Profile: asb law

By Richard Brent

Few firms have undergone such fundamental organisational change as asb law this past year. In June 2007 a 'root-and-branch' strategic review of the firm's recent performance culminated in the opening of an entirely separate business for volume work such as residential conveyancing and personal injury (PI) work. Dubbed asb aspire, the move was, in part at least, a response to the Legal Services Act now in force. The legislation threatens a significant increase in competition among mid-tier firms in the UK in future, as well as the prospect of much-debated 'Tesco' law '“ basic legal services 'on sale' at non-legal businesses such as banks and supermarkets.

The start of strategy

'When I was elected we didn't have a strategy,' explains managing partner Andrew Clinton, who was appointed to his role in May 2006, following the departure of chief executive Christopher Honeyman Brown. In 2001 Honeyman Brown was one of the few non-lawyers then to lead a law firm, but Clinton explains the partners felt that for 'the next stage in the cycle and evolution of the business, it was right that one of the partners became managing partner'.

'The firm has certainly changed since then. Whether that is because we have an internal managing partner is open to debate,' he adds.

It is sometimes argued that it takes a lawyer to lead a group of lawyers '“ someone who understands the culture of partnership; who is familiar with fee-earning and its demands; and who can command the respect of people that are his or her direct peers. Others may object that there is something to be said for having the objective eye of an outsider to assess the current state of play and identify potential solutions or basic problem areas. In fact, asb did seek out such an external point of view. 'We got an outsider [consultant] in, with access to information in the market, for an objective look. They were able to benchmark us, looking at areas like our values, our strengths and our weaknesses. Together we asked what asb was really like; what it stood for.'

The process took several months to reach a point where all partners were in agreement, and this was unveiled to the partners in January 2007 '“ a three-year plan taking it to 2010. At its core was a list of seven 'critical success factors' needed to achieve the overall aim of increasing turnover from ₤17m to ₤25m. They ranged from practical goals such as improving service through technology to the more elusive cultural ambition of having a 'one firm' mindset. Clinton clarifies: 'Each critical success factor is supported by a long list of key actions, with names, deadlines and accountabilities. As I see it, my job is to lead the way and make sure we now implement those key actions. It literally involves carrying our strategy around '“ into partner and management meetings '“ and reminding people this is what we agreed to do. Reinforcing the messages keeps them fresh.'

As a result Clinton has been spending a lot of his time on the road, securing buy-in from the firm's lawyers. The 36-partner asb law has offices in Brighton, Crawley, Croydon, Horsham and Maidstone (although the Croydon office is due to close at the end of February 2008 '“ something included in the strategic review). Clinton explains he has held 'road show' meetings with every employee in each to explain the strategy in depth, as well as organising ongoing quarterly roadshows to refocus attention on different aspects. Engaging with all the lawyers in his firm on an individual basis, it is clear why the firm feels the management role is best filled by a partner at the present time.

Separating systems

A two-year term is relatively short, but Clinton has certainly had his work cut out. No sooner had the strategy hit partners' desk, when two innovations were rolled out in as many months '“ the first phase of a new client relationship management (CRM) programme 'engage', and, of course, the launch of aspire.

The thinking behind aspire was to eliminate any confusion surrounding the sort of work the firm was performing, Clinton explains. 'Part of the strategic review involved looking at 'value' and we realised that different types of work had different dynamics and required different structures. We were doing corporate finance deals and residential conveyancing through the same processes, and getting stuck somewhere in the middle. So we decided to take the lower-value work out of asb law, and create a separate entity with different processes, case-management and reward systems.' The separation involved the transfer of asb's own personal-injury team, as well as a merger with the Andrew Gardner Partnership, a firm specialising in PI and uninsured loss recovery (ULR) services.

The firm recognised this separate business would require separate skills, and it therefore set up a recruitment campaign specifically targeting paralegals. As a number of the processes in areas such as re-mortgaging and PI are essentially administrative, it was recognised that qualified lawyers would not always be necessary if given the correct level of supervision from senior lawyers. Moreover, the aspire operation is run by managing director Sally Dunscombe, whose background is in insurance and banking, rather than law. While the firm thought a partner was needed to forge the next chapter of asb law, this was not thought essential for the more automated, process-driven activities of aspire.

