Financial Management for Law Firms

Like many lawyers, I am not really a numbers person. Despite its fundamental importance, financial analysis of our growing firm is something that I have found challenging. Combined with a busy practice and demands from many places for precious time, it has been a project that has sat on the back burner for too long.

I have many articles printed out from the BC Law Society, Ontario’s practice PRO, CLE BC and Law Practice magazine – often written by Dave Bilinsky – on how to analyze and manage law firm finances effectively to maximize profit and reduce risk. These articles have sadly sat in my “to read” tray for multiple years.

I recently read an interview of Cindy Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarket, in BC Business magazine. She said the best advice she ever got was from her father who said “every new business is tough at first. What you have to do is surround yourself with people who are better and smarter than you, and then treat them well.” I decided to hire someone better and smarter than me at law firm finances: Colin Cameron of Profits for Partners.

Colin is currently doing a financial analysis of our firm to determine the profitability of various practice areas, the best way to allocate work among staff and how to reduce expenses to increase net profit. As a second stage, Colin will assist us in preparing a business plan for the next stage of growth of Heritage Law. I could tell in our first meeting with Colin that this was a long overdue exercise, and I look forward to reporting back on our progress.