We recommend most everything David writes on law firm leadership and management. The essence having practice groups, says Maister, is the willingness of individuals to contribute non-billable time to the group effort and their agreement to be accountable to the group for what is promised. In this article, he writes that the problem with practice groups in many firms is that most group leaders have poorly defined roles, unclear objectives and responsibilities, and ambiguous authority. He maintains that group leaders must be selected for their attitudes not their accomplishments. They need to be rewarded for the time they dedicate to the role, and they must have meaningful input in the compensation system.
