Patrick McKenna – McKenna Associates Inc.

This 24-page magazine contains a number of pragmatic articles on law firm management and strategy. I am pleased to have been putting out this magazine for some years now. It essentially started when I first began mailing…more

A recent Legal Week article claimed that according to some new research . . . the CEO is primarily responsible for a massive 82% of law firm appointments for organisations with sales up to $500m..." The authors of this study…more

I witness this same scenario play itself out, time after time, and we never seem to learn. Imagine this: The practice group leader or managing partner has their attention drawn to the fact that one of our beloved partners is…more

Dear Valued Clients and Friends: I trust that you enjoyed a most productive and restful summer. I am hopeful that you will find this latest issue of International Review to contain a number of practical ideas, tips and…more

Here is a provocative scenario: You are in your early fifties, a successful practitioner and in the midst of your best revenue-generating years, when your partners ask you to take on being the firm’s next managing partner. Your…more

Whenever I think about the effort that is required to go into implementing your firm’s strategic plan, I’m reminded of a particular business book title that grabbed my attention when I first saw it . . . Hope Is Not A Strategy! …more

Co-managing partners have become more common as law firms struggle to find partners who aspire to be full-time managers. Yet embracing shared leadership brings its own challenges…more

You are at the stage of having worked with the members of your Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) for a number of months to finally come to the point where you have a draft strategic plan that has been approved by the partners…more

One of the more profound things that I learned, that I try to pass along to new leaders, be they managing partners or practice heads is to “act like you are on stage at all times, because you are!” Everything you do and say…more

I’m currently collaborating with a colleague who is doing a lengthy research project attempting to identify the characteristics, traits and behaviors of the most effective law firm managing partners. In our most recent…more

In October 2010, I initiated a survey in preparing for a presentation that I was scheduled to deliver at the American University Washington College of Law. I subsequently sent surveys to 220 law firm leaders, representing a…more

Here is the latest in a regular series of articles based on the work of the Managing Partner Leadership Advisory Board (“LAB”). The LAB was created by international law practice management consultant Patrick J. McKenna and…more

Developing an effective strategic plan is not easy. It gets even harder when you have to confront certain behaviors that make innovation and creative thinking difficult to execute. This short article identifies six of the more…more

Whether working with a practice group, an executive team or the members of some firm’s strategic planning committee, I continue to be struck by the dysfunctional behavior that is often present in group meetings. I don’t know why…more

Here is the latest in a regular series of articles based on the work of the Managing Partner Leadership Advisory Board (“LAB”). The LAB was created by international law practice management consultant Patrick J. McKenna and…more