Good Governance in Law Firms

Governance today is more than just writing a good partnership agreement. Our multidisciplinary team of contributors demonstrate how governance has become a unifying and integrating system for a wide range of critical strategic and business issues. The inquiry starts with an overview of modern governance structures in law firms, and how the concept of governance has expanded to include features such as professional managers and partner remuneration systems. To be effective, a law firm's governance system must facilitate, not complicate, the solution of important internal challenges, such as change management, managing partner performance and succession planning. How can good governance help law firm owners to make better decisions? How can governance incorporate management information and concepts of risk management into the decision-making process? The fourth in this popular series on the business of law, published in association with the International Bar Association, the book concludes with an examination of emerging trends that will shape law firm governance in the future. It provides visionary, but entirely realistic, insights into how law firm governance will need to continue to adapt to new regulatory regimes for the legal profession, stress testing concepts and new alternative business structures.

Inhalt

Introduction 5 Norman K Clark Walker Clark LLC Part I: Building an effective structure Strategy drives governance 9 Leopoldo Hernández Romano Rupprecht Graf von Pfeil Rocío Vázquez Zavala KermaPartners The evolution of modern governance in law firms 17 Norman K Clark Walker Clark LLC Governance as an organising framework for managing the practice and the business 31 Tony Williams Jomati Consultants LLP Governance and structure: supporting the long-term success of a partnership 41 Michael Roch KermaPartners The role of professional management in law firms 57 Iryna Nikitina Independent consultant Part II: Challenges for law firm governance Effective decision making in law firms 79 Sarah Martin Coombs Martin Good governance and partner performance 97 Lisa M Walker Johnson Walker Clark LLC Riding the compensation tiger 121 Norman K Clark Walker Clark LLC Partner compensation and partnership structure 131 Martín Carrizosa prietocarrizosa Management information - what does the managing partner need to know? 137 Aku Sorainen SORAINEN Governing risk 147 Norman K Clark Walker Clark LLC Succession, retirement and beyond 157 Lisa M Walker Johnson Walker Clark LLC Part III: Governance tomorrow Governance for lawyers 173 in a new era - 'alternative' law firms Stephen Revell Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Managing change 203 Lisa M Walker Johnson Walker Clark LLC About the authors 231