Smarter resourcing

In its 25th anniversary law firms survey report, PwC pointed to the growing challenge of “spare capacity” in the legal ranks. Although firms had successfully kept control of their partner numbers, some other aspects of business management needed close attention.

But there’s also the question of how work is handled on a far more micro level. Historically, it was down to many partners to pick and choose who they wanted on a particular job in the pipeline – and of course, they’d probably be mentoring the chosen ones alongside such management, developing close and trusted relationships (a bit like they like to have with their clients). As firms have expanded through ever more complex strategies, however, the potential for inefficiency in purely one-on-one relationships becomes that much more of a problem.

GUARD WORK

Legal work has traditionally been dished out to hungry associates by partners – but firms are (trialling) putting a stop to that. Richard Brent speaks to Dave Cook, founder and CEO of Mason & Cook, about introducing work allocation

TIME FOR TECHNOLOGY

Newcastle has one of the fastest-growing tech communities outside London and law firms are using this to their advantage when it comes to optimising resources says Catherine Walker, inward investment director at Invest Newcastle

CAPACITY COMPLEX

Karen Skillman, head of business support services at Mitie Document Management, explains how best to maximise utilitisation and reduce spare capacity at your firm