The Changing Business of Being a Lawyer
Law school taught you the law. What about business?
We went to law school to learn how to think like lawyers. Most of us did not go to law school to learn how to run a business.
Yet for lawyers in private practice, the two are increasingly inseparable.
The economics of practice are changing. Costs are rising. Technology is moving quickly. Recruiting and retaining talented people remains challenging. And clients increasingly expect legal services to be responsive, efficient and delivered in ways that make sense to them.
These aren’t just challenges for managing partners. They affect every lawyer in private practice, whether you are building a solo practice, working in a small firm, becoming a partner or helping lead a large organization.
That is why the business of law matters to CBABC.
Our Strategy 2030 includes a guiding principle that I think is particularly important: we are committed to supporting the professional success and personal wellness of our members. We also commit to recognizing and valuing the different lived experiences and perspectives of our members.
Professional success today requires us to think beyond substantive legal knowledge.
Consider talent. Finding and keeping good people is becoming one of the defining business challenges for law firms. But talent management is about more than recruitment and compensation. It is also about creating workplaces where people can thrive.
That means paying attention to equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as mental wellness. People want meaningful work, opportunities to learn and advance, flexibility, good leadership and a workplace where they feel they belong. Supporting wellbeing and building inclusive workplaces aren’t separate from running a successful law practice. They are part of it.
CBABC can help here too. Our EDI resources include materials designed specifically for lawyers and legal workplaces, along with education, mentorship and other supports. Our EDI Action Plan is expanding this work, including resources addressing advancement, leadership, accommodation, leave and return-to-work issues. And our Wellbeing Resources highlight perspectives and tools to support the wellbeing of lawyers and students.
Then there are clients.
Clients don’t experience a law firm through its organizational chart. They experience how quickly someone returns their call, whether they understand what something will cost, whether advice is practical and whether dealing with their lawyer feels easier or harder than it should.
That means client service is also business strategy.
Technology adds another dimension. The question is no longer simply, “What technology should we buy?” It is: How do we use technology to make our practice better? Better for clients, better for our teams and, ultimately, better for lawyers.
And then there is the economy. When clients face financial uncertainty and cost pressures, law firms feel them too. Clients scrutinize bills and reconsider spending. Firms, meanwhile, must manage salaries, technology, office costs and all the other expenses of providing professional services.
None of this diminishes the importance of excellent legal work. It makes it even more important that the business supporting that work is strong.
This year, CBABC introduced our Business of Law series as part of our commitment to strengthen the capacity of lawyers across British Columbia. That means helping members develop skills many of us were never formally taught: financial management, business development, pricing, technology, leadership, talent management, succession planning, and creating sustainable, inclusive and healthy workplaces. Our Sections are tackling this in meetings, with discussions on business developments in specific practice areas.
For me, this is not about turning lawyers into MBAs or accountants.
It is about recognizing that a well-run practice gives lawyers more capacity to do what brought most of us to this profession in the first place: solve problems, serve clients, contribute to our communities and build rewarding careers.
Professional success has always required excellent lawyering. Increasingly, it also requires us to become better at the business of law. And CBABC is there to help.
