Many years ago, when I first started my own company, I was reminded of a comment made by Benjamin Franklin. There were two aspects of life that no one could avoid - death and taxes. However, when you run a law firm, there's a third possibility that you can't avoid - at some time you're going to have to sell, merge or get your Practice valued. When I talk to Solicitors about succession planning, their eyes tend to glaze over and they generally take the view that as long as they bury their heads for long enough and deep enough in the sand, the problem will go away. The trouble is that these sorts of problems never go away. If anything, impending retirement looms larger and larger, especially as you get older. Most of the Solicitors that I talk to tell me that they're far too busy earning a living to spend time thinking about the future. As the old saying goes, sometimes you're just too busy baling the boat out to be able to steer it. As another old saying goes, "if you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else". So where is your Practice going? Have you thought about where your Practice will be in 12 months, in 3 years, in 5 years time? What plans do you have in case you become ill and are unable to continue working? Do you have Solicitors within your firm who are thinking of leaving because they haven't been offered Salaried Partnership? Likewise, do you have Salaried Partners within your firm who are thinking of leaving because they haven't been offered Equity? What would happen if one of your key fee earners became ill or left? If you are thinking of buying, selling merging or having your firm valued - this book is essential reading material.
About the Author: Serial author Ray Fox is in his early sixties. He originally qualified with a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Behavioural Science (specialising in Industrial Psychology and Human Behaviour) from the University of Aston in Birmingham. After graduation, he studied for and completed the examinations for The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He is a Fellow of the Institute (FCIS). Following that, he studied for and obtained a Diploma in Company Law and a Diploma in Company Secretarial Practice from the School of Accountancy and Business Studies. For eight and a half years [from 1979 until 1987], Ray was the Company Secretary of a £50m turnover engineering company. In 1987 he joined Dun & Bradstreet, a US$3B turnover company, as their UK Company Secretary. Over the subsequent seven years, he was promoted to Company Secretary of D & B Europe, then the D & B Group and was subsequently appointed as their UK Director of Legal and Pensions Services. He was also Company Secretary of D & B Group's Pension Plan responsible for all administration and £100M of Pension Fund investments. Ray left D & B in 1994 to set up his own Consulting Practice. For over twenty years, he has been running a very successful marketing consultancy specialising in the Legal profession generate more Commercial Clients. Ray is the Founder and Principal of The Bottom Line Consultancy. His Company specialises in providing a full range of support and marketing services to Solicitors and their Practices. Having worked for over 780 different Solicitors Practices, they are probably one of the largest consultancies that specialises in the legal profession. He can be contacted on 01494 483728 or by email at raymondafox@aim.com. In addition to the above, he is one of the Founder Members and a Director of Core Legal, [see www.CoreLegal.net] which is a networking organisation of professional companies all of whom provide specialist support to the legal profession. He was also a General Commissioner of Taxes and one of the Co-Authors of "Running a Successful Law Firm - Strategies and Tips for Success". He is active in Freemasonry, having been Worshipful Master of a number of Lodges and is also a member of The Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, one of the modern Livery Companies of the City of London. Ray can be contacted via his main website: www.BottomLineConsultancy.com