About Us

William C. Cobb has been consulting to professional services firms since 1970. In 1973 he joined the small law firm of Bracewell & Patterson in Houston as their COO and helped them develop a strategic plan that supplied the infrastructure for their growth to over 250 lawyers today. Mr. Cobb established his consulting practice in 1978. He chaired PLI’s managing partner workshop for large firms from 1975 to 1980, and has participated as a speaker in many conferences for the ABA, PLI, ALA, NALFMA, AICPA, and other national organizations focusing on practice management. He has written and published books for professionals on strategic planning, partner compensation, pricing legal services, creating client-driven firms, and other critical strategic issues. (Please see the Addendum to his Curriculum Vitae for a specific listing.) Mr. Cobb has chaired the Long Range Planning Committee of the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management Section, written their first book on the planning process, and been a member of the Alternative Billing Task Force and the Beyond the Breaking Point Task Force. He is currently the chair of the Futurist Committee. Mr. Cobb has an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering, and an M.B.A., and he is a CPA.

Virtual Partners

Rather than a leveraged organization which pushes product, Cobb Consulting Group is a virtual partner with other consulting organizations which excel in their chosen areas. These organizations were chosen for their reputations and their value added to law firms. They include:

Supporting Technology and Financial Consulting. Huron’s Law Firm Management team assists law firms in creating a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace through a combination of services designed to prove cost management, mitigate risk, enhance strategic technology utilization, and provide rigorous and objective financial analysis, managerial review, and guidance. From Strategic Sourcing to Financial Systems selection and implementation, Strategic Information Systems and Technology to Law Firm Operations, our team of experts help solve the problems and meet the challenges and demands of the people responsible for the business of law by providing the expertise you need, in the areas you need it.

Client Development and Relationship Management. WJF Institute has built a solid reputation in North America, helping law firms train and enable their lawyers to achieve significant advances in client needs assessment and in marketing. Their principal, Bill Flannery, is a lawyer formerly with IBM where he was instrumental in establishing their Legal Profession Marketing Group in 1980. He established WJF Institute in 1988, and has been working with leading firms since that time.

Executive Recruiting. Due to my ethical standards, I do not get involved with head hunting because of my close relationships with partners, associates, and administrative people of my clients. I typically will refer my clients to other head-hunters such as The Alexander Group or to the head-hunters the firm is working with at the time