LAW FIRM CHANGE CONSULTANTS BLOG

Information on law firm management

EDITORIAL: Making life easier!

Professional athletes have coaches. Company bosses have coaches. Only the top lawyers do not have coaches?

Anyone who performs at a high level of efficiency is under enormous pressure to perform in a high-performance law firm (in English these are not called High Performance Work Systems for nothing). “In addition” he also has to cultivate his social environment and lead employees, address customers and seek new business opportunities. And these are the ones who don’t have coaches? When we launched the “AdvoCoach” brand 19 years ago, we were often told that lawyers “don’t need” them. In the meantime, that has changed, but many, too many in our view, have not yet discovered for themselves the advantage of making their lives easier through self-reflection. As a specialist in the law firm market, we could cite one or two examples where we could make a difference.

Posts:

10% more turnover with automated time recording

How to generate 10% and more turnover by separating the recording and evaluation of times – legally secure No lawyer succeeds in reconstructing a day’s work to the minute after the fact – and yet many try. The time recording is then neither objective nor accurate to the minute, as required by the ECJ  –

Why could the AI represent a Kodak-moment for law firms and their business model?

A casual conversation with ChatGPT about the ability of law firms to adapt to using AI machines (Questions by myself, answers by ChatGPT) My questions were: Why could the AI represent a Kodak-moment for law firms and their business model? Very well, but why would law firms suffer, and when? But is the role of

General Counsel in the 21st Century (2nd Ed.)

Eine Untersuchung des Marktes der Wirtschaftskanzleien in Deutschland hinsichtlich Marktsegmente, Erfolgsfaktoren und Herausforderungen

Attempting the impossible: Legal and compliance departments in a systemic predicament

– a provocation. This is my presentation title at Legal Live 2021: a critical review of law and compliance, seen from the perspective of systems theory…. When? on 9.11.2021, at 12:30 ! Where? at Legal Live, a virtual congress format. https://legal-live.net/fur-besucher/#programm (in German)

Lawyering is like sailing

Lawyering is like sailing… you need to think in advance what may come, prepare for the worst, hope for the best… summer has been kind to me this year, with lot of wind and sun… the occasional thunder storm, and warm summer winds… sailing along the danish islands in the Baltic Sea which are rightly

ignoring basic profit considerations in german medium sized law firms

Figure: Development of revenue per professional of the leading national law firms 8Hengeler, Gleiss Lutz, SZA), the leading UK and US law firms (global players) and the medium-sized law firms among the top 100 law firms in Germany. Data from Juve, analysis LFCC   Larger German law firms, and in 1996 there were exactly 237

Legal Market Software – a comprehensive research for software providers of the german market

The first neutral market study on the law firm software market (version for software providers). How are software vendors in the law firm market actually preparing for the increasing demands of the digital world? We have investigated this question: Which of the vendors has adapted to how the market has changed over the past 10

10% and more turnover with automated time recording

How to generate 10% and more revenue by separating the recording and valuation of times - legally secure No lawyer can reconstruct a day's work to the minute in retrospect - and yet many do. The time recording is then neither objective nor to the minute, as required by the European Court of Justice -

Actually, nothing has changed in 2020!

Actually, nothing has changed in 2020! We just travelled less, but that was actually not so bad…. Despite Corona, we carried out our law firm consultations, including 4 face-to-face workshops with all partners. And these were our favourite projects: Helped a law firm with 20 partners increase profits by 64% in just 2 years. Helped

How can the EU Money Laundering Directive be implemented in larger law firms?

Dr. Peter Berg knows that implementing the latest EU Money Laundering Directive in law firms can sometimes be a complex undertaking. His experience is about working with a Magic Circle, defining the processes in Germany in conjuction with the UK Headquarters. German lawyers have to comply with fine-protected requirements resulting from the implementation of the

Dealing with the Corona crisis: first experiences from our consulting work

What must law firms do in a crisis? How must law firms react to the corona crisis? How do law firms remain successful despite the crisis? We answer all these questions in a nutshell!

