MPF Webinars - 2021
Below (in reverse chronological order) are links to the on-demand recordings and handout materials for The MPF Webinars we presented in 2021. Moderated by John Remsen, Jr. and Uri Gutfreund, these sessions are fast-paced, highly interactive and full of benchmarking data.
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What Every MP Needs to Know about Information Governance
by Managing Partner Forum with Ella Gower, Andy Hoedt, Rob Mattern and Nathan Curtis
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on December 1, 2021
During the Webinar, we gathered and presented lots of data on our topic, and we learned the following:
- Twenty-seven percent (27%) say their firm's insurance provider is pressing for more attention on this issue. Twenty-four percent (24%) say their clients are pressing. But the real catalyst for better Information Governance is coming from law firm COOs and CIOs say seventy-six percent (76%) of our participants.
- Attorney resistance to change is the #1 hurdle to implementing Information Governance policies.
- Thirty-two percent (32%) of participating firms have formal Information Governance policies in place. Compliance is frequently a challenge.
- Forty-four percent (44%) of firms have record retention schedules in place for both paper and electronic records. Thirty percent (30%) have schedules for paper records only. Twenty five percent (25%) do not have retention schedules in place.
- Eighty-three percent (83%) say Information Governance is an important strategic priority for 2022.
- COVID has accelerated the integration of better technology practices into most mid-sized law firms.
- Recent studies by Deloitte and McKinsey report that organizations embracing "digital transformation" significantly outperform competitors.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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An Introduction to Law Firm Succession Planning
by Managing Partner Forum with Don Mrozek
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on October 13, 2021
Our guest speaker was Donald L. Mrozek, Esq., Chair Emeritus and Chair of the Professional Services Practice Group at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. One-hundred fifteen (115) managing partners and firm leaders participated in the live session, and here a few interesting data points we gathered:
- Twelve percent (12%) of firm leaders report to have a "clearly articulated" succession plan in place at their firms
- Sixty-five percent (65%) say their firms are doing a "fair" or "poor" job identifying and grooming future firm leaders
- Twenty-one percent (21%) have mandatory de-equitization provisions in their firm's partnership agreements
In recent years, we have observed that "succession planning" is emerging as a top priority for many smaller and midsize law firms. Clearly, there are opportunities for most firms to improve as they look to the future and seek to implement strategies and initiatives to assure smooth and successful transition.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Trends in Law Firm Compensation Systems
by Managing Partner Forum with Uri Gutfreund and John Remsen, Jr.
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on September 1, 2021
Law firm leaders crave timely, relevant data about industry trends and how other firms do things, so on this edition we presented a change of pace from our usual program format with two or three guest speakers. Rather, we asked 20 rapid-fire live audience polling questions. Here is a sampling of what we learned:
- Thirty-two percent (32%) of firm leaders report that their firms have made significant changes to their compensation systems in the past five years.
- Sixty-two percent (62%) of firm leaders describe their firms’ compensation systems as “mostly objective,” with thirty-eight percent (38%) heavy on “collections” and twenty-four percent (24%) heavy on “origination credit.”
- Forty-five percent (45%) report a trend toward “more objectivity” in their systems in recent years.
- Forty-one percent (41%) say their compensation process are trending toward "more transparency” in recent years.
- Firms are trending away from “seniority” as factor and assigning more weight for “firm-building” contributions.
- Most firm leaders (53%) report a multiple of three-four between the lowest and highest compensated equity partner.
- Thirty percent (30%) say that top performers are undercompensated.
- Seventy-two percent (72%) say that chronic underperformers are overcompensated
If compensation is on the agenda at your firm’s leadership meetings, this is good stuff to share.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Building a Truly Exceptional Law Firm Culture
by Managing Partner Forum with John Harrity and Charles Jimerson
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on August 4, 2021
This month, we invited John Harrity, Managing Partner of Harrity & Harrity in Fairfax, Virgina; and Charlie Jimerson, Managing Partner of Jimerson Birr in Jacksonville, Florida to discuss how they have built and maintained highly successful cultures at their law firms. We discussed the importance of hiring the right people to begin with, then investing in their career development. We also discussed dealing with "problematic personalities."
