"Smart planning is no longer enough.  We have to be able to execute in a rapidly changing business environment."

-- Managing Partner of a Walker Clark client firm in North America

Managing partners, senior partners, and other law firm leaders tell us that traditional strategic planning methods no longer work well.

They often produce, at best, disappointing results. In some instances, a firm's three-year strategic plan is obsolete after a year. Other firms develop what appear to be solid strategic plans, but they cannot implement them.

Our clients also have told us that:

• Traditional strategic planning methods are too time-consuming, often taking up to a year just to develop and agree to the strategic plan. Law firms are understandably reluctant to commit to hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees and partner time to write a document that may or may not produce results.
• Too many law firm strategic plans are superficial, uninformed exercises in wishful thinking, conjured up at a weekend retreat or a partners meeting. The partners seldom dig deeply enough into the client base to identify realistic opportunities, or into the firm's internal organization and culture to determine whether the firm has the resources needed to achieve the desired results.
• Many traditional plans ignore measurements, making it harder for the firm to determine whether the strategic plan has changed things for the better, or just changed things.
• Sometimes the firm's strategic plan is really just the work of a small group of partners, but never gains the enthusiasm or support of their colleagues.
• In worst cases, it is cut-and-paste job written entirely by consultants, with little or no input from the lawyers or the clients whom they serve.

a better way to better strategic results

Walker Clark members have been advising law firms, corporate law departments, and government legal agencies on strategic planning matters for more than 20 years.

We offer a range of focused strategic services that help our clients to achieve the best possible return on the investment of time, intellectual energy, and resources. Each of our strategic services is built on these bedrock principles:

• We design each Walker Clark strategic service to meet the specific needs and unique characteristics of each client, whether a large firm, midsize firm, or even a solo practice.
• Our tools and methods a grounded in real-life business realities, supported by data, rather than generic theories or academic exercises.
• We show you how to make the profound changes in the business of practicing law, such as globalization and artificial intelligence, a central part of your firm's ongoing strategy.
• We help you to understand, anticipate, and plan for the long-term global economic risks that will directly affect your firm and your clients.
• We help our clients to set specific, measurable, and realistic objectives, and to measure and evaluate the results.
• We work alongside our clients to implement their plans and to achieve their goals. Every Walker Clark strategic engagement includes ongoing assistance with implementation for periods ranging from 90 days to one year, depending on the project.
• Above all, we focus on getting results.