Reinventing The Law Business: Succession Planning — My Top 15 Recommendations (Items 8-15)

This is the third (and final) article of a three-article series on succession planning for law firms. In the first article, entitled Succession Planning – Yuck, I pointed out that many firms started in the past twenty or thirty years – both within and without the legal world – are facing this situation, and it is not an easy one. In the second article, I gave roughly “half” of my advice (items 1-7) for effective and intelligent succession planning. In this final article, I give the remaining half of that advice (items 8-15).

To save you from having to refer back to the prior articles, I remind you that the original founder’s name is “Jane” and the new managing partner’s name is “Toby.” My advice continues as follows:

8. I would avoid the Peter Principle; namely, promoting someone to their level of incompetence. If this applies at the managing-partner level, the firm is likely in very serious trouble, as what can you really do about it once someone not competent for the office is ensconced therein? You know this when you see this. The suggestions I outlined in my previous article for long-term grooming can avoid this problem, as the proof of incompetence will be seen by Jane hopefully before it is too late.

9. I would avoid promoting someone from the outside into a firm with a strong culture. I cannot say it would “never” work, but it is a poor risk/reward decision. One way or another, the culture likely just won’t accept it. People will feel that the new managing partner “is not one of us” (or similar emotions).

10. Recognize that for the succession plan to work smoothly, Jane has to “let go” and not try to cling to things or undermine Toby. Jane has to really want a law firm that survives her and thrives after she leaves – or sticks around in a different capacity. Hopefully, Jane is the type of person who will take pride in that.

11. Along the way, build future leaders beyond Toby. The firm is in a pickle due to the “Jane Dependence.” Don’t let that happen again and have “Toby Dependence.” Groom the next generation of future leaders early on. The odds are that they are already there among the more junior partners or even senior associates. Look for leadership and management skills and start grooming these future tigers very early.

12. Building on this, Jane does not need to leave. Jane can stick around at a different level, such as an advisor, industry thought leader, continuing rainmaker, and many other ways. She just has to resist the urge to “run things.” Some Janes will do this with ease and relief; others will have more problems with it. The strength of the relationship between Jane and Toby will often have some bearing on how this will work.

13. I would push partners who are dependent upon Jane to build business of their own. This will change the dynamic of a firm dependent on one rainmaker and probably just a few clients to a law firm with a more diverse set of rainmakers and clients, which is a very healthy transition. This is no easy task, since these partners may be set in their ways and see themselves as “service partners.” This is just hard to do, but must be done even if the erstwhile “service partners” are upset at being shoved out of their comfort zones.

14. Recognize that there will likely be a power vacuum when Jane moves onward – no matter what – so don’t pretend there isn’t. Embrace it honestly and openly and solicit input from others. Toby shouldn’t just walk around and pretend “hey – everything is just fine – don’t worry about a thing.” No one will believe that. Instead, Toby’s view should likely be more like “Jane’s shoes are big ones – we are all going to miss her – but we are not going to curl up in the fetal position and just lie there – I will be the new managing partner – I will need everyone here to step up and help me lead the firm to a very successful future – it won’t be the same as it was with Jane at the helm – but it is going to still be a great thing in a different way – I am excited about what we can accomplish and I am going to give it 1,000 percent – who’s with me??!!”

15. Finally – this is not Jane’s problem and Toby’s problem – it is everyone’s problem. As I started this article, I will end it by saying that the firm has to be worth preserving in the first place. There has to be a reason for existence for the firm and, if so, all of the partners need to be eager to “step up” and to back Toby and to push the firm to the next level. Indeed, if the firm survives this critical transition point, the odds are that it will have staying power to last a long time indeed and accomplish many amazing things.

Lastly, opening the Duval & Stachenfeld kimono a bit, I admit we are confronting these issues at my firm. While I am “only” 58 years old, we have been talking about succession planning for the past few years and intend to make it a focus going forward in order to combat any potential issues arising from not having a clear succession plan. No one can predict the future, of course; however, we will control all of the variables we can control and hopefully create a succession plan that sets the Firm up for long-term success for decades to come.

Earlier: Reinventing The Law Business: Succession Planning – Yuck!
Reinventing The Law Business: Succession Planning — My Top 15 Recommendations (Items 1-7)

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Bruce Stachenfeld is the managing partner of Duval & Stachenfeld LLP, an approximately 70-lawyer law firm based in midtown Manhattan. The firm is known as “The Pure Play in Real Estate Law” because all of its practice areas are focused around real estate. With more than 50 full-time real estate lawyers, the firm is one of the largest real estate law practices in New York City. You can contact Bruce by email at [email protected]. Bruce also writes The Real Estate Philosopher™, which contains applications of Bruce’s eclectic, insightful, and outside-the-box thinking to the real estate world. If you would like to read previous articles or subscribe, please click here.