Team culture development in law firms

Team culture is central to high performance systems such as law firms; it is the result of shared reflection on the rules of the game and understanding of differences. Partners who take the time to do so benefit in many ways.

Key figures in law firms: what do the partners need?

What key figures do law firm software manufacturers actually provide?

How to make change happen – in Legal Tech!

The central question at Legal Tech is not whether it can potentially improve anything... but whether a specific course of action at the firm tomorrow can be different than it is today. What this means will be discussed at the IBA Law Firm Management Conference in London on November 22nd in Session Topic One, which

Frankly speaking: The blind spot that cannot be avoided even by legal tech

One of the core arguments against putting in-house lawyers on an equal footing with external lawyers was that salaried in-house lawyers are dependent on instructions and therefore cannot be independent. Has the amendment of § 46 of the Federal Lawyers' Act changed this situation? From a system-theoretical point of view, doubts are justified. People who

Frankly speaking: Brexit consequences for the law firm market. The brexit has captivated the legal profession

The brexite has captivated the legal world. Law firms present their clients with newsletter after newsletter and one checklist after another. But what about the inner workings of the law firms? What are the future relations of the EU offshoots with the English parent firm? Will we see a similar development as in the banking

Quite right: The situation of the beA is suitable for foreign shame

The beA's situation is a source of shame for others, as many of the lawyers with whom we talk about it find. It is ignored that there are almost no IT projects that run without delays etc. The fact that there is no legal basis for enabling the mailbox for all lawyers corresponds to the

In-depth: restructuring and reorganization of law firms – a new challenge in the law firm market

1 Restructuring and reorganization of law firms - a new challenge in the law firm market By Christoph H. Vaagt and Thorsten Zulauf In this series of articles, we look at the experience we have gained as consultants in the law firm market in recent times. Whereas in the past the focus was on the

Vaagt Frontal: News

You can find a selection of our lecture activities here. NIVD spring conference on 15.4.2016 in Wiesbaden: Questions about reorganisation consulting The market for insolvency administrators is currently being shaken up massively. A new project, the alignment of restructuring processes with international (i.e. above all: Anglo-Saxon) practices, is causing the Bundestag to consider whether, prior

Being well advised: A difference that is relevant

Consulting is an area that has been little researched so far. It is all the more astonishing, therefore, who feels called upon to give advice. But actually, what is the difference that is relevant? That is quite simple: We don't produce papers and powerpoints that are not implemented, but we moderate the partnerships in such

Frankly speaking: The insolvency of the insolvency administrators

Since 2014, the insolvency administrator scene has had a rather lukewarm market. The few major proceedings are often not followed by insolvency, but rather, already in the self-interest of the management, are reorganized in the self-administration or even earlier. This is a problem for an insolvency administration based on a mixed calculation of large and

Quite right: Fines for cartel proceedings included in the price?

Are fines in cartel proceedings included in the costs of influencing the market priced in by the companies from the outset? And does the legal department know about this?  This question could be asked if one reads the list of fines imposed by the European Union for breaches of competition law. The most recent example

In-depth: re-merger of law firms, or: from the umbrella brand to truly integrated law firms

Traditional law firms, organised in partnership, always organise themselves at minimum cost. This is why they are so profitable, unlike other professions. This went well as long as the competition did not behave differently. In the German market of commercial law firms, a completely different approach has been taken with the emergence of Anglo-Saxon law

Vaagt Frontal / News

Coaching for legal department heads at the Legal Revolution on 4 and 5 December 2018: The organizers of the Legal Revolution, according to their own statements of the leading platform (congress and fair) for topics around Legal Tec, which brings together law firms and heads of legal departments, have Dr. Wolf Peter Gross and Christoph

Well advised (offers)

Our consulting highlights from 2018 include: Spin-off of a consulting firm on DGVO from a law firm Reorganisation of an auditing company for the purpose of higher internal cooperation and capacity to act Tripling the profit of a medium-sized commercial law firm (Austria) Latest News All blog posts Blog Plain language Press review Events InHouse

