I'm getting plenty of visitors to my blog as a result of people searching terms similar to the title of this post...Average Billable Hours Medium Law Firm...
It's important to appreciate that averages are only of limited use...especially in this context...
Of course for averages to be useful in budgeting in law firms someone utilising them would need to have a good feel for the type of firms in the sample, their culture, and their profitability, and of course the samples hardly ever give you enough useful information of that kind...
Two and a half decades ago I first got indignant about how poorly many lawyers used their average days...and frankly the averages showing up in the surveys today hasn't change much...
However the averages in firms implementing KMS WorkPlans has changed a lot...
Because KMS-advised firms go about the planning of fee-earner resources so much more professionally, not using averages, the outcomes are far better...
So as a simple example, a series of surveys may indicate that average billable hours for a particular level of lawyer are 5.5 per day...
Properly planned, using a WorkPlan, actual budgets might be as high as 6.5 or 7...and even at $325/hr that's an extra billable component of $75,000 approx to $110,000 approx for every fee-earner...
No rocket science needed to appreciate that there's scope to give additional reward to those team members who operate properly for their base remuneration, and still keep some extra profit, and extra fun, for those who are taking all the risk, and managing the new work flows to allow the production to happen...
Large chunks of extra profit are available to those who plan utilisation of fee-earners properly, and that extra profit can, when channelled quickly back into the firm via good engagement management and good credit control, free up cash and make managing your firm so much easier...
The bottom line...doing far better in profit, cash and fun doesn't require a huge adjustment in the way you operate...it simply requires a common sense system to ensure you aren't doing a lot for very little return, and usually the adjustments are far easier and far more powerful than you'd expect...
To chat about the issues feel free to email billable averages@lawfirmprofit.com and we'll set up a time on the phone to suit you...
Finally today...many thanks to all of you who have signed on for emails of my blog posts...it's great to get the feedback...and thanks too to those of you who are bloggers and have subscribed to get my blog posts in other ways...including Google Friend Connect...I trust you are thoroughly enjoying your own blogging experiences...
Rob Knowsley LLB...lawyer, management consultant, motivational speaker, educator, dedicated to applying 48 years professional and business experience to help determined lawyers get the most from their skills. Established KMS 34 years ago...now advised 1380 Australasian law firms. Available to assist a select group of small firm lawyers serious about true excellence in their firms. Email...rknowsley@gmail.com or find me on Linkedin.
Wednesday 11 April 2012
CPD Australia Practice Management and Business Skills Mandatory
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