corporations in the Fortune 1000 list are using 20% fewer core law firms than a year earlier. As a result, fewer firms will be getting work from these companies and they will likely be the firms that successfully transition client relationships.

Recommendation from a Fortune 500 Client

Recently I was doing a telephone interview with the general counsel of a Fortune 500 company, which was a client of our law firm client. I asked him if there was an opportunity for the law firm to get additional work in a practice area in which the company had no experience with the law firm previously and if an opportunity existed what the firm needed to do to earn the business. Here is his response.

Obviously, we currently have other law firms handling that work. However, we have been evaluating those relationships and may be making some changes. There is room for other law firms to earn our business in the practice areas that you have discussed with me.

I am aware that the law firm does other work other than what we have been using them for – but I am not sure exactly what those areas are.

In order to begin to forge a relationship into these other service areas:

  1. I need to know specifically what they do.
  2. I need to know who does it.
  3. I need to know how well the person(s) do it.
  4. I need to have a well-established relationship with the person – trust, respect, like the individual, etc.
  5. I suggest that we start by having the partner in the firm that I have a relationship with begin educating me on the firm’s other practice areas and begin introducing me to the other players in the law firm.

We hire lawyers – not law firms.

Client Transition

Successful client transition – moving clients from one generation to the next – is a major challenge for all law firms. Shifting clients is not an individual responsibility but a firm responsibility. To effectively transition clients the individual lawyer, with clients, must work together with the firm to insure the clients receive quality legal services throughout the transition process. Both the individual lawyer and the firm must be committed to keeping clients in the firm when the senior attorneys retire. Potential obstacles include:

Transitioning client relationships effectively can and where possible should take a number of years – preferably five years – typically not less than three years.

The following client transition plan might be an approach you could take to transition clients over a three to five year period:

  1. Review your Top Client List and develop and implement a detailed action and milestone plan for each significant client.
  2. In consultation with the Firm Executive Committee, designate one or more Co-Responsible Attorney(s) for each existing client, and each new client as to which you are the Responsible (Primary) Attorney. You, in consultation with the Firm Executive Committee, may for cause adjust or amend the Co-Responsible Attorney(s) designation as to any Transitioning Client. The stated goal in designating one or more Co-Responsible Attorneys for each client is to facilitate the transition and retention of your clients upon your retirement and phase-out from the practice of law. You will agree to introduce the Co-Responsible Attorney(s) to the client when you are reasonably available, and work with the Co-Responsible Attorney(s) to transition the client and client matters to the Co-Responsible Attorney(s). You and the Co-Responsible Attorney(s) shall meet to discuss and evaluate the timing for the transition of each client. However, notice to clients shall be solely at your discretion. The Co-Responsible Attorney(s) may, at your discretion, prepare all invoices for legal services rendered. You will review and approve all invoices unless you agree to the contrary in writing. The client’s wishes shall be paramount in the designation or selection of any Co-Responsible Attorney(s) and client satisfaction shall allow for change of the designation.
  3. You will perform such duties as the Firm Executive Committee of the Firm may from time to time determine to be in the best interest of the Firm and which are agreeable to you. You will agree that your professional procedures will be in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the Firm Executive Committee. You will also maintain the records as reasonably required by the Firm Executive Committee.
  4. Of Counsel. After the conclusion of the final transition year, the firm may enter into an “Of Counsel” relationship with you. In that event, you would be listed as “Of Counsel”. The relationship would be subject to both parties agreeing on the terms and conditions of the “Of Counsel” relationship.

Effective client transition takes time so start early. Clients hire lawyers not law firms.

Management Transition

Successful management transition – moving management and leadership from one generation to the next – can also be a major challenge.

Consider undertaking the following, as well as other, management and leadership activities, which may assist you and the firm transition management and leadership roles over the next three to five years.

  1. Invite younger equity partners to serve as members on the executive committee, Chair of the Executive Committee, other committees, or assigned direct responsibility and oversight for a specific management function such as:

 

    1. Client development/marketing
    2. Human resources/personnel
    3. Financial management
    4. A specific project
  2. Allow younger equity partners to participate in the development of the firm annual budget and financial plan.
  3. Allow younger equity partners to participate in performance reviews of non-equity partners, associates, and staff.
  4. Provide younger equity partners with access to all firm financial records and reports.
  5. Allow younger equity partners to attend all partner meetings.
  6. Invite younger equity partners to meetings with the firm’s accountants and other advisors.
  7. Have younger equity partners participate in the recruitment and hiring of attorneys and staff.
  8. Rotate younger equity partners in a variety of management and leadership roles over the three-five year transition period.

An effective succession and transition strategy involves coming to terms with aging and retirement, developing a timeline, and identifying transition candidates either internally or externally. An old saying at IBM – what gets planned and what get measured is what gets done. You have worked hard to build your practice. Your practice may or may not have value depending upon the steps you take and when you take them. Start early.

Good luck on your journey!

John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC, is a Certified Management Consultant and the president of Olmstead & Associates, Legal Management Consultants, based in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm helps law and other professional service firms improve the operations and management of their practices and the lives of their practitioners. The firm, founded in 1984 serves clients across the Globe assisting them with implementing change and improving operational and financial performance, management, leadership, client development and marketing.

John’s assignments have covered the spectrum of management issues. However, in recent years most of his time has been focused on engagements helping firms in areas:

John is the author of a recently published book, The Lawyers Guide of Succession Planning: A Project Management Approach for Successful Transitions and Exits, http://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=235511823&term=the%20lawyers%20guide%20to%20succession%20planning, Published by the American Bar Association, John is also the Editor-in-Chief of “The Lawyers Competitive Edge: The Journal of Law Office Economics and Management,” published by Thomson Reuters. He is currently serving as Past Chair, Illinois State Bar Association Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics and as a member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Research Committee. John may be contacted via e-mail at

jolmstead@olmsteadassoc.com.  Additional articles and information is available at the firm’s web site:

www.olmsteadassoc.com and blog http://blog.olmsteadassoc.com

© Olmstead & Associates, 2016. All rights reserved.

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