Review Legal Tech Manuals

Competition improves business, they say: Two books on legal tech. Two books have been published by C. H. Beck-Verlag: The "Legal Tech Handbook" by Stefan Breidenbach/Florian Glatz and the book simply called "Legal Tech" by Harting/Bues/Halbleib. To publish two books on the same topic is at least courageous for a publishing house that has made

Quite right: Google: Antitrust violations as a business model

The list of penalties imposed by the European Union for competition violations is so long that one has to ask oneself whether violations are a worthwhile business model. The most recent example is the judgment against Google or Alphabet for deliberately exploiting its supremacy in the search engine market for online shopping (the company has

In-depth: Why does a corporate legal department need a strategy?

Isn't it enough if she just does her job very well? And to do it as conveniently as possible for the company? No - that is not enough, we think. This is already evident from the fact that the provocative questions above raise counter-questions. What is "the work of a legal department"? How must the

Being well advised: Kanban in the legal department

Kanban is a so-called agile method for controlling production processes. Kanban comes from the Asian language and means card, label or sticker. The first Kanban system was developed from 1947 by Taiichi Ohno at the Japanese company Toyota. One reason for the development of Kanban was the insufficient productivity and efficiency of the company compared

Review: Practical Guide – Legal Operations Management

The practical handbook Legal Operations Management was published by Springer in 2017. The editors, Roman P. Falter and Christian Dueblin, have compiled an impressively comprehensive work, which deals in eight sub-chapters with the challenges of legal operations, their identity, positioning and leadership, structures, resources and processes. Despite the involvement of various authors from practice and

Law Firm Management Profitable Clients café, IBA Rome Oct. 9, 2018

Which clients do we want, and how can we make sure they are profitable? This were the key questions discussed by over 180 lawyers form around the world at our profitable clients cafe at the IBA Annual conference in Rome, which Chris Vaagt facilitated with Michael Lund, a danish lawyers practising in Brazil This event

From science: “Turning Corporate Compliance into Competitive Advantage”

With the article: TURNING CORPORATE COMPLIANCE INTO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE the US-American scientists Robert C. Bird and Stephen Kim Park show strategies to use compliance as a sustainable instrument for market positioning. Compliance is a core concern for corporate governance. Firms devote tremendous amounts of money, personnel, and attention to ensure compliance with regulatory mandates, and

Switzerland is difficult terrain for foreign law firms

As a long-standing observer of the Swiss law firm market, Christoph H. Vaagt was interviewed on the question of how the market will develop.

IBA Balkan Legal Forum Vienna, June 15-16, 2018

At the 10th IBA event Christoph H. Vaagt spoke on the question of the need for change in the development of law firms. Latest News All blog posts Blog Plain language Press review Events InHouse News about us Publications Can we help? Contact us by phone or use our online form {{ vc_btn: title=Contact&color=white&size=sm&i_icon_fontawesome=fas+fa-phone-square&add_icon=true&link=url%3Ahttps%253A%252F%252Flawfirmchangeconsultants.com%252Fen%252Fcontact-and-directions%252F%7Ctitle%3AContact%7C%7C }}

Michael Gassmann of “Die Welt” on the subject: Now patent attorneys themselves need inventive talent

Michael Gassmann writes about the future of patent attorneys.

