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Monographs

 

 






Our monographs provide you with a glimpse at our thinking.
Please click on each title below to view the monograph:

"No Chicken Little, The Sky is Not Falling"

John S. Smock, John W. Sterling and Peter A. Giuliani

A few weeks ago, John Smock met with a client of Smock Sterling’s regarding that client’s performance as part of a merger that occurred last year. In discussing the fact that the merger was going very well, the client pointed out that he had recently attended a presentation in which another law firm consulting firm described the present and future of the legal marketplace in very clear “doom and gloom” terms.

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"Strategies in the War for Talent – Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Great People"

John W. Sterling

It has become cliché to say that a law firm’s most important assets walk out the door every night. Yet, getting, developing and keeping great people must be at the center of virtually every firm’s strategy. Having high quality people is fundamental and it is what is driving the so-called “war for talent.”.

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"The legal marketplace in 2008—time for the industry to jump out of the sauce pan"

John S. Smock, John W. Sterling and Peter A. Giuliani

Each year, as close as possible to its beginning, SmockSterling Strategic Management Consultants assesses the legal marketplace, identifies issues, and proposes solutions to those issues. We are not alone in doing this, but have tried to be both creative and original in figuring out ways to get the message across to our clients and friends in that legal marketplace.

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"The seven deadly sins of law firm mergers and combinations"

By John S. Smock

Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Divine Comedy (and earlier theological/biblical references) listed the seven deadly sins of pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. In coming across this listing while doing some recent research, I clearly had an “I could have had a V-8” experience. These seven deadly sins – with a little bit of adjustment and redefinition – can clearly illustrate the problems many law firm managements have in successfully carrying out meaningful mergers and combinations. Thus, the following offers our take on these seven deadly sins of law firm mergers and combinations and what a firm interested in strategically growing can do about them.

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"Unlocking value and performance through better practice group management "

By John W. Sterling

Over the past ten years, nearly every law firm of reasonable size has adopted some form of practice group organization. Some have adopted the concept with relish and have driven management responsibility and authority into the hands of practice group leaders. Others have been more tentative, organizing into groups, but asking and/or expecting relatively little from both the groups and their leaders.

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The Legal Marketplace in 2007 - Rip Van Winkle Would Not Recognize It

By John S. Smock, John W. Sterling, and Peter A. Giuliani

Smock Sterling Strategic Management Consultants takes a step back once a year to assess the legal marketplace (where we spend close to 75% of our time) – the status, the trends, and what our clients (and, for that matter, all firms) need to do to survive and prosper.

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Not Measured, Not Managed: Using the Balanced Scorecard in a Sophisticated Law Firm

By John W. Sterling

It has been over 10 years since Robert Kaplan and David Norton published their landmark business treatise, The Balanced Scorecard. The concept of a balanced scorecard is now so entrenched in the field of strategic management that application of balanced scorecards is literally “old news” to strategists. At Strategy & Leadership – a leading strategic management journal – case studies and other articles related to the balanced scorecard draw yawns from peer reviewers.


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What's Happening Out There?  The State of Legal Management in 2005

By Peter A. Giuliani, John S. Smock, John W. Sterling

This is Smock Sterling Strategic Management Consultants annual assessment of the state of the legal management marketplace. It covers the state of the market, trends, and what the winners will do.

OVERALL STATE OF THE LEGAL MANAGEMENT

If there were some official authorized to make a “state of the legal industry” address, similar to the U.S. President’s State of the Union address, his/her prognosis would be quite positive.

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Recent Monographs

Implementation - the Gutsy Challenge in Strategic Planning

Over the Top — Law Firm Strategic Planning Excesses and Mistakes in 2003

Confessions of a Law Firm Management Consultant – My Twenty Years Before the Mast

Effective Marketing, Not Branding, Is the Key to Growing Work for Existing Clients and Attracting New Clients

Dispatches From the Merger Front

Law Firm Management Issues on the Cusp of 2003

The Evolution of Law Firm Strategic Planning: Darwin Would Have Been Proud

Law Firm Management in 2002

FOCUS – Strategy Planning Using Our Industry-Leading Methodology

Our Services to Law Firms

Strategic Planning in Law Firms – From “Nice to Do” to “Essential for Future Success"

The Four Stages of a Successful Law Firm Merger

To Merger or Not to Merge – That is the Question

The Seven Deadly Sins of Law Firm Management in the New Millennium

 

 

 
© SMOCK STERLING ● 900 North Shore Dr., Suite 256 LakeBluff, IL 60044 ● Tel: 847-615-8833 ● Fax: 847-615-9550 ● smock_sterling@smocksterling.com