Lisa Damon Presents at Practice Group Strategy & Execution 2011

There are a number of potential disconnects between policy, management assumptions and real-world practice that can adversely impact practice groups. As law firms begin to shift from a cost-plus business model to a margin-based model, action plans must change accordingly in order to accommodate new client service standards and adapt to a “new normal” in which clients require more predictable pricing, better definitions of quality, alternate staffing of matters and more.

Ark Group/Managing Partner Magazine’s 5th annual Practice Group Forum will not only illustrate the need to invest time and effort in establishing new initiatives that drive higher operating efficiencies, but also demonstrate how practice leaders can achieve buy-in and build consensus around a vision—striving to overcome a high opportunity cost for its lawyers, separating financial goals from operational goals, and overcoming the inherent resistance to change.

Labor and Employment chair Lisa Damon will present at the conference on "What’s Right for Your Client is Right for Your Business: Buy-In and Reconciling Efficiency with Profitability." Her talk will focus on the question, "How can your practice maintain or even boost profitability while cutting fees or moving away from the billable hour?" Lisa will explain that it’s no longer about hours—it’s about margin. Her session will not only illustrate the need to invest time and effort in establishing new initiatives that drive higher operating efficiencies, but also demonstrate how practice leaders can achieve buy-in as they attempt to overcome a high opportunity cost for its lawyers—separating financial goals from operational goals and overcoming the inherent resistance to change.