Professional Services Accounting ARTICLE -
Bringing Industry Teams to Your Law Firm

Target Audience: Law Firm Professionals, Lawyers, Professional Service Organizations, Practice Groups, Industry Experts

Industry teams are nothing new at numerous professional service organizations, such as accounting firms. But many law firms are still structured with practice groups centered on functional expertise such as intellectual property, litigation or corporate law.

While this model has served law firm needs for years, it may not be as focused on client issues and concerns as it could be. With the practice group structure, law firms tend to be reactionary in nature and may fail to identify industry or regulatory trends that could cause adverse economic and legal issues for their clients. That’s why you should consider whether bringing industry teams to your firm could make you stronger.

Industry teams accentuate the client

Industry teams emphasize the client and the industry they work in and build around the accompanying needs. The reasons for implementing industry teams will vary from firm to firm but typically include the desire to:

• Expand the firm’s presence and increase its visibility in a particular industry,
  Leverage the existing expertise of lawyers in a firm who have experience serving similar types of clients,
• Achieve fuller integration between attorneys from different offices and practice groups, and
• Differentiate the firm from competitors who continue to practice in the traditional functional model.
  

Some of the most common types of industry teams that have already been formed in law firms across the country include technology, health care, media, financial services and energy.

Getting the ball rolling

When creating an industry team, start with areas in which you already have strong expertise. For example, if you have a thriving SEC regulatory practice, create an industry team in that area.

The next step is to find willing, qualified attorneys to act as team leaders. Team leaders should already be recognized experts in the specified industry. These leaders will then recruit other attorneys who share the same interest in the particular industry and are willing to develop their own expertise through formal training and immersion in the industry’s periodicals and associations.

Define expectations and reward accordingly

For teams to be successful, the firm must define its expectations, such as how much revenue each team needs to generate, increases to existing market share within an industry and educational expectations for all team members. Without clear expectations, a team will lack the metrics to measure its own progress and the firm’s return on investment.

The ultimate goal is to develop and grow a team that will be regarded as a leading provider of legal and advisory services within that particular industry.

Keys to building successful teams

Professional service organizations that have experienced the most success with industry teams emphasize the “client first” approach. This means your teams must set aside time at least monthly to meet with their industry clients. Interview the clients to get a pulse on things going on in the industry and in their businesses, and then, if necessary, act upon the information you receive. If you can make the client more profitable, your firm will ultimately profit as well.

Also, it’s important that you don’t start too many teams at once. It takes considerable time and firm investment to perfect the new structure, and you may simply not have enough clients in the same industry to make the team approach viable for more than one or two teams.

Another key to success is to become true industry experts. Establish plans to help team members build their knowledge in the industry. Every team member must be motivated and committed to keeping up with everything that is going on in the industry by reading trade publications and regularly attending industry association meetings, seminars and continuing education programs.

Adjust compensation to reflect team approach

Finally, compensation systems will also need to be adjusted to accommodate the new team’s goals, requirements and reporting structures. Because participation on a team may alter individual production goals, the firm should provide incentives for contributions to team performance as well as individual performance within the team context.

If you penalize team members for taking the risk with their careers of becoming industry experts, you may destroy the team and lose good attorneys.

Teams may be the right investment

The development of one or several industry-focused teams may be the right strategic move for your firm. While it takes time and effort to successfully implement and build industry teams, the investment should pay off for years to come in increased new business and client retention as word of your expertise spreads throughout the target markets.

Find out how our expertise in professional services accounting can add value to your business. Email us or call us at 1 (888) 875-9770.

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