Smith & Same, a hypothetical general practice law firm with five partners and a total of 15 lawyers, has been in existence for 30 years serving clients throughout its regional area.
John Same, the managing partner, makes many of the firm’s day-to-day decisions, but significant decisions are made by all of the partners. “three partners are under the age of 50 and two are over the age of 60.
Some years ago, John contacted me and said: “Although we are an established firm, we are beginning to lose market share. Our lawyers used to work very collaboratively, whereas now the partners work more like solo practitioners with individual teams. Further, our younger lawyers seem somewhat less engaged, our retention rate is dropping and we have had some difficulty hiring the best lawyers.
Finally, because two of our partners are over age 60, we need to do some succession planning. We’ve discussed these issues at partners’ meetings, but never make much progress. What would you suggest?”
I asked John whether the firm had ever held a retreat and he said: “No, but we have considered doing so. the problem is that we don’t know how to go about having a retreat that will really add value.” Hence this article.