6 novembre 2022
Legal Department Partnership
Posted by under: Non classé .
GCs who want to continue to advance their careers will evolve to make these important contributions to their businesses beyond the usual legal rate. Tonya Robinson: We are thinking about how we can use our current data to provide an even better and faster service to our internal customers. We are also exploring innovative ways to measure and improve our operational efficiency. This year, we used financial and resource management tools more regularly to measure, among other things, the productivity of our legal team and the profitability of our external consultant spending. These two measures help us determine how best to manage our current workload and promote resources. Young lawyers who ask questions get to know the partnership process in their law firm. In most law firms, it is the seventh and/or eighth year partners who run for a partnership vote. In many large companies, such as Duane Morris and Kilpatrick Stockton, these employees are often appointed partners by their department heads. Candidates are then reviewed through formal interviews, file review, and comments from other counsel and staff. Each candidate is then voted on at an extraordinary meeting by the entire partnership. However, capturing this dream is not always an easy task, especially given the variability of current law firm partnership models.
Tonya Robinson: We continually work with our internal clients to understand KPMG`s business direction, which is not an easy task given the dynamics of the professional services industry. For example, our legal leadership team holds regular roundtables where KPMG executives discuss the current state of their practice and direction. At these meetings, we encourage our business colleagues to ask us questions and challenge us to do better. They tend not to hold back. Sustainable change is one that helps lawyers do the work they always do, albeit better and more efficiently. These changes are achieved through technology or revised management practices or processes that help lawyers work more efficiently or quickly, with better results and at a lower cost. Great, isn`t it? Sustainable change fosters better alignment and supports businesses through better service delivery, albeit in the same way that lawyers and clients have always assumed they are appropriate for a solicitor-client relationship. But such improvements in the delivery of traditional legal services do not fundamentally question the type of work lawyers do (or their supervised outsourced staffing services, or LPOs), or whether lawyers should be involved, or whether a variety of legal services for which they spend a lot of money are needed or appreciated. They are rarely really strategic.
One of the most common challenges of traditional partnership structures is that they can increase competitiveness. When partners have the responsibility (and reward for profits) to do new business, other lawyers and non-participating partners have less incentive to get involved. Navigating the company`s partnership structure isn`t just about reaching rank. For many lawyers, achieving the status (and ownership, profit potential, and prestige associated with partnership) that comes with partnership is a lifelong career goal. What does it take to become a partner? As partners move up the ranks, they may hear about hard work, a commitment to the firm, expertise in a particular practice area, and the ability to build strong relationships with current and prospective clients. But partnership isn`t just about what employees already know. Even with the traditional partnership structures of law firms, there are no guarantees when it comes to becoming a partner. However, there are steps you can take to showcase your value and stand out from the crowd.
Your best bet? Do a great job as a lawyer while incorporating some (or even all) of the following strategies into your daily career. Partnerships play a key role in today`s legal market. Typically, a provider works with a law firm and/or legal department to provide products and services as an extension of the legal team. However, as the legal industry evolves, targeted service offerings are being expanded by start-ups, and new technological advancements are driving creative and unique business approaches to meet client needs. As the depth and breadth of services increases, it becomes more difficult for a single provider to deliver everything under one roof. All other department heads have a technology stack defined to provide a quantitative view of their world. CCs now have the technology to collect data that allows them to speak quantitatively about their department and measure productivity in terms of total legal costs, costs by subject or practice area, internal versus external expenditures, etc. While you may have a vision of what your partnership might look like, the traditional structure is no longer the only option. If you`re a lawyer looking to become a partner, your first step is to learn the ins and outs of your firm`s partnership structure. This way, you can master the rules of the game you are playing. License our cutting-edge legal content to strengthen your thought leadership and brand. Law firm partnership structures can take many forms.
But the central idea is that the partners generate income in the company in exchange for a share of ownership and profits. Rose Golds: Tonya, when you joined KPMG in 2017, how did you start the process of transforming the legal department? The GCs are no longer immune to the financial pressures faced by OGDs. It is necessary to have a complete understanding of business objectives with control over expenses, budget and staff of the department to achieve these goals. Gonzalez continues to provide support to employees on the path to partnership as he looks back on his first year as a partner. « I think it went very well. I did what I needed to do to take care of my clients. I took on administrative tasks and obligations and got involved in marketing. It`s been an eventful year, he says, but I`ve done well. Navigating the partnership structures of today`s law firms can be challenging.
Traditional law firm partnership models are no longer the only option for lawyers. Lawyers now have more types of partnerships – and potential partnership pathways – to consider. When in-house legal departments do things right, they are valued as trusted advisors and business colleagues. While the legal department plays a key oversight role, it is also an enabling function and the organization needs to value both roles. Corporate lawyers cannot be considered inveterate « opponents » or « sales prevention departments ». While they have expertise, in-house lawyers should be seen as true business colleagues who work with others to move the business forward and achieve results. For an employee, employers generally expect to have little or no legal experience when applying for a position. Indeed, an associate lawyer is an entry-level job where candidates can develop their legal skills and expertise through hands-on experience. Due to their low level of experience, employees can sometimes spend many hours preparing cases and learning how to plead various legal issues. Trust is what sustains organizations. If there are reputational and integrity concerns, lawyers must fulfill their duty to serve as custodians of the organization, as no project, contract, or transaction is important enough to sacrifice the company`s reputation or the trust of its stakeholders.
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