Articles

Avoiding the Bermuda Triangle of law firm management (AFR op-ed) - why some firms suffer from growing pains. Click here to view and listen to a 30-minute interview with Joel discussing this article)

Is bigger better (Law Management Hub) - Smaller, market-leading law firms have proven over the years that size is not a pre-requisite for success, but there are some areas where scale can be an advantage

Are law firms ready for the Great Transition (AFR op-ed) - there will be no let-up in the pressure on individual firms to retain their top talent over the next 12 to 18 months

The empire strikes back (AFR op-ed) - five reasons why private practice law firms may win the war for talent

The Big 4 in law - failing again? (AFR op-ed) - progress to date in the Big 4's grand plans of global domination

The State of the Australian Legal Market - The 2021 report from Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor, Joel Barolsky co-author

Be client-focused, not client-compelled - Five strategies to make sure your pricing is fair to the client and fair to the firm

Is your practice in the right shape (AFR op-ed) - much can go awry if a firm doesn’t have the right balance of senior and junior professionals

Karate Kid lesson for law firms (AFR op-ed) - why it's essential that Australia accelerate its Covid vaccination program

Key partner, where are you going next? (AFR op-ed) - insights from the five stages of a typical partner's career

Leadership development should start earlier (AFR op-ed) - the current system emphasises creating outstanding technical advisers, but not great leaders

Where was Minters' chairman during the Kimmitt crisis (AFR op-ed) - a deep dive into the critical and difficult role of law firm chairperson

How law firms can do more with less (AFR op-ed) - the rise of legal operations to make a step-improvement in productivity

How law firms can avoid 2021 burnout (AFR op-ed) - a key objective for many law firms in 2021 will be to build resilience and avoid burnout.

Partners or owners: the law firm divide (AFR op-ed) - the pros and cons of having non-equity partners in your partnership

Why Harvard is wrong on law firm management (AFR op-ed) - why adviser-owner-leader is a better description of the partner role

Law firms face danger in straying too far from the core (AFR op-ed) - lessons for firms seeking to develop side businesses

Will law firms be more productive but less human? (AFR op-ed) - three more predictions about a post-Covid19 world

2020 State of the Legal Market Report - where the market is and where is it heading based on Thompson Reuters Peer Monitor data

Is HWL Ebsworth Limited a BUY? (AFR op-ed) - How will stockbrokers react to HWL Ebsworth Limited's prospectus?

What does your firm's balance sheet tell you - Make your firm more valuable by focusing on five key intangible assets

How your law firm can limit the virus hit to your bottom-line (AFR op-ed) - Qantas-style pricing and a 'sharing' culture can help counter sharp falls in revenue

Will new partners need to keep grinding away (AFR op-ed) - the long-term impact of Covid-19 on the role of partner

Does your law firm really need a barista (AFR op-ed) - four things law firms need to think about in creating the future

Love the tech you're with, at least for now (AFR op-ed) - three key questions firms need to ask if they are to make more from their existing technology

A post-corona legal world: more kindness, less paper (AFR op-ed) - while there is a lot to fret about, there will also be some important positives

Five ways to improve your firm's balance sheet (AFR op-ed) - intangible assets underpin long-term value creation

Is bigger better (AFR op-ed) - are smaller or larger firms more successful?

The potential profit impact of the Fair Work changes (AFR op-ed) - what would your firm do if awards governed your rewards?

Legal products - New trick for old dogs (AFR- op-ed) - five key success factors for law firms to add technology products to their offering

Why culture really really matters (AFR op-ed) - seven areas where a strong culture adds to firm profit and sustainability

The potential profit impact of new technology (AFR op-ed) - how firms can capture value when technology is a key element of the service offer

Partnerships are productivity machines (AFR op-ed) - why firms should embrace the producer-manager-leader model and not fight it

State of the Legal Market Report - the 2019 Thompson Reuters Peer Monitor report covering the top-end of the Australian legal market

Lean in and be counted - podcast interview with Graham Seldon of Seldon Rosser

Firms paying price for poor HR record (AFR op-ed) - the relationships in and around HR need to improve in many firms

Five lessons from successful lawyers (AFR op-ed) - what a 10-year comparison of the AFR partnership survey tells us

Making Rain - video interview with Dr George Beaton

The profoundly human law firm (with Ray D'Cruz) - the successful law firm in 2030. Click here to listen to our podcast on this topic.

Advancing the retreat (Law Management Hub guest post) - six tips to make partners' retreats more effective

Stop trying to differentiate your firm (AFR op-ed) - why trying too hard to be different is a waste of time and money

Retreat or Defeat (AFR-op-ed) - the strategic choices facing premium Australian law firms

Good times roll but law graduates miss out on a Harvey Specter life (AFR op-ed) - analysis of December 2019 Partnership Survey

Strategies for whatever future holds (AFR op-ed) - the current legal boom a one-off or the start of glory days?