Events: Legal Transformation Days 2018

June 18 and 19, 2018: Vienna House Andel’s Berlin The Legal Transformation Days are a practice-oriented event that addresses the growing challenges facing lawyers. The core question is: Who makes demands on Legal Tech? How must law firms and legal departments position themselves today in order to be able to react quickly and flexibly to

Handelsblatt: Executive seeks wife, by Kevin Knitterscheidt

Christoph H. Vaagt was interviewed by the Handelsblatt on the topic: "Women as partners in law firms". The article was published on 4.12.2017. In doing so, he corrected the often repeated but wrong perception that law firms are "bastions of male dominance". In many law firms below the top 200, there are many female lawyers

The way to the “ideal” small legal department – Economic use of the resource “law” in the company

Thursday, 5 October 2017 until Saturday, 7 October 2017

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Workshop on “Law Firm Challenges and Opportunities Café” at the IBA Annual Conference in Boston

Christoph H. Vaagt, together with David Morley, Senior Partner of Allen & Overy, chaired the event of the Law Firm Management Section of the IBA at the annual meeting in Boston, USA, which took place from 6 – 11 October 2013. They called on the key issues currently occupying the law firms.

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CICERO Biannual Meeting in Vienna

November 2014: Christoph H. Vaagt spoke at the annual meeting of the CICERO network in Vienna about marketing options for networks of law firms.

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25.09.2014 / Geneva:
6th Annual Meeting of Foreign Lawyers of the Geneva Bar Association

Lecture on the topic: “The change in the business model of law firms due to technological change.

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Business model and financing of law firms

Information of not-yet or just-new-partners of law firms about the basics of financing of law firms.

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Becksche’s form book for the law firm

Christoph H. Vaagt contributed the chapter on the management of law firms to this book of forms, which covers all aspects of running a law firm. With the help of checklists and forms, supplemented by further information, the partner of a law firm is enabled to manage his law firm like a modern business enterprise.

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Becksche’s form book for the legal department

For the first time, a collection of forms is made available to the legal departments, which concerns the management of the entire legal department.

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The Law Firm Market in Germany

An investigation of the market of commercial law firms in Germany with regard to market segments, success factors and challenges.

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Partner Remuneration in Law Firms

Eine Untersuchung des Marktes der Wirtschaftskanzleien in Deutschland hinsichtlich Marktsegmente, Erfolgsfaktoren und Herausforderungen

Business Development (for Law Firms)

In the new book by the IBA Law Firm Management Committee “Making the sale, Clinching the deal”, edited by Stephen Revell, partner at Freshfields in the Singapore office, Thorsten Zulauf has written an article on business development in law firms, both as a function and a process.

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General Counsel in the 21st Century

Overview of the challenges and opportunities of the next millennium for general counsels in a global economy; with contributions from Kent Walker (CLO Google), Peter Kurer (ex-CLO and CEO of UBS), Paul Lippe (LegalOnRamp) etc.

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Law Firm Strategies for the 21st Century

In a unique edition, this book brings together contributions from globally active practitioners and specialists. Based on the latest research on Professional Service Firms and involving leading scientists, this book for the first time creates a bridge from theory to practice.

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Successful strategies of commercial law firms

Problems of strategic management of commercial law firms have not been dealt with in the literature in Germany or internationally. The study by Christoph Vaagt closes this gap.

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Legal Times Online: Fatal consequences of mistakes

Sabine Olscher interviewed Christoph H. Vaagt on the error culture in law firms.

New approach to officers meeting in Belfast on Friday, May 26, 2017

Chris Vaagt was asked to redesign the meeting of IBA managers.

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Customer event of the C.H. Beck Shop: Perspectives for law firms

Invitation of the C.H. Beck publishing house to the book presentation “Der Kanzleimarkt in Deutschland”.

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Why do we need a law firm strategy?

Interview with Christoph H. Vaagt in the law firm blog of C. H. Beck Verlag, published on 20.02.2017 In the interview, Christoph H. Vaagt was asked about the central trends in the law firm market, among other things: Quote: "The most important trend in all law firm segments, which has been around for a few

IBA Annual Congress,
Washington 18. – 23.9.2016

Christoph H. Vaagt moderated events for the Law Firm Management Section of the IBA.

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Neue deutsche Insolvenzvereinigung Deutschlands e.V.: Spring meeting 15.4.2016

The spring conference was again moderated by Christoph H. Vaagt on the topic of the upcoming changes around the activities of the insolvency administrator.

