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Master the Business of Law
 

The

LEGAL

MBA

It started with a book...

Image of The Legal MBA Essentials book

...a book that distills the authors' 30+ years of law firm experience and 2x MBAs into 8 easy to read chapters, complete with case studies and practical workbook exercises to help busy lawyers master the business of law.

People liked the book...

"A great read and an essential guide for anyone working in legal who wants to maximise their impact and ability to get stuff done with some amazingly useful tools and templates."
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Karen Peskett-Hall,
Chief Transformation Officer, Kennedys
"A valuable handbook filled with practical advice, based on relatable examples which bring the themes to life. A book to keep handy for a trusted advisor in your pocket when you need it; its accessibility testament to the writers’ relaxed and enjoyable writing style."
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Rowena Rix,
Head of Innovation and AI, Dentons
"James and Darren have captured the framework of an MBA and distilled it through the lens of a professional services organisation. An excellent tool to have in the toolbox!"
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Nigel Lang,
Chief Information Officer, Fieldfisher
"There is a wealth of information and training materials when it comes to the practice of law, but there is a gap when it comes to the business of law and the commercial running of a legal practice. The Legal MBA credibly addresses that gap and is a worthwhile read for lawyers working in private practice."
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Katja Ullrich-North,
Partner, Director of Knowledge Management, Simmons & Simmons
"Does a fantastic job of cutting out the noise and providing insights that can really make a difference. I am almost loathe to recommend it as I don't want to share the competitive advantage!"
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Dan Lowen,
Partner, Dentons
"One of the threads running throughout The Legal MBA is to be clear on what clients you work with, what services you offer them and then organise the more operational elements of your legal practice to deliver on this. This client focused approach gives much needed clarity to lawyers and business services professionals alike and I'd recommend the book to anyone looking for a more commercial approach to running a legal practice."
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Karen Snell,
Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, Kennedys

...they liked it a lot

"A book that would benefit both lawyers and also other young professionals looking to build a career in the legal sector, be it in Finance, Marketing, HR, Technology functions. I always say that working on the legal sector is unique, but this book starts to de-mystify some of those challenges of delivering an efficient and profitable law firm and gives you smart ways to approach your thinking."
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Ian Rands,
Pricing Director, Freeths
"An essential resource for private practice legal operations professionals and lawyers alike. The Legal MBA is well thought through and makes complex concepts accessible and digestible. The book is replete with practical examples that bridge the gap between theory and real-world application, providing readers with actionable insights to enhance their legal operations. It's a must-read for anyone looking to excel in the legal industry, offering wisdom that could only come from seasoned experts in the field. A well-deserved five stars for this comprehensive and practical guide."
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James Arnold,
Head of Legal Project Management, Dentons
"This book is a great, informative read that gives brilliant practical examples of how to manage and run a successful business in a legal context. As a new partner I have found it extremely useful in helping me to understand the way in which firms should be making decisions to best serve their own and their clients’ needs. The book is concise, with excellent real life law firm examples that put the lessons into context in a manner that even those with no management experience should find easy to follow.
 
The authors raise questions that really help to focus your mind on what the important issues for your practice are and they guide you systematically through each step of the process to ensure that you understand why, for example, how you market yourself and to which markets really matters. Clearly set out, well written with lots of useful tables, diagrams and access to online resources to help in your journey it’s a great one stop shop. I can see myself coming back to this again and again."
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Alexis Condie,
Partner, Harper Macleod

So we listened to lawyers and learning & development professionals to understand the commercial skills training needs of busy lawyers working in private practice

We regularly discuss our findings in a free 60 minute webinar covering:

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  • How commercial skills boost firm performance and lawyer well-being

  • Key topics for a commercial skills L&D programme

  • Barriers to developing commercial skills

  • How to enhance lawyers' commercial skills

 

This webinar is ideal for HR and L&D Professionals responsible for developing lawyers within law firms.

Commercial Skills for Senior Lawyers

And created a flagship Mini-MBA for law firms to help new and aspiring Partners and Senior Associates master the business of law...

The LEGAL Mini-MBA

Legal MBA Academy package

  • 12 week programme of 6x fortnightly lessons and discussion to put the theory into practice, delivered exclusively to a cohort of 10-20 individuals from your firm

  • Copy of The Legal MBA Essentials book, Online Resource Pack and on-demand e-learning to help complete the exercises

  • January, May and September start dates, timed to work around holidays and busy periods such as financial year end

CORE TOPICS

Teamwork in the office

FUNDAMENTALS OF
LAW FIRM FINANCE

Understand key concepts such as income, profit, cash and the relationships between client/matter and firm/department profitability

GOAL SETTING AND
LAW FIRM STRATEGY

Appreciate the difference between goals, strategies and tactics. Create personal and business SMART goals, considering the conflicts and constraints between them 

Cheesecake

STRATEGIC
MARKETING

Understand Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP). Create a simple  target market summary and positioning statement for your practice

SERVICE
PROPOSITIONS

Clearly define your service proposition and consider alternatives to traditional, bespoke professional service design

Business Deal

INTRODUCTION TO
PRICING

Price with confidence by understanding the three different pricing strategies and six common fee types for your practice

OPERATIONS

Increase practice profitability by

positively improving 

realisation, utilisation and leverage

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Fundamentals of Law Firm Finance is available as a standalone training session to help upskill staff more broadly across the firm​.

