Three Universal Truths Raised By The Heenan Blaikie Story

At last count there were over 25 issues/reasons identified by the legal press (blogs, newspapers, magazines, etc.) that led to the unfortunate demise of Heenan Blaikie. To be clear, the misfortune I speak of is not the disappearance of the law firm itself, but of those who were affected as a result through no fault of their own but rather because of the seeming ineptness of others.

I expect speculation will go on for years about the key reasons with no real resolution!

However, there are three universal truths raised by the Heenan Blaikie meltdown that all law firms should heed no matter how immune they feel they are.

  1. The times have changed and to not adapt will be terminal for your firm

    I have always been a supporter of listening to wisdom and I don't think it has been expressed any better than it was by Nancy Koehn, the chair of business administration at the Harvard Business School, at the last World Business Forum:

    "Currently we are in a time of great turbulence: financial, social, economic, demographic..." She went on to call it "punctuated equilibrium" and advised the "search for steady, a state, a system to which we will return is over... We are now in a new world in which the unexpected is the new normal, and we had all better get used to it."

    I don't think anyone has indirectly described the state of the legal profession any more succinctly. Those lawyers not wanting to make any changes in the belief "the way it was will again be the way it is" need to take heed of Koehn — that era is over and it is not coming back.

    While her solution is a refrain we have heard time and time again — leadership — Koehn defines it in a way that had it existed may have at least reduced, if not eliminated, the possibilities of Heenan Blaikie going the way of the Dodo bird. Her take on leadership was:

    "We don't need more information. We need leaders who can translate information into knowledge, knowledge into understanding, and understanding into wisdom so we can make smart choices."

  2. Partners need to act like owners

    Law firms and their management/administration are falling prey to the same finance measurement challenge that has wreaked havoc with other business sectors: how to invest in the long term when they are evaluated on short-term performance. Owners, on the other hand, are supposed to think about their firm or company for the long term not the short term. This may mean a redefinition of what success is and is not.

    It is not profits per...

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