“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it” – Upton Sinclair

 

“To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” – Sun Tzu

Change. When it comes to one’s job, few people embrace change. In our discussions with law firms around the country, we often hear how management teams endeavor to make changes inside of their law firms.

The stark reality of the business of law is that revenue generation is a function of human activity. Regardless of how a client is charged, revenues are earned as work is performed.  Thus, to grow a firm must either:

1) Raise rates – Increasingly difficult in today’s market

2) Hire more lawyers – Only works if there is more client work than the firm can handle

3) Buy another law firm – Risky and expensive

4) Improve its existing operations – The least expensive, highest ROI, but requires change.

Most firms engage in strategies 1-3 to exhaustion. This makes sense. They may be risky, they may come with a steep price tag, but they involve little (if any) change.

So why do some law firm’s struggle with change?

Law firms that struggle with change do not have a transparent link between:

1) The firm’s financial goals

2) Performance objectives of management, attorneys & paralegals

3) Compensation

Even worse, you can’t fix this overnight. Defining financial objectives may be one thing, but overhauling performance objectives and compensation agreements are far from easy endeavors.

Thus, as a law firm executive, you are faced with two competing dynamics:

1) Change would greatly benefit financial performance

2) Few members of the firm are adequately incentivized to change

Put another way:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it” – Upton Sinclair

But there is a silver lining: Change doesn’t have to be painful. Change doesn’t have to impact the entire firm. A little bit of change goes a long way.

Enter Sun Tzu & Big Data

You don’t have to turn your entire firm on its head to make a meaningful improvement in revenue growth and profitability. You only need to know 2 things:

• The issues on which to focus
• When to focus on them

Law Firm Analytics from Bridgesphere focus management teams on the operational and financial issues that matter most.

Using over 1,000 proprietary algorithms, we analyze our clients’ time and billing data. Our findings are delivered via a custom set of reports that highlight the attorneys, paralegals and client matters that hold the greatest opportunity to improve revenue and profit. Expert guidance from Bridgesphere helps to address these opportunities using strategies that are the most appropriate for your firm.

While some financial and operational challenges can be difficult to address, our research and clients have proven that every firm has a multitude of short-term opportunities that, if addressed, can lead to meaningful improvements in revenue and profit.  For most law firms, these short-term, easily addressed issues amount to a 10% boost in revenue.

“To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” – Sun Tzu

To achieve profitable change inside of a law firm, the key lies in not turning the entire firm onto its head. Rather, using the data your firm is already collecting, Law Firm Analytics from Bridgesphere will provide your firm with a financial edge that will boost revenues and enhance your firm’s competitive position in the marketplace.