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17 May 2012 / Adam Caplan
Issue: 7514 / Categories: Features , Profession , Marketing
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Thinking big

Adam Caplan continues his series on how to a grow a law firm

In part one of this series I introduced the concept of key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you find out what makes your business tick. We looked at initial KPIs such as: number of clients, number of active hours billed, average hourly rates, and average hours per client. This tells you where your business is currently. This is known as “Where you are now” (see NLJ).

We now need to set some goals for the coming year based on the results of your KPIs. Examples of goals could be: (i) increase the number of clients on my books by 10%; (ii) increase my active existing client base by 15%; (iii) increase my annual billing hours by 10%; (iv) increase my average hourly billing rate by 10%; and (v) improve my hours per client billed by 10%.

How will you achieve these goals? First, you must ensure that having worked out your KPIs for the previous 12 months, you can look

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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