Planning for success(ion)

How can law firms build tomorrow’s board to future-proof their business? Editor Reem Khurshid asks chief operating officers at Fox & Partners and Thompson Smith and Puxon

Fox & Partners’ journey mirrors that of many other SME law firms, with its roots as a sole practitioner firm, which three senior associates then took over and converted to a limited liability partnership (LLP) about six years ago. Today, the firm has four equity partners. 

Emma Sell, chief operating officer at Fox & Partners, remarks that while there were plenty of legacy and succession issues to contend with, recent client feedback on their positioning and perception (undertaken as part of a current rebrand exercise) shows that “our succession has been successful, and we are seen as a firm in our own right”. 

Through much of its modern history, Thompson Smith and Puxon (TSP) was run like many a traditional High Street practice — until the 2008 financial crisis created “a catalyst for change”, reflects chief operating officer Sean Stuttaford. Then operations director at the firm, he worked with all of the firm’s stakeholders to identify a way through those challenging times.  

“The firm took the brave step,” he says wryly, “to invest in my education in law and practice management, and we worked to modernise the firm’s leadership structure entirely, putting in place a high-level board in 2010.” As the firm continued to grow, in recent years TSP introduced an executive committee, consisting of two members of the partnership and the chief operating officer. 

So what’s one key piece of advice they’d give other law firms? 

“You never know what’s around the corner. Even if you’re a young firm that’s new to partnership, it’s vital as legal business owners to have a succession plan in place so that your people see they have a future in the business — and to develop that next generation of leadership from day one,” advises Emma Sell. 

Stuttaford adds: “Ask yourself what you want in a leader, then develop a common framework of skills and behaviours you expect in future leaders and how to measure these. From there, you have a foundation from which to craft a long-term learning and development programme and succession plan.” 

The days of the lockstep model are long gone 

Sell certainly finds that succession is more of a challenge for SME law firms. “It’s not just a matter of finding the right people and trying to hone their management and business skills. Junior lawyers don’t necessarily want equity partnership — those days of the lockstep model of compensation seem to be long gone.” 

She believes firms will increasingly be reassessing the partnership structure — whether that’s shifting to an employee ownership model or trying something else, “The challenge for a lot of firms will be to figure out how to get talent today to ‘buy in’ to the business.” 

Stuttaford agrees that the younger generations have “much more complex aspirations”— but also sees advantages for SME firms.  

“A lot of smaller firms worry about competing with London salary rates,” he says, “Don’t. Find people who value other things and try to tap into those motivations — work-life balance, broader range of legal and leadership experience, more personalised career development — that cost nothing in terms of money, just time, empathetic leadership and thought.” 

There’s also the top of the hierarchy to consider, of course. Devolving power from a single practitioner to a partnership — as was the case with Fox & Partners — will always be a challenge, Sell notes, as it requires an entirely different mindset to establish a firm culture.  

Stuttaford also warns against a traditional tendency among SME firms to promote the highest-billing star to leadership rather than someone with the right qualities — and desire — to use their time to lead a team or manage the firm. 

Foster a culture of collaboration 

For TSP, the succession process is a careful choreography of structured planning and natural evolution. The firm documents all its partners’ roles and responsibilities, key skills, knowledge areas and client relationships — and creates a detailed mapping of their network in and out of the business. 

When a key person is looking to retire, he says, they look to their internal pool to see who the most suitable person may be to transition into that role — and start the skills development and transfer process as early as possible (ideally, at least 18 months to two years), tailoring the journey in conversations with both parties. 

“I’m there to facilitate, to help marshal their thoughts as a pair. The rest, I’ve noticed, tends to happens organically — there’s a natural shift that occurs in who takes the lead in meetings, for example, as one party feels more comfortable letting go, and the other more comfortable stepping up.” 

At Fox & Partners, Sell adds that it’s as important to ensure that firms have the right systems in place to create a culture of working as a unified business, rather than a group of individuals. “One of our initial priorities was to get a client relationship management (CRM) system in place, to get people used to a much more collaborative way of working and knowledge sharing.” 

Communicating this culture of collaboration internally is just as essential, both so that there are people ready to step into leadership roles — and to signal room for progression within the firm and how to work towards it. “Being ‘fiercely collaborative’ is a key term we came up when defining our positioning and rebrand — it’s fully embedded in our culture,” she says. 

Embrace business acumen to build tomorrow’s board 

Fox & Partners has an internal progression document that sets out expectations of how lawyers can work towards promotion and to partnership, if that is their desire. 

Sell points to another feature of the firm’s succession strategy: mentorship. “We have asked senior associates to take on a training and mentoring role for paralegals and junior associates. It gives them a taste of what it’s like to contribute to the firm’s success — as well as a bit of insight into how much work is involved in being a business owner.” 

Establishing this acumen at the very start of their careers is very helpful, says Stuttaford. “Very early in their time with us, an NQ lawyer undergoes an external business skills 101 course. It aids them in understanding how a firm’s costs and profits are made up and helps discussions around individual budgets and targets be far more productive.” 

At TSP, Stuttaford says, the firm’s learning and development programme feeds directly into its development programme for the partner track. “We are proud that we have partner-level colleagues who have been through the entire lifecycle of the programme over the several years it’s been in place — and many more are currently engaged in the programme.” 

The programme is tailored to each participant to choose their own mentor from the board (with the sole stipulation being that it should not be someone from their normal practice area) and their own pathways to progression, either towards becoming a team leader or expert lawyer. 

Rising stars are easy to spot — if you know what to look for and tap into their talents 

So how do law firms identify talent for future business management? Sell finds that prospective leaders “tend to present themselves”.  

“You get to know from working with people who is really switched on and in it for the long haul. You see it in how engaged they are in networking, bringing in new work and fresh ideas — having an interest in the bigger picture.” 

Criteria such as professional skills, client care, practice development, being a “good citizen of the firm”, how they interact with other staff, Stuttaford suggests, should all be considered rather than focusing solely on billing. 

“The goal is to have a natural selection process, where the individuals who are really motivated by leadership responsibilities will drive their own development and be in tune with the firm’s values,” he concludes.