With complex cross-border collaboration, consultant Patrick McKenna warns against focus on mundane
Most legal leaders believe that the challenges they face are becoming more complex, with many feeling at risk of being overwhelmed. To meet the demands, firm leaders must prioritize resilience and develop the ability to understand and implement new technologies, according to a survey by Patrick McKenna of McKenna Associates Inc. and Michael Rynowecer, president of The BTI Consulting Group.
The consultants initially surveyed legal leaders in 2023 about their challenges and followed up with them recently on how they can accomplish that, found that 81 percent of law firm leaders perceived their challenges as growing in complexity, while 13 percent described leadership as “almost overwhelming.” Some even characterized stepping into a leadership role as a “sink or swim” experience with minimal preparation.
Building on these findings, the new survey asked experienced law firm leaders to share solutions, best practices, and common pitfalls. The study compiled responses to open-ended questions, organizing them into key themes based on the response frequency.
One of the skills that future legal leaders most emphasize is resilience. The white paper found that leaders must be mentally and emotionally prepared to handle increasing pressures while maintaining focus on strategic goals.
“Extraordinary resilience is required as the competitive landscape continues to intensify. Extreme energy – this job is not for the faint of heart,” a survey participant said.
Surveyed leaders said that the ability to stay composed under pressure, have difficult conversations, and withstand the demands of firm leadership will become even more critical by 2030.
McKenna says resilience is crucial because, unlike practising law, where daily achievements are measurable, firm leadership often involves long-term goals with no immediate results.
“At the end of the day, you go home to your spouse, and they ask, ‘Darling, what did you accomplish today?’ As a practising lawyer, you can point to various things you completed. But as a firm leader? Good luck with that. Many of these things aren’t accomplished in a day, a week, or even a month. They take much longer,” McKenna says.
He adds that leaders often struggle with justifying their own roles, especially when transitioning from being a top biller or rainmaker to a more abstract leadership position.
“You’re wondering, how do I justify my existence to myself and to my partners? What do I tell them I did this week? If I can point to some administrative minutiae, then at least I have something to say. ‘Hey, look at what I did! I was really busy.’ But the truth is, you are your own worst enemy, focusing on the mundane instead of the strategic,” McKenna says.
McKenna says technology is one of the key areas on which legal leaders need to focus. The survey showed that technology is increasingly shaping the future of legal practice, and firm leaders must be at the forefront of its adoption.
Most participants agreed that AI and other emerging legal technologies will be critical for managing partners.
“The firm leader of 2030 will need to balance the ever-accelerating pace of technology within a profession that does not accept change with ease,” a survey participant said.
The survey showed that AI and automation are expected to significantly impact the traditional law firm model, particularly in how legal work is delegated.
A retired legal leader said that “there’s a nagging fear” around the question of whether the “firms are creating on-ramps for the next generation of leaders in this era of AI” and if they “are they designing career paths to develop skills and experiences that won’t be displaced by technology?”
McKenna says that the legal profession can’t ignore AI's potential impact on junior associates, as automation threatens to replace many of the tasks traditionally assigned to young lawyers.
“Why would I hire associates right out of law school to do work that AI can do? Why am I going to spend partner-level time to train these people when AI can do it?”
Surveyed leaders warned that failure to integrate technology into firm operations could result in losing competitiveness and declining profitability.
“The law firm model of today – and largely that of the past decades – may be radically transformed. It will be incumbent on future leaders to shape that model to ultimately provide greater value to clients and the people in their firms,” a survey participant said.
McKenna says many new leaders make avoidable mistakes, often by trying to please everyone, overloading their agenda, or failing to delegate.
“Making promises – trying to please everyone” was identified as the number one mistake, “and these were open-ended questions,” McKenna says.
He adds that cross-provincial legal collaboration remains an underlying challenge in Canada.
“In many firms throughout the US and Canada, we have difficulty working across practice groups or industry groups. Ours is even more complicated because we have difficulty working across provinces.” He says this issue is often overlooked but presents real barriers to seamless teamwork.
“There is a hurdle around collaboration and seamless working together, and it is border-driven – at the top level and throughout,” he adds.
McKenna also points out that the timing of the leadership transition is something that not enough law firms pay attention to.
“One major Canadian firm went through a huge transition at the beginning of January, and they brought me in for a one-day intensive session with the brand-new firm managing partner and the regional managing partners,” he recalls.
“The very first thing I told them was: Go on a listening tour. Talk to your partners and find out their views. But this was January [when] everyone is caught up in partner compensation and year-end financials. So, there you are, as a brand-new leader, having to deliver bad news to partners about their earnings for the coming year. That’s a nightmare transition,” he says.
