TLOMA Today

I can’t believe its June and I’ve already completed half of my Presidency term. Time really does need to slow down. I hope you are all planning some well-deserved summer vacation. A very interesting comment was made to me a few weeks ago that I’d like to share with you. “TLOMA volunteers used to always seem to find time throughout their busy days to do TLOMA work if need be, but that just doesn’t happen anymore”. These days, most of us are just too busy to fit anything in during business hours, so our volunteers graciously give up their own time regularly to be active and involved in our Association. To all of you that volunteer, thank you.

May was a busy month for education for our TLOMA members and it all started with the May 4^th Professional Development session “Relationship Building - The Key Ingredient in Business and Life”. Then on May 16^th, we held our first Marketing SIG of 2016, “Marketing Plan - Start with a SWOT!”. On May 17^th, we held a Facilities SIG “What Law Firms Need to Know to be Compliant in First Aid”. I was surprised to learn that firms with more than 16 employees are required to have a stretcher and two blankets as part of the First Aid kit. 

It’s my pleasure to inform you of the new TLOMA Consultant Membership that is now available. A full membership may be granted to a Consultant in the legal industry if the following criteria are met:

(a) The individual is employed on a contract basis by a law firm and is performing on-going day-to-day management level administrative functions for one or more law firms, which would otherwise qualify the individual for full membership in TLOMA; or

(b) The individual is self-employed and performing on-going day-to-day management level administrative functions for one or more law firms which would otherwise qualify for full membership in TLOMA; and

(c) The individual in (a) or (b) above also meets the full membership qualifications of an eligible individual as set out in the TLOMA Policies and Procedures Manual under sections 2(b)(i)(ii) and 2(c).

Full details can be found on the TLOMA website. If you know someone who may be eligible to become a consultant member please refer them and encourage them to join.

An email will be going out shortly to the Membership from the Board of Directors looking for members to be part of the Nominating Committee. We encourage all members to sign up! It’s only a 6 to 8 week commitment. We’d love to have you join the Nominating Committee or sign up to become a member of the Board or other volunteer position and make a contribution.

Helen Lee, the 2016 Conference Chair, has advised that the Trade Show is now completely sold out.. We also have over 90 delegates registered for this year’s Conference being held from September 28^th to October 1^st in Niagara Falls at the Niagara Hilton Hotel and Fallsview Casino. There are still spots available for you to sign up if you haven’t already. I assure you that you won’t want to miss it!

If there is anyone still wishing to participate in the TLOMA Salary Survey, the deadline for data submission is June 10^th.  Questions can be directed to the 2016 Compensation Survey Committee Chair Barbara Russell, any member of the Compensation Committee, or Liz Barrington and Karen Gerhardt of TLOMA.

Please save the dates for the following upcoming events:

• June 9 2016 - Data Insight and Data Governance
• June 16 2016 - Beyond Stigma - Increasing Our Understanding of Mental Health in the Workplace
• June 21 2016 – CASL - Have the Regulators been Bulls or Bears? 
• June 29 2016 - Finance SIG Event - SAVE THE DATE!

Remember, any questions you may have can be directed to Liz Barrington, Karen Gerhardt or myself at any time. 

Sandra Hatcher-Maher
2016 TLOMA President.

There is substantial value that the TLOMA Compensation Survey brings to your Firm from a recruitment, retention and strategic perspective; but we all know that completing and submitting the survey can have its’ drawbacks. If you are trouble shooting the spreadsheet or are having a difficult time deciding how to allocate a member of your staff, reach out to us. Your Compensation Committee members are available to help and provide guidance.   We can help!   

Please note the following upcoming dates:

For more information, visit www.tloma.com/membership/membership-benefits or contact TLOMA @ info@tloma.com.

Market Erosion & Survival Of The Innovative Means Adopting A Sales Culture

Last fall, I attended a seminar on legal services procurement that dealt with the topic of sales. Of the 49 attendees, there were four partners, three pricing managers and 42 business development professionals — further proof that lawyers either don’t understand the value of sales or don’t want to.

Given the dire need to maintain current work levels (never mind finding more work) the five-letter word, “sales,” is one that lawyers would be wise to add to their lexicon and adopt into their culture.

Seminar panelist Vincent Cordo, former global Director of Client Value at Reed Smith LLP, with similar experience at two global law firms, has a laser-like focus on sales. Cordo, who now uses his pricing and procurement skills as Global Sourcing Officer for Shell observed that, in many cases, there is “no sales glue” between a firm’s marketing and business development people and its lawyers, and that this disconnect results in revenue leakage for a firm.

He’s right. Actually, there’s a gaping divide, because lawyers aren’t generally good at sales and law firm business development people are rarely directly involved in sales, which culminates in leakage levels that border on hemorrhage. This is why law firms needs to adopt a sales culture fast if they want to remain solvent.

Lawyers Don’t Know Beans

Professional services firms, especially the Big Four auditors, adopted a sales mentality over 20 years ago when they twigged that accountants aren’t natural salespeople. Like accountants, lawyers say they didn’t go to school to learn how to sell, and they’re right.

