The legal services industry is a financial powerhouse in the American market, generating over 300 billion in revenue in 2021 alone. Due to the overwhelming importance of this industry, law firms around the United States are tasked with the goal of consistently evolving and progressing. As skilled attorneys and negotiators, a lawyers’ focus should be on their clients and the success of their cases. For this reason, the operations, processes, and systems that the law firm utilizes to run their business may suffer. As a result, more and more law firms are seeking experienced law firm consultants to help ensure the success of their business as they provide legal services to their clients.
At 3sixty Consulting Group, we work with law firms to develop and expand their current operations in order to meet the growing needs of the legal industry. By leveraging our years of experience in the C-suite of national AmLaw 250 firms, we pinpoint exact areas of opportunity and deliver solutions to address these challenges effectively and seamlessly. If you are a legal professional and want to take your law firm to the next level, consider contacting 3sixty Consulting Group today at (404) 398-3888.
What Is Law Firm Consulting?
Broadly speaking, consulting is the process of helping individuals or businesses solve their most challenging issues or problems. Consultants work across industries to analyze information, identify solutions, and implement new processes to optimize the business. By leveraging a breadth of experience and expertise, consultants can provide a fresh perspective on topics that businesses may not have otherwise considered.
With hundreds of thousands of law firms operating in the United States, legal businesses must go the extra mile to grow their practice. Innovating the processes and procedures that a law firm uses to actually run their business is a major component of a successful law practice. In essence, this is what law firm consultants do: drive progress. Law firm consulting involves preparing for the success of the firm, not only in the immediate future but long-term, years down the line.
What Services Do Law Firm Consultants Provide?
At 3sixty Consulting Group, we tailor our services to meet the individual needs of law firms and legal institutions. In this way, we are better able to deliver a range of advice and support regarding financial and operational issues to law firms, corporate and government law departments, and other legal organizations. Specifically, law firm consultants are well-positioned to provide the following services:
- Diagnose and develop profitability models by practice area
- Review and strategizing of partner and associate compensation
- Analyze financial systems processes
- Implement legal technology to create more efficient operations
- Establish new training procedures
- Identify and implement enterprise resource planning systems
- Navigate mergers and acquisitions
- Review firm operations
- Provide advice on fractional and interim C-suite services
The right law firm consultant should be able to assess your law firm’s current process and operations, offer personalized solutions to key problems, and ensure the longevity of your firm. Not all law firm consultants are equal, however, and it is important to choose the proper consultant for your law firm’s goals.
How To Choose the Right Law Firm Consultant?
The right law firm consultant can completely transform your practice, making it critical to choose the right individual for the job. The type of consulting services that you need hinges on the issues that your law firm must resolve. In this way, the first step to selecting the proper law firm consultant is to reflect on your goals and how a consultant can help you reach these objectives.
It may be beneficial to consider the following questions when choosing a law firm consultant for your practice:
- What is your main priority for your law firm during this fiscal year?
- What is unique about your law firm compared to your competitors?
- Is there anything that you or your employees are doing that may prevent you from achieving the results you want?
- What parts of your practice need to be strengthened?
- What is your primary challenge and how would things be different if you did not have to deal with this challenge in the future?
These questions are a fantastic starting place, and the right law firm consultant will help you expand on these queries to gauge your needs. In addition, when vetting potential consulting teams, it is key to research the firm before committing to their services. The following factors should weigh heavily in your choice of a law firm consultant.
Experience & Expertise
The proper legal consultant for your firm should have a breadth of experience in dealing with the specific challenges that you are facing. When choosing a law firm consulting team, consider whether they have experience in the legal industry. Have they worked with law firms in the past? If so, do they have expertise in handling law firms of a similar size as your practice? These questions are important to consider when selecting a law firm consultant. The profile of the consulting firm can provide a great deal of insight into these matters.
Methodology & Mode of Communication
Before hiring a law firm consultant, it is important to determine whether the consultant’s methodologies and communication styles are compatible with your firm. What approaches and tools does the consultant use when completing projects? How do they delegate responsibilities? Are they advisory in nature or do they help execute initiatives? How do you connect with the consultant and how often can you expect to communicate with them? If you are looking for transformative outcomes, for example, seek a consulting firm that prioritizes innovation and creative problem-solving.
How Can 3sixty Consulting Group Help?
Regardless of whether your law firm needs substantial changes or minor tweaks to current systems, 3sixty Consulting Group can help. Through our flexible, individualized workstyle, we are able to enhance the capacity of law firms depending on their unique objectives and needs. Our expertise speaks for itself, and we view each law firm through a fresh perspective, identifying issues that your law firm may have overlooked. To speak with an experienced law firm consultant, consider contacting 3sixty Consulting Group at (404) 398-3888 today.