A Cynical View of Law Firm Values
May 3, 2012 Category: Blog 6 Comments 
A Cynical View of Law Firm Values - Do law firms really have the values they proudly describe on their websites?
This short piece first appeared in the Edge International Communiqué may 2012
Before the advent of marketing departments, websites and branding advisers, law firms rarely thought about their organisational values. Now, virtually every law firm proudly trumpets a set of so-called unique and compelling values on their website and in their literature. And yet, when you talk to law firm partners about their firms values, many can barely remember even one of them, and others will tell you that the list was drawn up by the marketing department when the firm last re-branded.
I have been fond of saying that law firms often demonstrate as many different strategies as they have partners. It is a bit the same with values as these tend to be individually held rather than organisationally embedded. This is because our values comprise those unconscious, deeply held inner beliefs that we all hold as individuals, that we take for granted but that underpin our attitudes and behaviours. Not only is it difficult to define a law firm’s shared values, it is equally problematic to make them relevant in every day life. And as for managing by reference to those values, just forget it unless you gravitate to many lawyer’s hidden idol – the pursuit of money and the adoration of the billable hour. One problem of course is that law firms are very difficult to differentiate one from the other in many areas including the areas of values. It seems to be hard to be unique (in ways which clients and staff will find compelling) when it comes to describing the firm’s culture and ethos.
There is of course a world of difference between culture and values although there is a connection and overlap between the two. One can of course take a look at different law firms and from the outside describe them variously as aggressive or dozy, sharp or cosy, arrogant or understated, flexible or rigid, hungry or complacent, and from those descriptions something can be discerned about both the firms culture and it’s underlying values.
There must be some law firms out there who have worked hard on their shared set of values, whose ethos is reflected in every day behaviours and whose espoused values are matched by a degree of reality. Please email me if you think that yours is such a firm.
Which begs the question, why do firms spend so much time on value statements? I suspect the answer is,in part, because everyone else has one they feel that they must too. Another reason may, perhaps, be out of business necessity because of the increasing importance of the Procurement function in the selection of legal service providers. Many public sector procurement processes, in particular, that I have seen request details of a firm’s corporate values as part of their pre-qualification assessment criteria. The sub-text being that if you don’t have a values statement your tender is going nowhere, so you had better put one together asap. Hence the plethora of undifferentiated “motherhood and apple pie” statements that, as you say, pop up wherever one cares to look and which convince neither clients, staff nor, I suspect, prospects alike. I have yet to hear of a client who was persuaded to appoint by a firm’s stated values. I know of many, however, who were by a demonstrable appreciation of the client’s business challenges and a tangible desire to make a positive difference in helping the client address them successfully. The bottom-line: actions will always speak louder than words.
HI Nick, I truly believe that our values reflect what we do and who we are, we have a great team who are committed to our core ethos which is:
to protect the vulnerable;
to find fair solutions between separating couples / parents;
to keep children at the centre of all of its actions and advice; and
to address the underlying sources of conflict.
Norman, your comment illustrates, IMHO, the massive advantage that truly specialist firms such as Hartnell Chanot have in nailing the tricky issue of what they stand for, compared to those whose activities span multiple service lines and sectors.
My folks live near Exeter and I know that a family friend who used your firm a few years ago now would say that your team certainly “walked the talk” in her experience.
Best regards
Keith
What great comments! I have been working with a number of law firms on these issues. Money is not typically the primary motivator for top lawyers, but a huge issue if remuneration is not seen as being handled “fairly”. Recently I have worked with one firm which has very strong and commonly shared values – we used the term DNA. In this case, it was easy to surface those shared values and brainstorm on the shared vision, then strategy, for the firm going forward. A weekend with partners in a hotel was sufficient. A second firm I am working with is however suffering from perceived “differences in culture”. By surfacing those differences – which had caused very strong tensions and personal conflict – partners have been able to say “OK so we are different people here, but what is the glue that brought us together and do we all share a common or contrasting vision of where we want the firm to be in the future”. At the last session, you could see the tension dropping from peoples faces. Naming these issues is in itself so powerful. Stephen Mayson’s book has been a great help for me on cultural issues – I would highly recommend it.
I’d like to echo Keith comments about the values shared by Norman above. These are really compelling, meaningful values that could be used to drive the decisions of any attorney in the firm. I really like them because they’re also very clearly extensions of the firm’s narrow positioning and strategy. Yet another compelling reason to create focus and narrow positioning in any professional services firm.
As with everything in life, actions speak louder than words. One thing too many law firms still do is underestimate their clients – clients are not stupid and most can discern bull…t much more easily now.