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We also offer a number of Applied Modules and options to tailor the Mini-MBA programme to meet specific firm challenges around growth, delivery and commericiality.

Within the Legal Mini-MBA we discuss the real world application of models and frameworks to tackle the challenges practising lawyers face today.

​To see this approach in practice, we run a regular webinar discussing the impact of AI on law firm business models, which covers:

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  • Service design and potential for more scalable, productised services

  • ​Team size and shape for the future

  • ​​Pricing, including changing client perceptions of value and Alternative Fee Arrangements (AFAs)

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This webinar is ideal for Managing Partners, CEOs, COOs, CFOs and Commercial Finance professionals considering the wider impact of AI on their firm or practice.

Impact of AI on Law Firm Business Models

BENEFITS FOR
LAW FIRMS

1 | The Legal Mini-MBA equips your senior lawyers with the commercial skills they need to succeed, at scale

Imagine if all your Partners and Senior Associates had a clear understanding of how their practice generated both profit and cashflow. Imagine if they had a clear go-to market strategy, articulated in client-centric language, with their pricing and service delivery models optimised accordingly. What commercial impact would that have on your firm?

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For one partner, implementing just a single action from our Introduction to Pricing lesson recovered the firm's entire investment into The Legal MBA.

2 | Training that's tried, tested and ready to go, with minimal set up time required from firms

​Creating a full curriculum covering the range of commercial skills a modern lawyer needs is time-consuming and can be a significant draw on internal Subject Matter Experts to prepare and deliver, with the task all too easily deprioritised or pushed to side of the desk. We deliver a comprehensive programme for you, with regular progress reporting back to stakeholders, so you can see who is engaging, and with which topics.

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Or as one senior finance professional put it "you've taken this problem off my desk, freeing up my time to focus on the strategic, value adding elements of my role".

3 | Opportunity to reinforce strategic priorities

We take time to speak to senior stakeholders at the onboarding stage to understand your strategic priorities and weave key messages into the live sessions. Our aim is that participants understand ‘why’ this matters to your firm, as well as ‘what’ they need to do.

THE MINI-MBA IN THEIR OWN WORDS

"The course was engaging and informative. It got me thinking about how to grow our firm from an entirely new perspective.  James and Darren have a knack for giving practical, helpful advice - not just telling you what you need to do in order to be successful at running a law firm, but giving key tips and insights on how to achieve it.  James and Darren are masters at helping others to master the business of law. Would highly recommend!"
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Hannah Leese,
Partner, Roythornes
"James and Darren have been fantastic in the live sessions. My brain is now sparking with ideas to improve the structure and commerciality of my team plans going forward."
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Desley Sherwin,
Partner, Roythornes
"The Legal MBA e-learning course is a thoughtfully designed resource that provides actionable insights in an engaging and accessible way. It's a must for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the legal profession and their role within it."
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Ohnais Basharat,
Trainee Solicitor, Keoghs
"Thanks once again for the course you and Darren ran.  I found each live session very interesting.  They were engaging and bought the book to life. 
 
I particularly found sharing experiences with the other partners of the firm from different practice areas very informative.  You and Darren helped facilitate those discussions. 
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The sessions struck a good balance between reinforcing materials from the book and elearning and building on these with additional examples.  
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What I learnt will be beneficial to me in the remainder of my legal career. I'd recommend the live programme for partners looking to build their understanding of the business of law and better understand how to manage their practice.   
 
By the end of the live programme I could really see how the different elements of running a successful legal practice came together."
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Alex Armstrong,
Partner, Roythornes

BENEFITS FOR LAWYERS

1 | Business and commercial education covering the topics that lawyers weren’t taught in law school, tailored to the context of a law firm

Traditional MBA programmes and commercial training programmes are generic, with Strategy modules focused on global brands, Operations modules on manufacturing processes and Finance modules failing to explain the partnership and billable hour models. In contrast, The Legal Mini-MBA is specifically designed for lawyers working in private practice, with highly relevant examples, case studies and exercises.

2 | Minimal time-commitment with a flexible, modular structure to accommodate a range of learning styles and busy calendars

Lawyers are time poor, and don’t have time for full day training sessions away from their client work. We have created a modular method of delivery, with highly focused and actionable 60-90 minute live sessions - recorded for easy catch up, with bitesize eLearning and Workbook exercises available on demand to support the learning when it's convenient and most relevant for the individual.

3 | Quickly apply theory into practice

Theory learnt in the classrooms can often stay in classrooms. Throughout the Legal Mini-MBA programme we encourage lawyers to put the learnings into practice with clearly signposted next steps and actionable guidance.

ABOUT US

James Markham profile picture

James Markham

James is a Chartered Management Consultant (MCMI ChMC) with 15 years’ experience working with law firm Managing Partners, COOs and CFOs.

 

He was previously a member of the UK senior management teams at Hogan Lovells and Dentons, with a directorate at Dentons covering Practice Management, Innovation, Commercial Finance, and Legal Project Management.

 

James holds an MBA and is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA). He is a certified Design Thinking and Lean Six Sigma practitioner.

Darren Mee profile picture

Darren Mee

Darren is an independent consultant with over 15 years’ experience working with the largest global law firms, medium-sized national and regional practices, and ABSs.

 

He is a former Partner at RSM, a global Professional Services firm. His expertise covers Strategy, Marketing, Service Design, Technology and Process Improvement.

 

Darren has a published academic paper and holds an MBA alongside qualifications in Project and Programme Management and Lean Six Sigma.

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