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I highly recommend the MPF Leadership Conference. I’ve participated many times, as have several of my partners. We leave with new ideas and fresh perspectives every time.

~ Jason Waguespack, Esq.

Jason P. Waguespack, Esq.
Galloway – New Orleans, LA

I look forward to this Conference every year. It really helps me to be a more effective firm leader.

The MPIEs are interesting, informative and useful!

The Conference was terrific, as it exposed me to many issues facing my firm.

The attendees were excellent, and they were very open to candid discussion.

A very organized and well-run conference. Great food. Great hospitality.

A very informative conference with lots of fresh ideas and perspectives.

The benchmarking data presented during the opening session is fantastic. Our MPIE facilitator was great!

As always, The MPF Conference is a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience.

~ Gerry Riskin

Gerry Riskin
Edge International – Anguilla, BWI

Thank you for allowing me to participate. Your team is masterful at making all feel valued at your event and I dare say helping attendees see the value in attending.

Thank you for the invite to speak on the Managing Partner panel. Even though I have now attended 7 MPFs, I always bring back substantive and helpful information for my partners.

From my perspective, the conference went extremely well. Thank you for inviting me to participate; I was proud to be part of a very talented faculty. Congratulations to all!

Many thanks. Always a pleasure and an honor.

Thanks for partnering with us from the ABA Law Practice Division. Very well organized. Your team knows precisely what they are doing and we appreciate you.

Was looking over some old MPF materials and recalled how great this event is.  Wanted to thank you all again. I really enjoyed it.

Hands down the best leadership conference for managing partners I’ve ever attended.

It was indeed a very well run and informative conference. I especially enjoyed meeting the participants and other faculty and learning from them. Thank you, John, for giving me the opportunity to participate.

MPF is a great conference, with excellent interaction among peers.

I very much enjoyed The Managing Partner Forum and thank you for putting on such a great program. I’m planning to attend again next year.

Our new managing partner, Wynn Shuford, attended your conference last month and has raved about it ever since. Thanks for your continued great work in the area of law firm leadership.

The conference was tremendous and I've already made tentative plans to attend next year's event. I've also reached out to other firm leaders I know to let them know the advantages of the Managing Partner Forum. Thank you.

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John J. Michalik
Former Exec Director, Association of Legal Administrators – Chicago, IL

Many thanks for inviting me to be a part of this great program! I thought it was outstanding and was honored to be part of it.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful conference. It was invaluable, and I am already looking forward to next year.

I've attended two events through John's Managing Partner Forum. They are always of high quality, and provide invaluable information that is useful to our firm.

It's a great format overall, and the MPIEs provide a fabulous exchange for ideas and perspectives.

The MPF provides a very consistent and solid program.

This is a fantastic conference with great topics and great people. The sharing of ideas and information among managing partners is invaluable.

An excellent program and overall very valuable experience. Bright participants, terrific discussions and outstanding statistics. I’ll be back.

MPF provides tremendous value and excellent resources. Great information. Great speakers. Great networking opportunities.

A great program! It was very helpful to hear both the faculty and participants comment on key issues.

I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this year's Conference. Thank you for your enthusiasm and leadership.

Thank you for what you do for our industry. I go to a lot of conferences, and your event is the one I look forward to and gain the most from each year.

In particular, I valued the breakout sessions, which allowed for informal conversations on jointly shared issues.

As a first time attendee, I really enjoyed it!

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Thomas C. Logan, Esq.
Carr Allison – Birmingham, AL

What do I like best? The MPIE sessions and meeting so many managing partners in one place.

A very well planned and executed conference. I’ll be back.

The Managing Partner Idea Exchanges (MPIEs) are excellent.

A great event. Thank you for the invitation. I’ll be back next year.

I found this conference to be extremely valuable. We all face very similar challenges, and it’s comforting to know that others share the same questions and concerns.

The faculty and breakout sessions were great. I also enjoyed the first-class location. Please keep me on your invitation list.

I continue to tell people that the MPF is the single, most valuable conference I've ever attended.

This was a great seminar. I especially enjoyed the open sharing of ideas among firm leaders.

The MPIE sessions are always very helpful. We implemented several successful programs after the last Forum and I expect we'll do so again after what I learned today.

I’m really impressed with everything about The Managing Partner Forum. Very useful.

The roundtable discussions with other managing partners in the MPIE sessions was exceptionally valuable.

A terrific program. The interactive sharing of information in a non-competitive atmosphere among peers was most valuable to me.