In addition to aspire, asb also re-examined the higher-value work it was doing '“ for instance, refusing certain litigation work and turning its family department from a legal-aid practice into an exclusively private department. 'Each department has to look at how it is going to access clients in its chosen target markets. Over time some of the work that doesn't fit the plan will fall away,' Clinton explains.

Clearer client knowledge

The second major change for the firm in 2006 was the design and implementation of a new system for collecting and classifying client data. As with asb aspire, the thinking was to streamline operations and minimise any confusion. In the past the firm had found it might have been working for somebody as a private client and a business owner without realising they were one and the same. It needed to improve its data handling and quality, removing cases of duplication, which, it was envisaged, would have a knock-on effect on the ability to exploit cross-selling opportunities.

Not content with importing an 'off-the-peg' CRM system, however, the firm used Microsoft CRM v3.0 as a basis for its own bespoke system, developed with systems-integration company aspective, and incorporating direct online links to Experian for identity and credit checking to streamline the client-engagement process. The system was launched across the firm in May 2007. Phase 2 will roll out powerful sales and marketing tools to help fee-earners manage business development in 2008Both aspire and engage have also required significant investment in training and other HR activities. Marketing director Susan Arnold organised internal training courses, team talks and branded support materials to build enthusiasm for engage.

Performance and promotion

Rethinking overall people management has also been a general firm-wide priority for Clinton. As well as addressing the offerings of its various practice areas,
his strategic review reassessed the foundations for promotion, and ultimately for partnership. A new associate workshop programme now seeks to instil an appreciation of partnership requirements, and all management have received 'appraisal training'. The firm also now operates an 'upward feedback' system to assess partner performance, with a full '360-degree' system due to be introduced in 2008.

'One of the things we need to do is be very clear with people about what their role is. In the past I think we've fallen into the trap of perhaps promoting people too early, or because they were 'next in line', but we've now got clear and transparent criteria for promotion. In a high-performance culture everybody needs to understand what's expected of them and how they progress,' says Clinton.

Precisely what is expected has also changed though. One of Clinton's critical success factors was to redefine some partner responsibilities such that they recognise 'being technically good at law is not enough'. The partners are now explicitly expected to secure and build client relationships, with rigorous targets for existing clients and new prospects, and a regular process of reporting back on what has been achieved. If this sounds as though there is a 'model' partner template to conform to, however, Clinton says he isn't interested in developing a partner 'clone'. 'Some people are good at sales and some aren't, but with training and coaching for all partners we expect them all to adopt this new role.'

Responsibility and reward goes hand in hand, and the firm's remuneration structure has also been revised to take account of the new responsibilities, with a particular emphasis on working as a team to develop business. Chargeable hour requirements have been reduced from 1000 to 800, with partners additionally expected to meet set monthly business-development targets.

Clinton explains: 'We always tended to reward people in terms of how 'busy' they were. The issue with a remuneration structure is how prescriptive you become. You can leave it to the discretion of the board, assess partner contribution and reward them accordingly. Or you can go to the other extreme and prescribe absolutely. The problem with that is it's difficult to precisely understand the balance between the effort '“ the noise people make '“ and the results. We've gone for a model somewhere in between because we recognise there is a subjective aspect.'

Change manager

It would not come as a great surprise if some of the firm's partners were a little troubled by all this change, and Clinton acknowledges that resistance has been an issue to deal with. 'Behaviour has had to change for some '“ although not all. Some people don't like change, and their reactions can manifest themselves in slightly unusual ways,' he says. Indeed, Clinton sees the managing partner role as essentially that of leading and managing change. 'It's a question of encouraging and supporting them through that process,' he says, although there is also a clear 'enforcement' aspect to his job '“ wielding the strategy, reminding people what they have agreed to, and ensuring the new rules are followed. 'I have to implement the strategy pretty ruthlessly. Not all the things we agreed are terribly popular, such as sanctions on lock-up, and remuneration is always a sensitive subject. But we agreed to do them,' he adds.

He will continue hammering his messages home across the firm's five offices for the remainder of his tenure. Asb will not be launching in London under the current three-year plan, although Clinton admits it was an issue to be 'flushed out' by the partners.

'The London question kept coming up because a lot of our regional competitors have launched there, but staying out also gives us an opportunity to differentiate ourselves.'

'Now partners don't need to spend their time thinking about it,' he adds, with some firmness and then smil