Case Study / Succession Planning / Management Transitions
New MP is installed after his predecessor’s lengthy tenure
Key Issues
An AmLaw 100 firm was facing a major management transition; the retiring Managing Partner had served in that position for 21 years. Though the firm had tripled in size during his tenure, the firm had lost its marketplace distinction and its relative revenue growth and RPL has been very gradually sliding vis-à-vis its peers.
Actions
We had been working with the firm for a number of years before the transition. We worked with the successor-to-be to develop a “platform” (list of specific goals and articulation of a vision for the firm’s future) to provide the basis for his conversations with partners. This platform evolved into a “First Hundred Days” statement circulated to the firm immediately upon the successor’s formal election as the new MP and assumption of his role. He officially introduced this agenda at the first annual firmwide partner retreat held promptly on the heels of his election. We attended that three-day retreat and delivered the keynote address as part of “socializing” the proposed strategic modifications.
Since then we have worked with the new MP and his strategic leadership team—both remotely and in person—to further refine their goals, and to define and evaluate their proposed action plans.
Results
The “new” MP has settled into his role and the firm is on a more positive trajectory in terms of revenue, RPL and marketplace perception. Not surprisingly, our hands-on involvement has diminished. Nevertheless, he and his team still call on us for advice and counsel on potential major new initiatives, including, recently, our thoughts on a potential transformational merger of the firm.
