The recent article from the Herald (which you can access via this link) highlights how Scottish law firm Gillespie Macandrew is extremely innovative and modern in their thinking. Graham-Campbell, who became chief executive of the Edinburgh-headquartered business last year, is one of the few non-lawyer managers in Scottish firms; something that – although is a growing trend within the legal sector – continues to be the exception rather than the rule.
Gillespie Macandrew has become “very well known for what it does”, according to Graham-Campbell, providing their clients with a restricted market of legal services – specialising in agriculture, renewable energy, private land and rural law. Although Graham-Campbell plans to alter the practice mix in Glasgow to include services such as commercial property, he is aware that trying to grow for growth’s sake in other office locations – such as Perth – could have a negative effect.
Perhaps the main thing to take away from the article is not to focus on the specific business goals of Gillespie Macandrew but instead, to read it as a wake up call to all firms across Scotland that – no matter size, location or business model – it’s time to get more commercial and structured with your management approach.
One of the perceived benefits of having a professional manager is that it “leaves our lawyers to do what they have excelled at – client facing work”. The problem, however, is those firms which make up the largest part of the profession in Scotland – the smaller firms with less than six partners – do not have either the resource, the infrastructure nor present sufficient appeal to attract managers of that calibre.
In that respect, whether partnerships, LLPs or incorporated bodies, the partners/members/directors are actually owner-occupiers of the business. The challenge for those firms is to recognise and achieve the balance between providing quality legal services in an ever increasingly competitive marketplace and yet keep the hand on the tiller to ensure that the business model operates as a business.
Contact Graeme McKinstry, Specialist Practice Management Advice in Glasgow
McKinstry Practice Management is a bespoke management consultancy with an unrivalled experience of the legal profession and the current market for legal services. If you are a small firm with two to ten partners attempting to strike the balance between service delivery and practice management, we can provide the first-class legal guidance you need. Contact us today via the online enquiry form.