Chief Operating Officer Johnny Nichols comments in Legal Practice Management magazine on how Lawrence Stephens’ strong people-first culture, and focus on developing an effective leadership model, has enabled the firm’s continued growth and development.
Johnny’s comments were published in People Management Magazine’s July edition, and can be found here.
How would you describe your firm’s current leadership model?
“Our leadership model is both flat and lean. Flat in that we have a number of departments focused on particular legal disciplines and markets, but all with a say in the management and direction of the firm. Lean in that there are few lawyers who have time targets devoted to this.
“There are essentially three layers of leadership: the Senior Directors, who own the firm, Directors, who lead on the legal services we offer, and the Executive Committee who take day-to-day decisions on behalf of the firm.
“A flat and lean organisational structure, with fewer management layers, offers several benefits including faster decision-making, improved communication, increased employee autonomy, and a more agile response to changes with little need for consensus building. This makes us more agile and able to take advantage of opportunities where other firms may struggle. A recent example of this was the recruitment of a Real Estate team from Memery Crystal during its recent crisis, from under the noses of several larger firms. We were able to meet with and agree terms quickly and decisively, which resonated well with those teams affected.
“However, we recognise that this flat structure may become unwieldy as the firm grows and more streamlining may be required.”
Have you considered or introduced new roles to lead certain aspects of your firm?
“Having recognised the need for growth and the limitations of Directors undertaking these roles (with neither the time nor the expertise) the firm took the decision to firstly recruit a Chief Operating Officer (me) to take the lead on the establishment of a fully functioning and appropriately empowered Business Services team. This included a new Head of Learning and Development, Head of Risk and Compliance, and more recently a Chief Finance Officer. As law firms become more sophisticated and the level of compliance and regulation has increased, law firms have had to recruit specialists into these roles in order to meet these. Having these people on board also relieves fee earners from tasks they were fundamentally ill-equipped for anyway, allowing them to focus on their fee earning roles.”
What steps is your firm taking to develop business and leadership skills among fee earners?
“Fee earners are not taught this at law school and to expect them to be able to just pick this up ‘on the job’ is unrealistic. Developing business and leadership skills through formal programmes is then really important and we are providing more training for line managers on their role, enabling them to better support and motivate staff.
“Formal programmes now exist to offer firmwide DEI training, and regular ‘lunch and learn’ events foster a collaborative, knowledge sharing environment. These often involve using existing expertise at the firm to upskill others, which in itself is a developmental activity. On top of these firmwide approaches, targeted groups now have new training programmes to support through crucial periods of their career, for example at Senior Associate level. More bespoke training is also available, including targeted coaching for staff where required.”
Succession planning is a common challenge among SME firms – how is yours preparing the next generation of leaders?
“Recognising the limitations of the lockstep model, our firm has already moved away from this and is now constituted as a limited company. A limited company provides a more structured framework for managing the business, with clear roles for directors and shareholders, which is beneficial in a larger firm with complex operations.
“In terms of diversity, we work hard to ensure that everyone at our firm is treated fairly and equally. This includes our recruitment processes, career development, recognition and reward. As part of this initiative, the firm has agreed a target of 25% females in Directorship by 2026, and we look set to achieve this target by next year.”
How important is it for firms to shift focus away from individual performance exclusively? What practical steps are you taking to encourage effective collaboration?
“We have hosted a number of training sessions over the last year for cohorts at different stages of their careers which included discussions on the themes raised in the DCM Insights research. We recognise the need for effective collaboration across all our activities and our own efforts to encourage this include a move away from purely ‘X times salary’ targets for individuals. These are now considered at department level and budgets set to support work being fed down to more junior levels and to allow time for more managerial/strategy work for those more senior.
“When it comes to feeding back, individual reviews are still seen as important, but should always be considered in the wider picture, and 360 degree feedback is encouraged.”
Looking ahead to 2030, what defining leadership qualities or frameworks will separate thriving firms from struggling ones?
“Many firms talk about their unique culture being the key to their success. There is considerable evidence to support the view that a strong and distinct culture can lead to increased revenue, employee satisfaction, and improved client satisfaction. Against this positive backdrop, there is also growing evidence of increasing consolidation of law firms and potentially increasing external investment in law firms in the lead up to 2023. Both these themes introduce a level of change and potential disruption and it’s my view that only firms with a strong and engaged leadership will be able to maintain and develop a positive culture in the light of such change in what is regarded as vital to a thriving firm.
“So, looking ahead, I think that the most important quality for successful law firm leaders will be the ability to not only maintain and manage an existing culture, but be able to adapt to external influence brought about through combining teams and firms, and the involvement of any external investors along the way.”.
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