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Robert U. Sattin, Esq.
TAGLaw – St. Petersburg, FL

A very well-run program, with good issues and great exchange among participants. Thanks for the invitation.

I very much enjoy these programs, especially the open exchange of information among fellow managing partners.

The information exchange was great, especially since I don't have a lot of colleagues in this area. This was a really nice event.

The group dynamics in the MPIE sessions are a great value. I liked Susan Hackett (General Counsel of the Association for Corporate Counsel) on Skype, too.

The instant statistical feedback during the Opening Session and the opportunity to share experiences with other firm leaders were great.

The opportunity to spend an entire day sharing ideas with other managing partners was very therapeutic. I feel better knowing that I am not alone.

What great participation from other managing partners! There’s no other conference like it.

I gained much value from the candid sharing of ideas and interaction with other managing partners.

The interactive sessions were great and the facilitators did a fantastic job.

The MPF brings together the leaders of Florida's top firms, together with experienced consultants, for a great exchange of ideas and information. It's an excellent resource.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! The MPIEs were especially worthwhile and very well presented.

The opportunity to spend the day exchanging ideas and solutions with other managing partners is what I liked best.

This is a dynamic industry and the Managing Partner Forum is a great place to learn about how other firms are adjusting to it.

The true value comes from the opportunity to share solutions with your professional peers. I highly recommend this program to any managing partner.

Since the majority of our firm’s business is referred by other law firms, The Forum is a great place to catch up with our clients while also learning from my peers. It’s a terrific program.

The Managing Partner Forum is a rare opportunity to network with my peers from throughout Florida. I highly recommend it.

I attended The Managing Partner Forum and thought it was outstanding. The program provided an excellent opportunity to benchmark my firm’s performance with our peer group.

The Florida focus is what distinguishes this program from others and gives it particular relevant value.

The MPIE sessions were rich in content, and are what make this leadership conference better than all the rest.

Thank you for putting on another outstanding MPF Conference. I came away, once again, feeling reassured and encouraged.

The MPF provides much-needed interaction for those of us in the 'isolated' role of managing partner of a mid-sized firm. I liked the professionalism of the attendees.

The format was terrific. It gives participants the ability to interact and compare notes with other firm leaders.

The MPF is unique among law firm conferences because it features relaxed, informal discussions among managing partners from other large firms.

I got an unbelievable number of great ideas in the Managing Partner Idea Exchange sessions.

The MPF presents a rare opportunity to exchange ideas and learn how other firm leaders are handling difficult and challenging situations.

The format was excellent and the program was well organized. I will definitely return. The organizers do a fantastic job.

The exchange of ideas was well worth my time and money. I'll be back.

I truly appreciated the opportunity to interact with other managing partners throughout the region. Well done!

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The successful managing partner develops a clear sense of strategic direction, so that on most days most partners are marching in the same direction. How one does this is what the Forum is all about.

The MPF provides a rare opportunity for managing partners to gather and share insights and perspectives on ways to be more effective law firm leaders.

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There is a difference between leadership and management. Law firms need both. The managing partner must be the keeper of the vision and its continuous champion.

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The Managing Partner Forum provides a unique venue to network with other managing partners so I can learn new ways to be more successful in today’s climate.

The Managing Partner Forum offers an invaluable opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the legal industry and to compare notes with other law firm leaders.

The exchange of practical ideas and hearing success stories from other managing partners is what I liked best. This program could have easily lasted two days.

The exchange of ideas and valuable information was impressively solid throughout the day. I appreciate the opportunity to be included.

The discussions were surprisingly open and productive. I came away with much information on where we are doing well, ideas for improvement and strategies for capitalizing on opportunities.

I was impressed by the openness with which the participants shared their experiences, procedures and policies.

I especially liked the information sharing and the chance to network with other managing partners.

I’ve attended many law firm leadership conferences over the years and this is one of the best. A great program with outstanding participants.

Great job! The Managing Partner Forum exceeded my expectations – very valuable. Thanks for including me.

The sessions on strategic planning and the interactive afternoon sessions were extremely valuable.

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Thomas C. Logan, Esq.
Carr Allison – Birmingham, AL

All in all, a very well-run program. The ability to interact with other managing partners was especially valuable.

The opportunity to meet and interact with other managing partners in such a high level setting was well worth the price of admission.

The Managing Partner Idea Exchanges were the best part of the day. I very much appreciate the opportunity to participate and will be here again in the future.

The Keynote Presentation was concise, to the point and had great written materials and presentation slides. It certainly measured up to its advertising and then some!

A terrific conference. I was impressed by the wide variety of viewpoints and candidness of the participants.

