‘Tis the season for law firms to be jolly. Income is up. Profits are soaring. The 2024 lateral hiring party remains in full swing. The future for law firms is looking bright.
If there are a few clouds on the horizon such as a bit of global volatility, the odd despotic world leader, a few cyber risks and the perils of not embracing AI, no-one seems too bothered. The mulled wine is flowing.
As a leadership and performance coach, here are my top three people tips for 2025 to keep the law firm party going.
Adopt a Hunter-Gatherer Mentality
In 2025, it will become an imperative for private practice lawyers, irrespective of experience, to master not only doing the work but also winning the work. More than ever, lawyers will need to become hunter-gatherers.
The challenge is that lawyers, brilliant as they may be, are not natural rainmakers. Left to their own devices, most lawyers will happily get on with the business of lawyering. They won’t instinctively seek out new work, even the low hanging fruit from existing clients.
Two pieces of seminal research show how much work there is to be done. Dr Larry Richard has extensively researched the personality of the lawyer. Lawyers are not instinctive hunter-gatherers. His research revealed that lawyers are not as sociable, empathetic or resilient as the general population. These are many of the requisite shills that will be increasingly needed.
In 2023, the Harvard Business Review covered a survey in which five types of business development traits were identified. One type stood above the rest as the one that feeds the hunter-gatherer mindset. Unfortunately, this is the very trait that is the least prevalent in law firms.
In my experience, law firms wait too long before coaching their lawyers to think and act like hunter-gatherers. It should start at law school and be followed through from the get-go. Why wait until a lawyer becomes too expensive and then coach them to generate enough work to cover their salary? The horse has bolted.
Adopting a hunter-gatherer mindset in 2025 is an overdue imperative.
Increase Emotional Intelligence
In 2025 (and beyond), emotional intelligence will become the single, most important, non-technical skill needed for lawyers to flourish.
The pace of change, coupled with the stresses of being a lawyer will increase. The lawyers who can express and control their emotions and understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others, will flourish.
How else can firms build cohesive high-performing teams, if it doesn’t have emotionally intelligent leaders? How else can the hunter-gatherers win and keep clients, if they can’t read the room? How else will firms retain a disenfranchised generation Y workforce desperate for human connection (in addition to top quality work), without this?
It’s not breaking news that lawyers are not the most self-aware creatures (I qualified as a lawyer; in case you think I am a bit preachy!). To be fair, lawyers are paid to think, not feel. However, it’s an artificial distinction. The future will belong to those firms who not only hire the best technical lawyers but who coach their lawyers to create emotionally intelligent workplaces.
Teams. Teams. Teams
In 2025, collaboration will be more important than ever. The era of the heroic, lone partner who carries the firm or the department on their shoulders is dead. The firms who build collaborative, high value creating teams will surge ahead.
Legal work in 2025 will remain complex and often carried out across multiple jurisdictions, involving several practice areas. The best law firms are already harnessing the power of their teams. Their lawyers are mutually accountable. They create teams with a recognised common purpose and shared performance goals. They don’t shy away from conflict. They embrace and manage it.
In 2025, the need to create a team culture and mentality will be unavoidable. This is a thorny one so long as compensation is based upon and rewards individualistic performance. Realistically, firms are not going to re-write their compensation structures, but we are seeing some tinkering to reward the behaviours that create collaboration.
In conclusion, there is much to be cheerful about. Many firms are decking the halls with well-earned money. This is therefore a great time for firms to invest in creating workplaces that will stand the test of time, even when the party comes to an end, as it inevitably will.
This article was first published in ALM Law.Com
