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William C. Cobb - Cobb Consulting (WCCI, Inc.) 6207 Rodrigo Street, Suite A Houston, Texas 77007 T/N 713-227-2300 Listed: College of Law Practice Management www.collegeofLPM.org Listed: LinkedIn www.LinkedIn.com
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Areas of Consulting Practice Enabling Change and Law Firm Leadership Credibility
Cobb Consulting started with the first book on strategic planning written for the ABA 1978. See the “Speeches and Writings” tab for more information. Strategic Planning set up the discussion of the future with the leadership. Through Strategic Planning we look at the implications of current trends and the future of the law in a law firm’s market. Mr. Cobb chaired the first two conferences on the future of law in 1997 and 1999 called “Seize the Future.” The strategies lead to discussions and decisions about organization and partner accountability for key responsibilities. That works into organizational structure driven by the firm culture, the nature of the practice, and the challenges of the market. Should the law firm decide to move into new areas of practice, mergers and acquisitions became part of the strategy which Mr. Cobb worked with the client in determining if a match would make two plus two equal four. Those discussions lead to discussions of what behavior and tasks should be rewarded and how they should be rewarded. That leads into the compensation system and how it adapts and is used to make the transition from the generation of lawyers in the firm to the next generation of leadership. That also leads into discussions of who and why the next level of leadership and management will emerge.
An example will help to show how my consulting works with clients.
A law firm was in an effort to try to transition from the current leadership (in some cases the founders) to the next generation of leaders. They created a strategic planning committee to look at the future of trends that were going to affect the firm’s growth and profitability. Committee members were appointed including the two senior partners with the current credibility, one middle level partner trusted by both the older and younger partners, and two younger lawyers that showed strong support among the younger partners. That group looked at the next ten years and made recommendations on the next areas of practice, the organization, and the reward system. The credibility of the committee was such that the law firm decided that a person could not serve on the Executive Committee or as Managing Partner unless they had spent at least three years on the Strategic Planning Committee.
That firm has expanded exponentially throughout the western hemisphere and profitability per partner has continued to rise year after year. Leadership has continued to support the strategic planning committee and look every year at the trends and implications affecting the firm. |
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