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Metrics can tell the tale of a firms’ fate

January 1, 2016: Thorsten Zulauf contributed to this article in the renowned ABA Journal, which examines the reasons for Dewey's insolvency. In his article, Thorsten Zulauf, who was CFO at Linklaters in Germany for many years, points out that the lawyers with the worst journals and largest outstanding accounts were circulated monthly. This helped to

Dr. Wolf-Peter Groß was a large group moderator at the NIVD 2015

Information of not-yet or just new partners of law firms about the basics of financing of law firms.

Dr. Wolf-Peter Groß as moderator of the Unternehmenjuristentage 2015

Dr. Wolf-Peter Groß as moderator of the Unternehmenjuristentage 2015 On 28 and 29 September 2015 Euroforum will hold its traditional event for in-house lawyers in Berlin, the Corporate Lawyers' Days. Dr. Wolf Peter Groß has designed and moderated this event together with Katharina Nitsch, who organizes, conceives and moderates the event conception and seminar implementation

Handelsblatt of 1.6.2015: We want to change the legal market!

Martin Tofern from the Handelsblatt interviewed Christoph H. Vaagt about the chance of the Dentons law firm to change the legal market and to do what all law firms want to do in Germany first: Personnel growth. Ideally with the help of a merger. In the early 2000s, Christoph Vaagt worked as a law firm

16.09.2014 Berliner Zeitung: path and change

Commercial law firms are facing great challenges today. On the one hand, the competition for promising young lawyers is becoming increasingly tougher, while on the other hand, the demands on lawyers are changing. In addition, commercial law firms have to face new competition from consultants and so-called project lawyers. The competition is enormous, since the

This is how media work: A faulty representation suddenly becomes “truth”.

As we reported last year, Christoph H. Vaagt was awarded "Best Lawyer" in the field of insurance law, although he is not active in this field (he revises partnership agreements with regard to governance and profit distribution). The ranking by the American firm "Best Lawyers", which is allegedly based only on assessments by colleagues, has

Dr. Wolf-Peter Groß is active as moderator for events of all kinds

Dr. Wolf-Peter Groß is active as moderator for events of all kinds At the newly founded Syndikus - Institute of the GGS University Heilbronn, which is to deal with the questions of the legal department in the company, he participated in the definition of the contents of the new course. Dr. Wolf Peter Gross is

Die Zeit, November 2013: “Please change your seat” by Alina Fichtner

Mr. Christoph H. Vaagt was interviewed by Alina Fichtner, journalist of "Die Zeit" on the topic of career choice. Here you can find the complete article... Latest News All blog posts Blog Plain language Press review Events InHouse News about us Publications Can we help? Contact us by phone or use our online form {{

July 9, 2013, Legal Tribune Online: Remuneration systems of law firms

Mr. Robert Peres quotes Christoph H. Vaagt as the "doyen" of law firm consultants on questions of remuneration systems. Here you can find the article... Latest News All blog posts Blog Plain language Press review Events InHouse News about us Publications Can we help? Contact us by phone or use our online form {{ vc_btn:

11 June 2013: Handelsblatt Best Lawyers

In cooperation with Best Lawyers, the Handelsblatt has identified the "best lawyers" in Germany. Christoph H. Vaagt is quoted in the article on the subject: "Even for experienced in-house lawyers, it is hardly possible to conclusively assess the competence of a colleague who specializes in another legal field," says Christoph H. Vaagt, lawyer and law

Study on personnel management in law firms

In cooperation with the European Business School and the University of Eichstätt, Ingolstadt, Christoph H. Vaagt – Law Firm Change Consultants – started this study, which for the first time in Germany scientifically examines human resource management, the processes / instruments used and their effects.

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Worldwide study on the practice of profit distribution systems in law firms

The aim of this study, which was carried out on behalf of the worldwide lawyers’ organisation AIJA in the period from 1 February to 31 March 2006, was to obtain an overview of the systems used in the law firms of members of the organisation and their advantages and disadvantages, design, effects on internal cooperation and satisfaction.

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