Here’s How to Use Metrics to Build an Extraordinary Law Practice

Bodybuilders, bakers, builders, and farmers all carefully measure what it takes to create the perfect end product—muscles, cakes, houses, and crops.

Why don’t attorneys carefully measure and analyze the right activities needed to build thriving practices?

The irony is that lawyers often focus too much on the end game – the number of client matters – and not on what really matters – the activities that bring us to those client matters. The number of client issues we land is generally beyond our control, but we can control our progress in achieving those issues.

Developing and monitoring progress shows you if you are on track to reach your goals. Therefore, it is imperative to determine what you should measure and then measure it.

For example, it is clear that talking to potential customers logically leads to new orders. So measure how many prospects you connect with each month. We know that speaking and writing can build brand awareness and boost visibility in the target audience. So measure how many articles you write and how many lectures you give each month. Lawyers in law firms frequently recommend each other’s assignments. So measure how often you contact these referring attorneys.

Three-part harmony

In essence, this process is a three-part harmony. First, set your goals. Next, choose the right activities that will get you to your goals. Finally, determine actions for these activities.

Let’s say you’re a junior partner practicing labor law and you’ve worked exclusively for corporate clients for most of your career and haven’t spent much time engaging in business development or cultivating your existing network of contacts. As a partner, you must now hunt for your own work.

To achieve your goals, you need to increase the size of your network of people who you can hire, act as referral sources, and get your brand known to a specific audience.

A first step in achieving your goals is to make a list of everyone you currently know who has the potential to hire you, serve as a source of referrals, and give you mass notoriety through speeches, writing, etc. This list could include current clients, friends and family, industry contacts, corporate contacts, and community connections.

Next comes your wish list. Who do you want to meet? Make a list of these people as well, and then think of reasons why they would be interested in speaking to you.

Maybe you are writing an article or speaking at an event and are looking for their input. Perhaps you have joined an industry group and would like to meet some of the members. Perhaps you can take a managerial position in an organization and use that position to meet new people. Or you make a podcast and are looking for guests.

All of this activity, both with your existing and potential networks, involves action. You can do things like the number of times you reach out to your current or new contacts, the number of speaking engagements you’ve conducted, the number of groups you join that are staffed with your target audience, or the number of leadership positions on the right Page tracking groups.

Be more disciplined

Let’s take another scenario. Perhaps you are a relatively busy mid-level partner and occasionally engage in business development. You’ve had some successes, but you know that if you were more disciplined you could undo them.

For your goal, you might want to get more involved in business development because you know that you often lose the ball when other things come up.

Activities that support your goal might include regularly setting aside time on your calendar to focus solely on business development. You could also find people to hold you accountable – find e.g. B. Find a “Business Development Buddy” in your company or elsewhere and set aside time to plan, make commitments and be held accountable for your commitments.

To track your progress toward your goal, you need to measure multiple activities.

This includes the percentage of time you stick to your planned commitments to engage in business development, the time you invest in business development – e.g. B. if you currently put in 3 hours a month, challenge yourself to make 4 hours out of it – and how often you meet with your responsible person.

These are just a few examples of how you can build an exceptional practice with a goals, activities and actions approach. Define your endgame, reverse engineer what needs to be done to reach that endpoint, and measure your progress towards your goals.

Whether it’s building big muscles, baking delicious cakes, building magnificent houses, growing bountiful crops, or creating huge practices, the rules are similar. Measure what matters and build systems to ensure you stick to your plans.

Most lawyers don’t think like that. So by applying these logical principles, you can consistently outperform your competitors.

This article does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

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Information about the author

David H Freeman is a business development coach and consultant for lawyers and law firms. He is the author or co-author of 14 books on leadership and business development in law firms. He is also the creator of Lawyer BookBuilder®, a self-paced online digital coaching program that teaches lawyers how to transform themselves into great rainmakers.