Why Attorneys Love Their Firms: Building Commitment, Forging Team Spirit

Speak with attorneys who have stayed with the same firm for a long time and the most consistent reason given for their longevity is that they like the people with whom they work and feel like they are “part of something special”.  Very rarely is money cited as the number one reason why an attorney stays where they are. This is a powerful reminder that law firm management needs to stay focused on building and maintaining a culture. A mistake smaller firms often make is thinking that, because of their size, people are more naturally staying connected. This is far from the truth, and establishing culture for small firms is just as important as for a large ones.

The critical components of building a strong culture are communication, teamwork and fostering a genuine connection among the members of the firm. 

Communication is the cornerstone of a successful firm.  Small firms often believe that because they are small, everyone knows what is going on; but often smaller firms, especially where people don’t necessarily come to the office every day, suffer from disenfranchised employees as much if not more than large ones.  Establishing a communications strategy is critical.  At least one partner should take responsibility for keeping the other attorneys and employees in the loop.   Firms should have regular meetings to keep the team connected to firm developments, and send out periodic firm newsletters and briefings to make sure that all members of the firm are aware of what is going on with their colleagues and firm business. 

Without an effective communication structure, it’s impossible to create an atmosphere of teamwork, another important characteristic of a successful small firm.  Teamwork can be achieved by simply pairing up attorneys on projects, including client projects and firm initiatives.  Pairing attorneys who don’t typically work together is a smart tactic for expanding the feeling of camaraderie within the firm.  Creating a task force to work on a special challenge is a great way both to solve a problem and to build a sense of community.  Establishing a social committee responsible for planning firm outings or events can be a fun opportunity to keep people excited. It doesn’t need to be fancy or take a lot of time; there are small firms with committees dedicated to wine, education, exercise, or even just planning the firm holiday party.  Bringing people together to volunteer for a charity connected to the firm can also be an inspiring way to both give employees an opportunity to do something good and connect in a meaningful way with their coworkers.

While it should be obvious, the human touch is probably the most important component to building a strong sense of commitment to the firm.  “Showing up” when a member of the firm is going through a hard time or celebrating a special occasion is incredibly important.  One former colleague still cites her entire group’s attendance at a memorial service for her father as a significant example of why she loves her firm.  Just calling or stopping by someone’s office when you know they are facing a challenge can be very meaningful.  Similarly, acknowledging birthdays, births, firm anniversaries and other important milestones adds to a sense of connection to the firm.

While many firms focus on making sure people feel well compensated at the end of the year, just as much focus needs to be spent on making sure people feel connected and excited to be part of the firm.  Build a strong sense of community and your firm can enjoy the increased longevity of your most important assets – your people.


Beth Anisman is the CEO of B&Co., a NYC based consultancy and an executive advisor to NexFirm.  She can be reached at banisman@bandcollc.com.

Spend Smarter: How to Manage Your Legal Budget

This week, we'd like to present an interesting article written by the ABA and highlighted by Paul Lippe of Legal OnRamps. We hope it will interest our readers, as we think that in-house counsels are thinking along similar lines. 

All of the points in this piece create big opportunities for small firms (especially #5), because they require a "quarterback" for outside legal services.  Positioning your firm as the leader who defines the objectives and the process will show your worth to your clients.  They'll be more than happy to pay for your service.

Perhaps the best and most resonating point that Lippe makes is that there won't be a "return to normal" any time soon.  Consider his advice and create a new normal for your firm.

Top 10 Ways to Better Manage Your Legal Spending

Eating Our Own Dogfood: Using My Own Services

Every day, I meet with founding partners to discuss their practices’ IT needs, and we often touch upon PC (or Mac) support mechanisms that will allow them to replace a lost or malfunctioning computer in a timely manner.  I cannot stress the importance of this kind of system.  In our view, timely means the next business morning.  There are expenses associated with support like this, but the math clearly shows that it is more expensive not to have it.  For an average attorney who bills 7 hours, losing one business day means thousands of dollars.  These dollars add up fast if a few days pass.  This doesn't include the reputational cost you incur when your attorney has to tell a client they can't service them because of a bad computer.  For a small firm, this can make you seem small time and cause clients to question your capabilities.

Often, I hear "We won't need this. I've had this computer for 3 years and I've never had a problem."  My favorite: "I have a Mac, and it's flawless."  It all sounds great until your computer goes bad, as mine did this week.  Oddly, this is actually the second time in a year that this has happened.  Last time my daughter poured a glass of water on my keyboard.  Goodnight, nurse.  This time, I have no idea what happened; it just quit.  Of course, it happened at the worst possible time.  Things are booming here at NexFirm and I couldn't be busier working on proposals for new clients or working harder to meet the needs of our existing clients.  As you can imagine, lots of deadlines and no computer equals enormous stress.  To make matters worse, I had photos of my kids, my music, and a bunch of other personal documents on that computer.  I felt completely crippled.

As unfortunate as it was, it gave me a chance to "eat my own dogfood," or to see how NexFirm's support and replacement service would work for me in this jam.  You might think that as the CEO of NexFirm I would get preferential service, but in practice I get on the end of the line behind our clients.  (Least favored nation status, so to speak.)  So, I waited to receive my computer, which arrived the next business morning, just as we promise to our clients.  While I waited, I used our web tools, which allowed me to access my email and documents and to stay productive working from my home computer.  When I received my new system, I hadn't lost any data, and all of my applications were just as I’d left them.  In the end, my heart attack turned out to be a tiny blip.

Without my NexFirm team, how might my experience have been different?  A quick check today showed a 7 to 10 day wait to receive a new laptop from Lenovo.  Dell was no better.  Since that would be untenable, and we couldn't find a way to get a replacement that met the specifications I needed on short notice,  I probably would have been forced to buy something inexpensive from Best Buy to get through the week while I waited for a new system.   That would have meant spending the day buying and configuring a computer, as well as trying to restore my data.  Then another day when my permanent system arrived.  The answer is lots of unproductive time, how much is hard to say.

Think carefully about the cost of not having IT support for your users, and include lost work time and the cost of temporary replacement solutions.  It's bound to be more than the cost of having a support system in place, and it will certainly save you from stress and aggravation.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm.  He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.