Culture

AuthorRandall Kiser
ProfessionInternational authority on attorney and law firm performance
Pages105-135
5
Culture
e concept of law rm “culture” makes some attorneys uneasy. It
strikes them as being abstract, illusive, transient, and, in any event,
unrelated to the practice of law. Since culture seems to lack the tan-
gibility and rationality associated with lawyerly analysis, attorneys’
discussions about law rm culture tend to be brief, awkward, and
unavailing.1 at’s unfortunate because, as Ben Heineman, the
former general counsel of General Electric Company, asserts,
“Creating a common culture based on professional values of ser-
vice, collegiality, loyalty, quality, integration, and cooperation is
probably the greatest challenge for today’s law rm leader.2
Attorneys’ understanding of law rm culture is hampered by their
apprehension that culture is subjective in nature—highly depen-
dent on individual perceptions and group interactions and thus
precariously linked to personal feelings and emotions. As consul-
tant David Maister explains, lawyers are trained to be dispassionate
and tend to be uncomfortable with feelings and sociability. “is
1 Lawyers and executives share an unease about culture. Harvard Business
School professor Boris Groysberg and his colleagues nd that “it is far more
common for leaders seeking to build high-performing organizations to be
confounded by culture. Indeed, many either let it go unmanaged or relegate
it to the HR function, where it becomes a secondary concern for the busi-
ness.” Groysberg, Boris, Lee, Jeremiah, Price, Jesse, & Cheng, J. Yo-Jud. (2018,
January– February). e leader’s guide to corporate culture. Harvard Business
Review, p.46.
2 Heineman, Ben W., & Lee, William F. (2010, May 20). Trust, justice and the
BigLaw Way. e American Lawyer.
105
doesn’t mean they don’t like people,” Maister elaborates. “It just
means that, statistically speaking, lawyers prefer focusing on the job
at hand rather than investing in relationships with those they are
working with (other partners or associates) or for (clients).3 One
lawyer, for example, says he leaves his personal feelings at home;
and “when he hung up his jacket on the back of his door in the
morning, with it went his personality, both of which he put on at
the end of the day as he left the oce.4
Although law rm culture may seem to be subjective or amor-
phous, it actually is palpable, measurable, and, for most rms,
determinative. ose attorneys who think that rm culture is
uncomfortably aective or relatively unimportant might be sur-
prised to learn that rm culture is the main reason partners cite for
leaving their rms—and the most important factor in their selec-
tion of a new rm. When asked to identify the reasons why they
left their former rm, the most common response among surveyed
partners is “did not like rm culture,” followed by “compensation”
and “rm nancial health.5 When asked to list the most import-
ant factors in choosing their current rm, partners rank “rm
culture” above all other factors.6 “Practice area support,” “rm man-
agement,” “rm nancial health,” and “personality of partners” are
ranked below rm culture in importance.7 As these surveys indi-
cate, culture matters to attorneys and strongly inuences where
they choose to practice.
Culture also is a key factor in protability. Although people tend
to assume that nancial success contributes to a strong company
culture, the process actually works in reverse: a strong company
culture causes nancial success.8 “We found that culture causes
3 Maister, David. (2006, April). Are law rms manageable? e American Lawyer.
4 Ibid.
5 Lindsey, Jon, & Lowe, Jerey A. (2014). Lateral partner satisfaction survey
(p.12). Major, Lindsey, & Africa.
6 Ibid. at 14.
7 Ibid.
8 Boyce, Anthony S., Nieminen, Levi R. G., Gillespie, Michael A., Ryan, Ann
Marie, & Denison, Daniel R. (2015, April). Which comes rst, organizational
culture or performance? A longitudinal study of causal priority with auto-
mobile dealerships. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(3), 339. Denison
106 American Law Firms in Transition: Trends, Threats, and Strategies

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT