Without regard to the actual size of the firm, any level of growth poses inherent problems involving the management of the individual lawyers, facilities and resources. The attorney in the smaller firm may be able to keep informed about the firm's activities by personal observation and involvement, while his and her counterpart in the larger organization may have to rely more on the official lines of communication. In a manner appropriate to the circumstances, each of the attorneys will be adequately served so long as some formalization of the management processes have been imposed to ensure adequate control over all of the firm's affairs. The basics are basic. Once lawyers join forces, good management practices in a law firm cannot be achieved unless the privileges, obligations, and responsibilities of all its members are established and agreed upon.
Effective management begins with organization.
For a law firm, organization begins with identifying a managing partner who may function as a chief executive officer, an executive committee that may serve as a board of directors, or a representative committee system that receives direction from the managing partner or the executive committee. The need to make distinctions among ownership, management and professional practice becomes readily apparent as a firm increases in size. Generally, there are two types of rights and responsibilities involved in a partnership form of organization. The first kind is those arising from the partnership agreement, and is proprietary in nature. In addition, attorneys must be willing to subordinate some degree of control to designated individuals for the satisfactory operation and ultimate good of the firm.