Lawyer Monthly - December 2021 Edition

35 DEC 2021 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM HOW CAN YOU SUCCESSFULLY LEAD YOUR LAW FIRM THROUGH A MERGER? have explored a large number of potential opportunities and have turned down more than we have pursued. It is almost a cliché to say that culture is key, but it is true. If the purpose of our growth is to enable us to maintain the independence of the firm that we all enjoy working in, then anything that would be detrimental to our existing culture and values is not the answer. That does not mean finding a clone, but it does mean having confidence that the people coming in, especially at leadership level, are sufficiently aligned to your vision and approach to avoid fundamental changes that you do not want to see. We had an employee net promoter score of +70 in our most recent staff survey – that is not something we want to put at risk. Beyond that, the potential merger needs to be capable of adding to the bottom line and enhancing your service offering. Just adding turnover is unlikely to achieve very much. Our recent merger with Clark Holt was the culmination of a working relationship stretching back at least 12 years. That meant that both sides had long experience of what made each firm tick, what kind of people they were, what mattered to them and what sort of future we all want to have. Naturally, we were quite different firms, one being a small, highly specialised team based in one office focusing on corporate, commercial and real estate, the other spread over five offices and offering services from conveyancing to complex international arbitration. But our teams had worked closely together over many years, each assisting clients of the other in areas which one firm did not offer and also working jointly on matters for mutual clients. We already had a shared network of contacts and referrers. We could see very clearly that our way of working, our approach to client service and our approach to people were all quite closely aligned. When the proposed merger was announced, the response from several clients and contacts was “why have you waited so long?”. In terms of the financial aspect and the service offering, the merger fitted neatly into an approach – which we had been following for a number of years – of building and growing