Here are Nick's recently published articles and materials .

Leading Questions (August 2010).  First published in "Managing for Success", this article looks at suitable management and decison-making stuctures and appropriate leadership styles for law firms together with the alignment between structure and style.  Click on the link to read or download Leading Questions

Brainess No Brainers (June 2010 Newsletter) In this newsletter Nick explores the hazards of hasty decision-making and sets out ten rules which firms and management teams need to observe in weighing up options and  reaching conlusions.  Click on the link to read or download Nick's June 2010 Newsletter

Equity Points for Top Performers (May 2010) In this opinion piece (published in Managing Partner Magazine) Nick sets out the twenty objectives which are needed in a firm's equity structure.  Click on the link to read or download Equity Points for Top Performers.

 Marginal Changes to the Bottom Line? (March 2010 Newsletter) Nick's March 2010 newsletter discusses the competitive pressures which are combining to threaten the whole economic model for making profit in a law firm and suggests some strategic responses.  Click on the link to read or download Marginal Changes to the Bottom Line?

Executing Strategy (March 2010) This article - published in Law Business Review - studies the challenges of strategic implementation and suggests that a combination of careful planning, efficient decision-making structures and effective leadership can help firms execute their plans and realise their strategic goals.  Click the link to read or download Executing Strategy

 The Merging Risk (February/March 2010).  This article (first published in FD Legal Volume 4 Issue 3) examines merger and risk in the current climate.  Merger is always attended by risk and we can all point to examples of hasty or ill-considered mergers that have ended in tears.  For many firms,  however, the risk of doing nothing can exceed the risk of decisive, bold and brave action.  Click the link to read or download Mergers and Risk.

Strategic Options and the Serving Men.  In Nick's December 2009 newsletter, the theme of Kipling's serving men (I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who) is used to illustrate the strategic options which law firms ought to consider.  Click the link to read or download Strategic Options and the Serving Men

Fast Forwards by First Movers  In this concluding half of this two -part article (first published in Managing Partner November 2009) Nick assesses the likely attractions of alternative business structures for external investors in the UK.  Click here to read or download Fast Forwards Part 2

Shaking Up Profit Sharing (November 2009).  This article first appeared in the Winter 2009 edition of Law Business Review and is reproduced here by kind permission of Lexis Nexis.  Nick considers how to introduce changes to a law firm's profit sharing scheme and suggest some project management techniques to help law firm leaders steer through changes.  Click here to read or download Shaking Up Profit Sharing

Fast Forwards - a Look at New Legal Structures (September 2009).  In the first of a two-part article, Nick considers which new legal structures will prove most popular in the UK when permitted by the Legal Services Act.  Nick has identified 15 alternative business structures some of which are permissible now.  Click here to read or download Fast Forwards.  This article first appeared in Managing Partner (September 2009) and is reproduced here with their permission.  The second part is listed above.

No Frills Legal Services (Autumn 2009) This short opinion piece appeared in the e-know.net newwletter recently.  In it, Nick looks at some options and steps which firms can coinsider iin planning for a worst case sceanrio in which new providers of legal services iffer areas of work at very loew or nomincal prices.  Click here to read or download No Frills

Staying Afloat - Profiting in a Perfect Storm (August 2009).  The repercussions of decisions taken by firms at the onset of the recession, together with increasing client demands for better service have created the ingredients for the 'perfect storm' in the legal sector.  In this article Simon White and Nick reveal how best to turn chaos into profit.  Click here to download Staying Afloat.  The article first appeared in Legal Marketing August/September 2009 and is reproduced here with their permission.

Market Positioning - A Diagnostic Planning Guide for Law Firm Development (July 2009). This article is a slightly longer (low graphics) version of  Nick's latest article which has just been published in the new LexisNexis Law Business Journal.  Nick is also on the editorial board.  In this article Nick examines market positioning for law firms and identifies a number of generic market positions each of which has different characterisitics of market segmentation and varying degrees of sustainable competitive capability and advantage.  Click here to download the full 6000 word version of this comprehensive Market Positioning Article

Firm of Purpose (July 2009). This article, published in Managing for Success examines how (and why) law firms could and should take a long, hard and radical look at their strategies.  In benign economic times law firms may be able to rely on emergent strategies as they react to client needs and changing market conditions.  In difficult times, however, firms need to be more purposeful.  Click here to read the full Firm of Purpose Article

Radical Proactivity - Five Projects to Get Ahead of the Game (June 2009 Newsletter).  In his June Newsletter, Nick explores the potential of moving from defensive, protective mode into a more proactive proactive approach with five possible projects one or more of which firms should currently be considering.  Click here for the full June 2009 Newsletter

 Harnessing Resources and Capabilities (June 2009).  Firms can gain a sustainable competitive advantage by better management and harnessing of their resources and capabilities.   Like some very famous sporting clubs of individually talented players, firms may not always punch the weight which would be assumed on a quick look at the individual experts in the firm.  This article (published in the current issue of Kerma Partners Quarterly) suggests ways in which an appraisal of the firm's resources and capabilities can help guide strategy formulation in a four step process.  Click here to read or download the full Resources and Capabilities Article

Knowing the Performaholics in Your Firm  (June 2009 White Paper).  An important feature of law firm leadership is to try to understand what it is that inspires, interests and motivates your people.  Nick has found by experience that not all partners are driven by the same motivating factors and has found it useful to place partners into one of four categories to assess their leaning towards an achievement orientation and an altruism orientation.  The four types are Performaholics, Life Stylists, Idealists and Institution Builders.  Click here to read or download the White Paper

When the Monkeys Run the Zoo (March 2009).  In his March 2009 newsletter Nick looked at the issue of decision-making in law firms.  it is never easy to make the right decisiosn, but the process can be a nightmare unless the firm has a clear governance structure and clarity on roles, repsonsibilites and authority.  Click here to read or download the full March 2009 Newletter

Strategies for integrating client services within Alliances and Networks (January 2009) In this article (first published in Kerma Partners Quarterly) Nick addressed the needs of allainces throughout the world in connection with the provision of seamless and integrated services to clients.  For an alliance or network to be successful in competing with global firms, the proposition needs to be developed to provide clients with an attractive alternative to global firms by the consistent provision of seamless client services.   Click here to read or download the full Alliances Article

Reality Checking Your Firm's Strategy (2008)  In this opinion piece (first published in Kerma Partners Quarterly) Nick stressed the need to have a clear line of sight for every partner bewteen his or her day-to-day operations and the firm's overall strategic goals and suggested a test to establish the effectiveness of a firm's strategy.  Click here to read the full Strategic Reality Check Article

Leadership for the Long Haul (2008).  The first 100 days for a managing partner or chief executive may be challenging but life can get even harder during ensuing periods in office.  Leaders are often elected or appointed with a mandate to deal with short term issues and after their intial honeymoon period, they then need to develop leadership skills to take the firm further and to deal with long term issues.  This article helps leaders to focus on leadereship skills for the long haul and to convert from well paid adminstrators into true leaders.  Click here to read or download Leadership for the Long Haul

Governance in the Growing Partnership. (2007/2008)  Governance issues are tricky for all law firms but particularly so for firms which are growing fast and have perhaps outgrown the structures which have served them well for many years.  In this article, Nick proposes a coherent and balanced management structure aligned to the strategy and needs of the firm.  Click here to read or download Governance in the Growing Partnership

Grass Roots Strategy (2007 newsletter).  In a revision of Nick's 2007 newsletter, Nick looks at Strategic Planning at Practice and Industry Group level.  Click here to read or download Grass Roots Strategy