Strichland Law Practice

Prominent American law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges founded in 1931, almost a century ago, has collapsed and is now winding down. It is almost unbelievable that this prestigious law firm which had more than 1,200 lawyers, acted as pallbearers for the likes of General Motors and Enron in bankruptcy, and made more than 2 billion dollars in revenue last year is currently struggling for survival to the point of processing a winding down. What should we learn from this as law firm owners in our clime? 1. Revenue is not profit. Being busy is not profit. Large clientele is not profit. Accolades and awards is not profit. At the end of the day, the numbers on the business side of law must not only add up, they must reflect in the lives of its people. 2. Audit your practice and know when to pivot, expand practice areas or increase geographical spread. Weil, Gotshal & Manges is a firm focused on bankruptcy and has led many companies like Enron through its own bankruptcy. When bankruptcy began drying up and other mega firms emerged through mergers, the firm stuck to its niche while other firms tried to maximise profit by dominating every corner of the legal business. From what I read, by the time it was expanding, its growth was already behind that of its peers. The worst thing after an idea that came too early is an idea that came too late. 3. Make decisions fast- At the first sign of trouble signalling dwindling times, the firm saw it, refused to lay off workers, tried to salvage through restructuring and merger talks both of which failed. Those same workers saw the downward spiral and moved enmasse to other firms triggering retention issues and consequently the winding down. At the end of the day, not making a decision is also a decision and sometimes a very expensive one. 4. Talent war and retention dynamics- To compete or grow to the stage of competing with giant law firms who have amassed a war chest that allows them dominate the race for talent, your numbers MUST be right. You must make data driven decisions. You cannot charge a client based on feelings, emotions, phrases like ‘abeg’, ‘just help me’, ‘small case’, ‘small letter’, or ‘don’t worry a bigger brief is coming’ or even your current circumstances. The vision of where you want to be and the sacrifices that has gotten you to where you are must always drive you. 5. Nobody is immune to failure- A one year old firm can fail so also an almost 100 years old firm can fail. Grow fast, fail forward, think seriously about succession, constantly benchmark yourself with elite firms, not because you are comparing but because you are drawing your own innovative roadmap to reach the top. Building anything is never easy. Many builders, principals and entrepreneurs show up at work daily after having 3am mental board meetings with ourselves on how to move the business forward, make hard decisions for the vision, check the account balance multiple times and psyche ourselves for the journey ahead. Today as always, I doff my hat to every builder out there. Better days are here…