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Kelly Overstreet Johnson, Esq. – President
The Florida Bar – Tallahassee, FL

The MPF is a first-class event. It’s a rare opportunity to interact and learn with other managing partners, and there is nothing else quite like it.

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The MPF is unique because it is an exclusive and productive gathering of many peers at one time. The perspectives and insights are invaluable.

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GROWTH – IS BIGGER REALLY BETTER?

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13 Things Your Firm Must Do Today to Attract and Retain Tomorrow’s Lawyers 

This short article (about 1,200 words) sets out what I’ve learned over the years about what law firms must do to attract and retain younger lawyers. Like it or not, today’s younger lawyers tend to...
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Diversity – The Two-Edged Sword

Diversity is on the minds of most managing partners and it’s definitely important to your clients and prospective recruits. This article touches on the economics associated with creating a "family-friendly" workplace.
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Facilitating Cross-Generational Dialogues within Work Teams

How do you communicate with the younger professionals in your firm without sounding like an adult in a PEANUTS cartoon? “Wa-wah, wa-wah.” Haserot specializes in helping firms get things done by understanding the different communications...
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Generational Perspective of Online Networking

This is a quick read. Peruse these perspectives on social networking from the different generations in the workplace.
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Guidelines for Equity Partners 

In far too many law firms, the path to partnership is unclear and unspoken. For many, it’s a matter of time served, coupled with the fact that the would-be partner has done a reasonably good...
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Homework on Hires 

We’ve all read about the disappointing results many firms have had with lateral hiring, with failure rates as high as 60-70% according to some reports. The cost and distraction associated with a bad deal can...
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How to Engage Your Millennials

Attracting and retaining young lawyers is a vexing issue for leaders of smaller and mid-size law firms. Let’s face it. Today’s young lawyers are quite different than their counterparts from 30 and 40 years ago....
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Lateral Partner Integration: Getting One Plus One to Equal Three 

Be very strategic and deliberate if your firm plans to grow through lateral hiring at the partner level, because you can’t afford to make mistakes! Consider these findings: 75% of managing partners expect lateral hiring...
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Law Firms Consolidating at Record Setting Pace

While the vast majority of managing partners of smaller and mid-size firms say their firms want to maintain independent, it’s interesting to note that merger activity among US law firms is at all-time high according...
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Mergers Have Increased Substantially This Year,  But Pay Attention to the Red Flags

We met Bob Denney almost 30 years ago at a conference in Minneapolis, and we've been good friends ever since. He is a pioneer in law firm management and marketing. In his July 2015 Legal...
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New Report Shows Signs of Life in Law Firm Merger Market

The law firm merger market is starting to reawaken according to separate reports published by Hildebrandt International and Altman Weil. Although both reports show that firms aren’t ready to resume the highly aggressive growth strategies contemplated...
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Onboarding 10 Tips for Successfully Integrating Laterals into Your Law Firm

After months of meetings and due diligence, your firm has just landed a five-star recruit – a young hot-shot lateral hire with an oh-so-attracive book of business. Now what? Too often, we find that firms...
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Success Stories: Eight Ways to Help Your Firm Survive – and Thrive 

This article from ALA’s Legal Management magazine provides numerous practical, common-sense ways a law firm can improve its profitability. Among its suggestions: Stay current on collections and invest in technology to improve efficiency.
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Sustainability: How Values-driven Law Firms Are Surviving Tough Times and Prospering Over the Long Term 

This thought-provoking article was featured in Law Practice Today, the ABA’s monthly online magazine. In it, William Blackburn reports on a growing number of law firms that have adopted new models of governance to help them survive, even thrive, in both...
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Take Responsibility for Rising Stars 

This article contends that companies that are good at growing leaders do so in the trenches at the “line manager” level, not through their HR departments. That would equate to a department head and practice...
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The Disappearing Act: Why Millennials Leave Companies – and How L&D Can Entice Them to Stay  

Millennials have now surpassed GenXers as the largest generation in the US workforce and will soon constitute the highest percentage of lawyers in private practice. Yet, many law firm leaders and their firms remain vexed...
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The Future is Here: 10 Trends and What Your Firm Should be Asking Itself

No doubt, the legal profession has experienced tumultuous change over the past 20 years. Accelerated by the Great Recession, many of these developments are permanent and will forever change the business of law, the experts...
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The Millennials Are Here to Stay… But Will They Be Staying at Your Law Firm? 