Steve Bell is Chief Sales & Marketing Officer with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP, a law firm based in North Carolina. He says Womble Carlyle was already successful at sales even before a formal sales function was created. Now, even though the firm’s salespeople have sometimes singlehandedly-transformed prospects into clients, he says, “client service largely is the province of lawyers.” And that, “relationships initiated and advanced by salespeople should be transferred to lawyers as quickly as possible.” As Bell says, “Client developers can move on to the creation of new relationships. Lawyers can deliver extraordinary client service.”

While Womble Carlyle’s salespeople have come from banking, accounting and university development, the firm isn’t organized by sector. But Bell says, “It seems like a great idea to have professionals who are deep in a specific industry.”

Accountants Know Beans

Professional services firms not only adopted a sales culture two decades ago, they also organized by industry. Robert Osborne is General Counsel and a partner with PwC in Canada. He says, “The firm’s salespeople are predominantly aligned to our industry and segment teams, although there are some product salespeople in some of our niche solution areas.”

Thanks to industry alignment, PwC is able to attract top performers with deep sector expertise. Osborne says, “It ensures that the business development group has the depth of knowledge, relationships and experience they need to fully understand our clients’ business, and further establish our leadership within the various industries they support.”

This is why accounting firms know beans and law firms have yet to know beans when the bag’s open. The Big Four have industry alignment and sales cultures down to a science. Having added legal components to their service offerings, these global goliaths with their big brands and bigger bucks have fast become a major threat to traditional law firms worldwide.

As dire as that may sound, there is still a chance that, if law firms can adopt the proper sales mentality, they may just yet have a hope of being around 20 years from now. After all, salespeople can learn about legal services just as they’ve learned about accounting and other professional services. And one of the best features of the relationship between the sales and service professionals is that it’s church-and-state. Salespeople at professional services firms can’t and won’t do your taxes any more than salespeople at law firms can or will handle litigation.

As Bell of Womble Carlyle says, “To be crass, sales is sales … especially when it is consultative sales. Whoever is doing the selling just needs to listen and understand, and be a portal to relationships. It can be a lawyer, a sales professional, a marketing professional, a director of administration or a receptionist.”

Proof positive that sales is basic. And it’s strikingly effective when the whole firm is the sales department.

Firms Face A More Competitive Market Than Ever

The legal industry is very inclusive – we all know this. Once a professional dedicates their career to law, they tend to remain in the legal field for the duration of their career. Conversely, in the past, it has been rare for someone outside the legal industry to enter mid-career from another industry. This is one of the big reasons why the legal industry is unique – there is extensive specialized knowledge, skills, and a specific way of doing things. 

But things are changing. Now more than ever, law firms are operating like a business, and having a “this is always how we did things in the past” approach could prevent your firm from evolving and competing in a changing landscape.

The Solution – Hiring From Outside Of The Legal Industry

Hiring from outside of the legal industry can help firms rectify some of their talent management shortcomings; however, very few have started to explore this path even though it provides many potential benefits.

Why?

We posed this question to our network of legal professionals, and they all responded with a similar “Yes, but…” response when asked, “Would you hire someone from outside of the industry?”

The hesitation to hire from outside is more about the industry itself than the individual.

“The Legal industry has the ‘this is the way we have always done it' approach,” says Grace Langford, Chief Administrative Officer of Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP. “The hesitation is that the legal industry has uniqueness about it, and there is a fear that if a firm hires from outside the industry, it’s not going to be the right fit because law firms have historically operated very differently than other industries.”

When posed with the same question, Reta Coburn, Chief Operating Officer of WeirFoulds, LLP, who was actually hired from outside the industry, had this to offer: “It’s a little bit of a qualified yes, but there are certain attributes that we would need to look for in someone from a business or corporate environment coming into the legal field. It is important that we ensure that an individual making this transition be adaptable, collaborative and consultative to set them up for success.”

The Benefits Of Hiring From Outside The Legal Industry

Even though many firms are slow to consider hiring from outside the industry, the companies that have hired externally have benefited.

• Innovation When a firm brings in an experienced professional, you will gain access and exposure to a variety of new business tools, best practices, metrics and analytics, and the opportunity to see progressive practices implemented in business. "Adding these elements to your tool kit can help your firm look at things from a new perspective and focus on continuously improving," says Coburn.
• Challenges To The Status Quo Every new hire is an opportunity to see things in a new way and challenge the status quo. “Our experience is that people often bring interesting and fresh ways of thinking and new best practices. Outside perspectives offer insight into improved ways of doing things,” says Langford.
• More Diverse Talent Pool Considering other industries significantly opens the door to a more diverse talent pool. Restricting your hiring to the legal industry alone limits your ability to hire the best talent possible.
• Solidifying Partnership Between Legal Professionals & Business Leaders

  Hiring professionals from outside the industry who have experience with marketing, technology and business operations, allow lawyers to focus on what they do best, practicing law. “Time is my inventory,” says Robert Thornton, a founding partner at Thornton Grout Finnigan, LLP on Lawandstyle.ca. “The time that I spend not billing is time away from the top line of the business.”

