City lawyers still have their heads in the sand!

Legal Week in Britain has just announced the results of its EJ Legal Biq Question survey about the standards of management in law firms in the UK.

This article highlights a problem that is endemic in the legal profession: many lawyers are still completely ignorant about management; they only appreciate management when
a. when times are tough;
b. when they want to copy their competitors;
c. clients demand it (thankfully)

Cornelius Medvei, Eversheds' London chief comments: “Many lawyers see management as a necessary evil and the vast majority are still not interested. The biggest challenge of all for law firms is finding the people who have the requisite skills to be able to do it well.”

I agree with the first half of his comment, not the second. There are plenty of good managers out there; the challenge is to educate lawyers to appreciate that management is an essential and valuable function of any successful business, including a law firm. Only then will surveys like this have more relevance.

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Thanks to Gerry Riskin and Brad Isaac for this contribution.