ABA: “Law firm leaders today are like circus jugglers flipping balls into the air so fast you can hardly see them. Yet most leaders primarily focus on putting out fires to keep themselves afloat.  Issues of the moment include:

• Addressing the Great Resignation: what do employees want?
• Managing the return to office
• Implementing guidelines and processes for a hybrid office
• Reimagining the physicality of the office
• Rethinking safety for humans and cyber-safety for work product

It’s a beginning. Futurists might hope that leaders would think more strategically to address the impact of the tech-driven world we are moving into. But most law firms are not receptive to dramatic change. The typical law firm organization is paramilitary. Lawyers work their way up to equity partner and, once there, set the rules for everyone else without asking for anyone else’s input. It’s top-down decision-making with little regard for input from others. Law firm leaders will be more comfortable addressing issues as they arise rather than tackling a comprehensive cultural overhaul. This article looks at the importance of inclusive communication practices as an essential underpinning for any change. The assumption is that the more inclusive, receptive kind of communication required to make any changes “stick” will necessarily chip away at the dictator-leader model. A new kind of communication will foster worker buy-in to small changes that will, over time, lead to more democratic, decentralized, inclusive firm communications…”