• Competitive Edge “Hiring a professional brings a different perspective and allows you to look at things with a different lens,” says Kristin Oliveri, Firm wide Human Resource Manager at Baker & Hostetler, LLP. It gives a firm the chance to consider things that could have otherwise been overlooked because of their proximity to an issue or way of doing things. It will also bring a new network to the table, opening the door for future strategic partnerships and resources.

Hiring Challenges Remain

Hiring from outside the legal industry does not come without its challenges. The industry operates very differently from a traditional corporate environment, something that could take some getting used to, even for experienced professionals.

“Operations and client services is paramount to everything in law,” says Oliveri. This is a huge adjustment. “You either get it, or you don’t, and the particular nuance that usually exists with these roles in a law firm is understanding that the lawyers are our clients so we must deliver with a view to add value to their practice so that they can in turn enhance their service to the firm's end clients,” adds Coburn.

Advice For Firms Not Hiring From Outside The Industry

“Try it out on a conservative basis. Try it out with a specialized role such as HR but select a professional who has experience working with legal professionals in an indirect capacity, such as having worked for a vendor to the industry, to establish a comfort level and see how the firm responds,” says Coburn.

“Take a leap of faith and try it,” says Langford. “There are great people out there and the legal industry is only going to continue its shift to more businesslike operations.”

“It depends on the position. There has been success when hiring in technology, marketing, and finance,” says Oliveri.

Effective talent management provides firms with access to superior performance and superior talent – something they need to ward off competitors, gain a competitive advantage and better serve their clients. It is also a powerful way to improve organizational culture and approach operations in a new and innovative manner. People are a firm’s best resource. Expand your hiring practices to find the best talent possible – regardless of industry.

Name of Organization / Company: NCOGrenville

Organization / Company Overview: As a proud Silver Sponsor of TLOMA, NCOGrenville is the largest and fastest growing independently owned Authorized Canon Office Equipment Dealer & Managed Services Provider in Canada. With over 30 years of industry experience, we are very well positioned to assist firms with improving document workflow to increase productivity, reduce costs pertaining to documents and provide an unparalleled customer service experience.

Expertise & Growth:  NCOGrenville specializes in Managed Print Services, Equipment Sales and Service, On-site Staffing with over 600 employees across Canada, Overflow Printing  & Fulfillment in our full production print facility and Cost Recovery Solutions from Nuance.

NCOGrenville is an Authorized National Reseller and Service Provider of Canon, HP, Lexmark, Nuance and we are very excited to announce our partnership with Konica Minolta as an Authorized Dealer for their suite of products. As a result, we can focus on providing the leading, most cost effective solutions while providing excellent customer service.

How many years have you been a Business Partner of TLOMA? 5 Years.

What has been your partnership experience with TLOMA over the years? Being a Business Partner with TLOMA has been very instrumental in our success in the legal market. It has opened the doors to many partnership opportunities at a variety of Law Firms across the GTA and Canada. I have also enjoyed meeting new people and creating new friendships along the way. 

Favorite TLOMA Memory? Getting up on stage with the band at the last TLOMA Conference. I am sure that is just the beginning of many great memories to come!

What is your favorite movie? The Shawshank Redemption.

What is your favorite comfort food? Of course, pizza.

What is your favorite artist / band you got to see live in concert? The Eagles – so many great songs.

What is your favorite sports team? The Toronto Maple Leafs – Just kidding.

What are your favorite hobbies? I play in two working bands as the lead singer/guitar player and I have been performing live since the age of 15 in various bands around the GTA.

Name one thing you can’t live without: My Family.

If you could have a 60-minute conversation with anyone (fictional, famous, not famous, etc) – who would you choose? My Grandfather - Knowing what I know now, I wish I had more time to listen to his stories of being on the front line during WW2.

You have been gifted with $10,000 …. The only catch is you have to spend it all within 24 hours…you can’t use it to pay bills. What does your 24 hour spending spree include? Guitars – lots and lots of guitars :)

Georgia Rennick

• How long have you been a member of TLOMA? A long time!
• Where do you work? Aird & Berlis LLP
• What do you enjoy most about working in the legal industry? The sense of community through TLOMA. Amazing, supportive and bright individuals who help each other to succeed and become better individuals in the process.
• What has been your volunteer experience with TLOMA over the years? On the Board of Directors, including President.
• Favorite TLOMA Memory? Too many to narrow down to one – definitely involves the conferences though.
• Where was the last place you vacationed? Just came back from Portugal.
• What is your favorite lunch spot during the workweek? Sadly, my desk!
• What was the last movie you saw?  Concussion – everyone should see this!
• What is your favorite artist / band you got to see live in concert? Coldplay – even made it backstage!
• What are your favorite hobbies? Skiing and “cottaging”.