Why you should never leave lawyers’ growth pathways to chance

In short:

• Getting early clarity among law-firm stakeholders on the best growth pathways for mid-career lawyers is crucial.
• Any new practice areas or initiatives that lawyers pursue must be aligned with the firm and practice team’s broader strategy.
• Chosen growth pathways should be reassessed regularly to ensure they are still appropriate.

Determining the best growth pathways for emerging leaders and lawyers is an important but often overlooked task, writes Joel Barolsky.

“Growth pathway #1, or growth pathway #2?” is perhaps the most important question to ask every associate, senior associate and special counsel in your firm.

The second most important question is, “Have you got the buy-in to this choice from your supervising partner?”

The growth pathway for mid-career lawyers in private practice generally follows one of two ways. Pathway #1 is one where the practice essentially spins off an existing base. Space is created for the associate to progress by adding extra capacity and resources to meet the demands of an established, growing practice. Pathway #1 could also be part of a succession plan when a senior established partner changes focus, or seeks to retire.

Growth pathway #2 is where the mid-career lawyer creates an ‘independent’ practice that taps into a new client base, or focuses on an emerging issue, or delivers the service with a fresh business model. Most importantly, this new area needs to be aligned with the firm and practice team’s broader strategy.

Smart move

A great example of Pathway #2 is Allen’s Valeska Bloch, who as a senior associate pioneered the creation of Allens Accelerate – a new online fixed-price legal delivery service focused on start-ups and emerging enterprises. Through Accelerate, Allens was able to attract Canva as a client – an acorn that turned into a massive oak tree.

The exhibit below illustrates the Pathway #2 strategy of a dispute-resolution (DR) generalist who over three time horizons – H1, H2 and H3 – aims to specialise in class actions and to sub-specialise in cyber-crime defence work.

There are pros and cons of both growth pathways. The major advantage of Pathway #1 is that it is lower risk and possibly takes less effort. The emerging leader has benefits of growing within the slipstream of a proven, established practice. They do not need to be a brilliant ‘finder’, more of a good ‘minder’, or ‘grinder’.

The major downside is that the incumbent partners do not want to let go, or do not provide the space or support for the emerging practitioner to flourish. The incumbents may feel threatened by someone coming into their patch, and while they may publicly support the move, their observed behaviours and mindset are more like a saboteur.

Pathway #2 is much higher risk and uncertain, but it has the benefits of the emerging leader staking their own place in the sun and not being dependent on the goodwill of the incumbent partners. Associates starting out on this pathway may need to be natural ‘finders’, or be open to develop the skills necessary to win new clients and mandates.

Clarity the key

Getting clarity and consensus among the key stakeholders on which pathway, or combination of pathways, is essential.

The earlier the better. A clear direction provides a reference point for many other choices – for example, which clients and matters to accept or decline; who to collaborate with; which courses to enrol in; what circles to network in; and what messages to send to the market, online and in person.

It is also essential that the chosen growth pathway is revisited at least once or twice a year. A change in market conditions may demand a new approach, or reveal new opportunities. There may be internal shifts or changes in firm/team strategy that require a change in direction, or an acceleration or deceleration of the growth journey.

At first blush, the Pathway #1 or #2 conversation seems so obvious and just plain common sense, but it is surprising how often practice strategy for emerging leaders is just left to chance.

Joel Barolsky is a leading strategy advisor, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator to law and other business advisory firms. He is a Principal of Edge International and Senior Fellow of Melbourne Law School. Visit www.barolskyadvisors.com for more details.