According to research by Cushman & Wakefield and published in its annual report called Bright Insight, these are the top six factors today’s young lawyers look for in a law firm: Work/Life Balance Collegial Workplace...
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The Model Partner:Balancing a Mix of Positive Contributions 

In July 2012, Sterling Strategies conducted some interesting research attempting to identify the characteristics of the “model partner” in a law firm. According to John’s research, the characteristics, in order of importance, are: Book of Business, Working...
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The Path to Partnership in Small to Mid-Sized Firms  

BigLaw, with their highly paid recruiting and professional development staffs, is doing a pretty fair job articulating and enforcing the criteria to become an equity partner. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many smaller...
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To Merge or Not to Merge? That is the Question!

We've worked with numerous firms over the past several years on this question, and our advice is often the same: Bigger is not always better. The combination should be thoughtful and strategic. The sum of...
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Trends in Partner Compensation

Compensation is a hot-button topic for almost every managing partner. It is also a critical driver behind the lateral movement of equity partners. This article by placement specialist Jane Sender provides an overview of recent trends in law...
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Two-Tiered Partnership Structures 

We like two-tiered partnership structures and, for most law firms, they make a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. Simply stated, owners of law firms should act and contribute like owners, not employees....
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Volatility Abounds in Large Law Firm Growth

Despite BigLaw’s obsession with growth and firm size over the past ten years, many of the largest US firms are taking more measured and strategic approaches to growth, according to the 2016 NLJ 500 Survey...
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What You Need to Know about Mentoring the New Generations

At no other time in our nation’s history have we had this many different generations – Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millenials – working side-by-side. See if you can identify with any of the characteristics...
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What’s Really Going On In Today’s Legal Departments 

Good news for smaller and mid-sized firms, according to this article which appears in the current issue of Inside Counsel magazine. According to a recent survey of over 550 in-house counsel, 65% say they have...
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Why More than 75% of Minority Female Lawyers Leave Law Firms Within 5 Years

Research firm Catalyst conducted a survey of minority female lawyers and offers these insights into why most of these women are leaving law firms within the first five years.
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Young Professionals: Cultivate the Habits of Friendship

Law firms often struggle with how to get associates and younger professionals involved in business development early in their careers. In this article, Maister offers the best piece of advice – they should start by...
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Your Future: Is There a Merger There?

This article starts off by asking "Are you going to follow the lemmings or set your own course?" The lemmings that Cobb refers to are firms that make merger and acquisition decisions based on practice...
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Altman Weil’s MergerLine 2017

For many years, our colleagues at Altman Weil have been tracking merger and acquisition activity among US law firms. In 2017, they track 102 such combinations. The average size of the acquired firm is 27...
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Ten Years of Law Firm Mergers and Acquisitions – 2006-2017

Consolation is a clear and ongoing trend in the US legal market, and Altman Weil has been tracking law firm merger activity since 2006. After a post-recession dip in the number of law firm combinations,...
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The Current Economic Environment – What Firm Leaders Are Saying

Forum Faculty member John Smock and his partners recently wrote this assessment of how law firms are performing in the midst of the current economic downturn. And it’s not as bad as you might think for the...
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Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace

Generations at Work ($27, AMACOM) is an invaluable resource to help firm leaders understand and appreciate the differences of these four generations within the firm, and provides workable solutions to bridge the gaps among them. It comes highly recommended by our friends at the Association of...
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The Complete Guide to Understanding, Controlling and Stopping Bullies and Bullying at Work

The Complete Guide to Understanding, Controlling and Stopping Bullies and Bullying at Work ($21.95, Atlantic Publishing) offers guidance in identifying and defining workplace bullying, including how to identify characteristics of a bullied employee, pathological characteristics of workplace...
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True Professionalism: The Courage to Care about Your People, Your Clients and Your Career

If we could only recommend one book to a lawyer in private practice, it would be True Professionalism ($26, Simon & Schuster)! Maister's lesson is clear: believe passionately in what you do and never compromise your standards and values....
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ABA Web Seminar: Strategic Planning for Law Firms: 10 Critical Steps to Success

Even today, 60% of mid-size commercial law firms do not have a written strategic plan. Among those that do, 90% report that it has led to improved firm profitability and performance. Why, then, do most...
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ALA’s Career Center 

Founded in 1971, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) has grown to more than 10,000 members in 30 countries. If your firm is looking for a new administrator, its Career Center has a number of...
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The MPF 2018 Leadership Conference Keynote Presentation – “The State of the Industry”

On occasion, we kick off the MPF Leadership Conference with a keynote presentation to set the stage for the Conference. In 2018, we invited Patrick Fuller to present an overview of the legal industry based...
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