Legal Research

"Do the Lawyers in Your Firm Collaborate or Compete?"

This post was written by Cordell Parvin: "Three weeks ago many of us were glued to our television sets for the NCAA final game between Duke and Butler. It was one of the most exciting  NCAA final game ever. Players on both teams played as a team and the coaching was outstanding. Watching it made me think of how well lawyers play as a team.

They say business school teaches MBA students to collaborate and law school teaches law students to compete. If that is true, then it is no wonder why some law firms, offices or practice groups are made up of individual lawyers who are focused on themselves. 

...The 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team included the most talented NBA players, but took a third-place bronze medal because the players had a "me first" attitude, and were less focused on the basics than the Argentine and Italian teams.

With Coach Mike Krzyzewski coaching, the 2008 U. S. Olympic team got back to basics and teamwork. The players may have been less talented than the 2004 team, but they built a team and focused on fundamentals...

What does the difference between the 2004 team and the 2008 team have to do with your firm? If your firm's lawyers have a "me first" attitude focused and getting credit, it will be very hard to develop a collaborative effort. If your firm is focused on primarily on billable hours and profit per partner, it will be very hard to get your lawyers to anticipate client issues and provide solutions better than your competitors. Bottom line if your firm is like the 2004 team you will eventually lose to firms that focus on hiring, training and retaining the best talent, molding them into a team and providing exceptional service to clients.

If you are trying to get the members of your firm, office or practice group to collaborate and put the team ahead of themselves, here is assignment for you...

Full text and active links are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Law Consulting Blog, 26 April 2010. © 2010, Cordell Parvin LLC. Reproduced with permission of the author.

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on April 27, 2010 (boomark / email).