We had an exceptionally candid conversation about this important aspect of law firm leadership.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Mitigating the Psychological Impacts of COVID at Your Law Firm
by Managing Partner Forum with Larry Richard
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on June 2, 2021
Larry is a long-time member of the MPF Faculty and expert on the lawyer personality. As always, we collect and share current data through survey questions and audience polling. Here is some of what we learned:
- Eighty percent (80%) of firm leaders think some of their firms' lawyers are struggling with impacts of COVID. Ninety-two percent (92%) say they have support staff who are struggling.
- Ninety-three percent (93%) report increased "distractibility" or "anxiety" among their people.
- Seventy-five percent (75%) of firm leaders say they are proactively reaching out to their people to make sure they are doing OK. People living alone and those with young kids are especially vulnerable.
- Providing "social support" is the most beneficial thing law firm leaders can do to mitigate the impacts.
Larry provides excellent guidance for law firm leaders and, already, the session has been featured in Law360 in an article by Aebra Coe entitled "How Firm Leaders Can Ease COVID's Psychological Impacts." Click here for the article.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Your Firm’s Post-Pandemic Workplace Model:
How to Find the Right Balance for Your Organization
by Managing Partner Forum with Rob Mattern
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on April 6, 2021
On this edition of The MPF Webinar Series called “Your Firm’s Post-Pandemic Workplace Model: How to Find the Right Balance for Your Organization” with Rob Mattern, president and founder of Mattern & Associates, a national leader in law firm operations consulting. In assessing the best workplace model for your firm, we discussed the importance of talking with your people (both lawyers and support staff), your clients and your vendors as you work through these issues.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Point/Counterpoint: Should We Bring
Everybody Back to the Office or Rethink our Workplace Model?
by Managing Partner Forum with Michael Hurley, Jr. and Jon Pinney
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on March 3, 2021
Our topic is “Point/CounterPoint: Should We Bring Everybody Back to the Office or Rethink Our Workplace Model?” and 195 firm leaders participated in the live session. Here are a few things we learned:
- Since COVID hit, managing partners at midsize law firms report that overall productivity is slightly up for partners, slightly down for associates and considerably down for support staff.
- Forty-three percent (43%) of firm leaders "strongly favor" the concept of a hybrid workplace model
- Eleven percent (11%) "strongly favor" a full return to the office
We thank Michael J. Hurley, Jr., Managing Partner of New York’s Cassin & Cassin LLP, and Jon J. Pinney, Esq., Managing Partner of Cleveland’s Kohrman Jackson Krantz, for their participation and candid insights on this timely topic.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Women in Leadership: Tips from the Trenches
by Managing Partner Forum with Lisa Ramsey Cole and Leslie Packer
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on February 3, 2021
On this edition of our series "The Law Firm of the Future," our guest panelists were Lisa Ramsay Cole, President and Managing Shareholder of Tennessee’s Lewis Thomason, and Leslie Packer, Managing Partner of North Carolina’s Ellis & Winters. One hundred-forty (140) firm leaders participated. Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams was our guest co-host. As always, we collect and present relevant bench-marking data on our topic, including:
- Sixty-four percent (64%) of participating firms report challenges retaining women lawyers,
- Forty-nine percent (49%) have a formal diversity and inclusion initiative in place, and
- Fifty-six percent (56%) allow for part-time equity partners.
This was our first Webinar dedicated to women in leadership and we will be presenting more such programming in the future.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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Disruption Alert! The Movement toward Law Firm Ownership Reform
by Managing Partner Forum with Whitney Cunningham and Carson Pearson
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on January 6, 2021
One of our most important and thought-provoking Webinars to date, which covered recent developments in Arizona and Utah that are predicted to have profound and fundamental impacts on the legal profession throughout the country. Both states formally allow nonlawyers to co-own law firms and give companies (mostly technology firms) the ability to provide legal services. Bigger states like California, New York, Florida and many others are watching closely and are not far behind in enacting similar reforms. During the session, managing partners Whitney Cunningham of Arizona and Carson Pearson of Utah discussed these changes in their states, how local legal communities are responding and some of the initiatives underway at their law firms. As always, we collect and present current survey data on our topic and incorporate it into the handout materials, which also include a nice article from Bloomberg Law that provides a good national overview of the situation.
Click here for On-Demand Webinar.
Click here for Handout Materials.
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