State of the Legal Market - 2018 Peer Monitor Melbourne Law School report, co-authored with Eric Chin

The evolution of the rocket model (AFR op-ed) - the strategic impact of adopting new process technology

What's your Collaboration Agenda - a collaboration planning agenda for you to use and adapt

Beyond mediocrity and myopia (Law Managed Hub guest post) - how to stress test your client strategy

Measurement matters more than money - why the dollar is no substitute for effective leadership

EY's acquisition of Riverview Law (Lawyers Weekly op-ed) - a strategic disaster in the making

Better together (ALPMA guest blog) - 10 reasons collaboration is a good idea

Getting clarity on the CRP role - 10 ways to describe the client relationship partner role

The end of the club (AFR op-ed) - why many collegiate full-service mid-tier firms will fail

Get your practice group strategy right (Law Management Hub) - make sure each practice is playing its part

What's the right price (Acuity Magazine) - the 5-step approach to pricing professional services

Transitioning your low-profit clients - five strategies to make unprofitable relationships more sustainable

Is your firm a club or a one-firm firm? - my 2018 take on the Maister classic

The accountants re-enter legal. Meh! - the Big 4 are not going to have it all their own way

What are your 2018 experiments - your personal, practice and public agendas

Is the demand for legal booming - what if reported market data is fake news

7 key enablers of smart collaboration - how to go from being collegiate to truly collaborative

Advancing the retreat - tips to get more from strategy off-sites, conferences and retreats

Top 20 workshop facilitation tips and secrets - some practical ideas to run better workshops

From pyramids to rockets to ecosystems - the evolution of the professional service firm delivery model

There are two words in “strategic plan” - some practical advice on how to make strategic plans more useful

From collegiate to collaborative - why collaboration is hard and what to do about it

A professional services value chain - 12 ways a firm can improve its profitability and competitiveness

The 2-5-3 method of pricing professional services - a simple method to smarter pricing and capturing more value

Six strategic shifts and implications for HR - the expectations of the HR function are getting higher and higher

The state of the legal market - conclusion from the 2017 Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor MLS Report

Are your practice groups primed to win? - getting all the parts to sum up to something more

10 questions for your plan B - implications on technology change on law firm structure, strategy, style and skills

Firm purpose. Seven Options - alternative ways of thinking about your firm's purpose or reason for being

Pirouettes or Death Spirals - Op-ed on the Australian mid-tier legal market from The Australian Financial Review, 30 June 2017

People, relationships, data: a focus for boards - an article in CPA Australia’s IN THE BLACK, 1 May 2017

The business case for diversity in law firms - Op-ed from The Australian, 20 October 2017

10 reasons culture eats strategy for breakfast - how a positive and productive culture generates profits

Success = Ability + Stability + Agility - how to become a more agile and innovative firm while retaining core strengths

Blockchain: earthquake or rose planting - the impact of the blockchain on in-house legal teams (first published in the Australian Corporate Council Journal, Autumn 2017)

Innovation for sceptics - how to innovate when your firm is filled with smart sceptics

Two-speed firms: the problem and solutions - dealing with differentials in partner commitment and contribution

Five steps to becoming a more agile firm - creating the right foundations to innovate

Culture fit, or do you mean no misfit - don't confuse misfits with cultural catalysts

Is 2017 the year the fat smoker quits? - the forces for change might finally be overwhelming the constraints

Five lessons from five years going solo - insights from the first few years as a freelance management consultant

The Taxi Taxonomy - client analysis on the run

Butcher butcher's paper - innovating with Google Docs in strategy workshops

Getting true client commitment - co-authored with Jon Huxley of Beca on the critical role of leadership in CRM

Norton Rose Fulbright and LawPath - stress testing a NewLaw and BigLaw venture

Is your board focused on strategy or operations - getting your board to pay attention to really important issues

Stress test your client strategy - five categories of client strategies for you to stress test your key account plans

What’s your sneaker strategy - getting clarity on how you will outrun your competitors

Adding adding value - a fresh way to communicate the value you offer to key clients

5 takeways from teaching management at the Melbourne Law School - the best way to learn is to teach

The market test - assessing your firm's strategic health as an external investor would

Redefining shared services - getting more from HR, IT, finance and marketing

The keys to cross-selling - some practical ideas to improve product knowledge across the firm

10 things to do different - making sure your plans are not just more of the same

From MY client to OUR client - why client hoarding is still such an issue and what to do about it

What’s wrong with the sales pipeline - adapting the McKinsey 3 Horizon Growth Model to key account management

Top 10 differentiation tips - an article from the APSMA PSF Journal on how to differentiate your firm

Smarter relationship pricing - co-authored with Colin Jasper covering the merits of incentivised retainers

Can you handle the truth - introducing the Barolsky Barometer cultural mapping tool

Your loyalty levers: head, heart and ego - moving beyond client satisfaction to drive client loyalty

Reports of BigLaw’s death are magnified - article from The Australian on legal industry trends, 20 December 2013

Efforts made for clients define tier one firms - article from The Australian on how top-tier firms manage their key clients, 24 July 2014

What’s your mantra - getting clarity and consensus of your firm’s strategic intent with each key client

Two slides of the client loyalty coin - the importance of getting a good rap AND a good dollar from your clients

Do you know your client’s KPIs - the power of understanding what truly drives client behaviour

Taking the Maister trust equation to a new level - a new formula for building trusted B2B relationships

Facilitating a strategic dialogue around key clients - getting everyone on the firm to share insights around key clients

Are you client-focused or client compelled - recognising the importance of asserting your rights as a supplier

The power of unsolicited proposals - the discipline of consistently thinking how else you could help your client

Don't just set and forget - the keys to ongoing key client governance

So you're ranked your key clients. Now what? - making clear distinctions between your different tiers of clients

The problem of share-of-wallet as a KPI - finding better metrics to assess your key client relationships