Feature Article: Law Practice Management Series
by Mary G. Anderson, Life Management Consulting Group
What is succession planning? Succession planning is “a means of identifying critical management positions, starting at the more junior levels of project/case management extending all the pay up to the highest position in the firm.” Although it is often confused with replacement planning, succession planning goes beyond replacement planning because its focus is broader than one position, department or specialty. While often associated with planning for a senior attorney/partner/executive replacements only, it is really a much broader concept than that.
Each position in the organization needs to have the job specifications defined thoroughly so that at any time a qualified substitute could be recruited in an emergency. Cross training and development among your staff provides insurance for an unexpected loss of a team member for whatever reason. In an ideal scenario, a talent pool would be identified at each level of the organization/firm and a typical goal is to prepare as many successors as possible to be 80 percent ready for promotion to any position at the next level on the organization chart.
A succession plan is usually developed based on the assumptions that:
- A goal is to identify a talent pool of people who are willing to be considered for promotion, qualified to lead and desire to work to be developed for the position.
- The competencies required at each level may be different in the future so that merely “cloning” the past paralegal/attorney/partner/leaders’ skills is not appropriate.
- Development occurs primarily on the job rather than by off-the-job training experiences. In succession planning it is usually assumed that the current organizational structure will be preserved.
Have you considered the management structure for your firm in the next five years, ten years, or twenty years? Do you have any associates available to step up competently into your shoes and understand the systems that have been developed and documented for sustainability?
Consider the direction of your firm and how the partners, associates, paralegals, etc. would manage if you were dealing with an unexpected accident, illness or other malaise that took you away from the helm for several months– do you have a succession plan in place? Get your systems, procedures and goals documented and keep your firm aware of the location of these ‘just in case’ resource materials.
Quote To Ponder
“Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer
in his lifetime for the good of the community.”
~Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), who “administered” surplus self-wealth of $400M in the last half of his life by giving it all away
About the Author:
Mary G. Anderson, is the Program Director at Advanced Legal Training Institute. She also provides client service programs through her company, Life Management Consulting Group. Many estate-planning attorneys have clients that are in need of guidance and support as they manage their elder years. Mary offers 1-on-1 coaching support for families that are facing some of the challenging aspects of end-of-life/eldercare such as choosing/evaluating a nursing home/assisted living center, professional organizing of important papers and documents, estate settlement and support with funeral planning, grief and loss. These consulting services assist clients who are either in 1) the midst of handling a death of a loved one and executing their estate and/or ) a client who has decided to get organized and plan ahead by completing their will, organizing their important papers, completing a checklist of final wishes and creating a legacy will. Mary is the author of “My Estate Management Guide”, “Pet Protection Legal Care Plan: Financial and Legal Planning to Protect Your Companion Pet” and a Certified Mediator & Estate Settlement Agent.
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