Executive Director Zhiheng talks about Big Fish Chat Room - "Achieving 30-fold scale growth in 3 years, what professional managers have done right for law firms"

Source | Big Fish chat room live conversation finishing

Under the wave of scale, many large-scale law firms have introduced a team of professional managers to be responsible for the management and operation of the law firm and the construction of the middle and back offices. "Let professional people do professional things", professional managers are becoming the "standard" of large-scale law firms.

However, where is the importance of professional managers to law firms? How should professional managers and lawyers cooperate to help law firms develop? How should professional managers develop their abilities and plan their careers?... A lot of questions are still being explored.

began a strategic transformation in 2021, absorbing and merging a number of local law firms, and introducing a professional team of professional managers to comprehensively improve brand perception, transforming from a traditional boutique law firm to a comprehensive strong firm.

Professional managers have played a crucial role in the rapid development of

Branch and executive director of Zhiheng Longgang, Lin Huiyan, executive director of Zhiheng Guangzhou, and Lu Yaxin, executive director of Zhiheng Xi'an, were invited to the Big Fish Chat Room to talk in depth about the application of the professional manager system in law firms.

Yu Pengming:China's legal industry has experienced more than 40 years of development, but it is still in the early stages of development. The manifestation is that the working methods of lawyers and the management mode of law firms are still relatively traditional, even "primitive". In the long run, such development ideas must be adjusted, otherwise it will not meet the overall development trend of the current industry and the requirements of the future market.

Therefore, I will pay great attention to two kinds of law firms, one is the law firm that has achieved scale, because scale represents the trend of policy and industry laws; the other is the potential scale law firm that is developing rapidly, because it means that the law firm has unique characteristics in management and operation. From my point of view, the core competitiveness of law firms in the future lies in their management and operation capabilities.

Some time ago, Xinze launched the "Ranking of China's 1

00Largest Law Firms", of which

, ranked 96th, surprised us very much, because this law firm was still a boutique small firm with only a dozen lawyers and specializing in intellectual property rights in 2021. It began a strategic transformation at the end of 2021. Through the absorption and merger of law firms and the introduction of an organized team, it now has 355 lawyers across the country, achieving a nearly 30-fold growth and entering the top 1

00scale law firm sequence.

This growth rate is very terrible, and it was achieved under the epidemic.

Therefore, in the development process of Zhiheng, the management and operation of the law firm must have played an important role, and more specifically, Zhiheng's professional manager system played a role. Therefore, today's live broadcast invites Ren Xue, director of the development department of

Branch, executive director of Zhiheng Longgang Branch, Lin Huiyan, executive director of

Guangzhou Branch, and Lu Yaxin, executive director of

Xi'an Branch, to talk about the thinking of the professional manager system of the law firm.

In today's live broadcast, I will chat with the three directors about three topics: Where is the importance of professional managers to law firms? How should professional managers and lawyers cooperate to help law firms develop? How should professional managers develop their capabilities and plan their careers?

First, ask the three directors to introduce themselves.

Lin Huiyan:Hello everyone, I am Lin Huiyan, the executive director of Zhiheng Guangzhou. I have been working as a professional manager in the legal industry since I graduated in 2013.

Ren Xue:Hello everyone, my name is Ren Xue. I am currently the head of the development department of Zhiheng Branch, and I am also the executive director of Zhiheng Longgang Branch. I have been engaged in the operation and management of law firms since 2014, and I am also a rare non-legal major among professional managers.

Lu Yaxin:Hello everyone, I am Lu Yaxin, the executive director of Zhiheng Xi'an Branch. I entered the legal profession in 2017 and previously practiced in a red circle. I have been in charge of the operation and management of Xi'an Zhiheng since April 2023.

01

Professional managers are the first responsible person for the development of a law firm

Yu Pengming:As I just introduced, the rapid development of

is inseparable from the emphasis on law firm management and professional manager system. So, first of all, please ask three directors to popularize a background: How is the current application of professional manager system in domestic law firms? To what extent?

Lin Huiyan:As far as I have been working for 10 years, there are still only a few law firms trying to apply the professional manager system, and most law firms still use the traditional partner or law firm director management model. Professional managers are not just an administrative director-like role in managing finance, administration, personnel, etc., but more of a law firm's first responsibility. Therefore, it is only possible to exist in some national platform law firms, especially in law firms with direct direct investment models.

In addition to Zhiheng, the most typical law firm that I know of that adopts the professional manager system is Yingke, and some direct branches of Jingshi and Yinghe are also professional managers. Among regional law firms, Hunan Tianren Law Firm has also introduced professional managers. But from a national perspective, there are still very few law firms with professional managers.

Yu Pengming:So it's very impressive that a law firm can achieve professional manager management. Because although everyone knows this is the right direction, 99% of law firms do not do it, or fail to do it, which is actually a very interesting place.

I was also shocked when Director Lu introduced it just now. A lawyer from a red circle firm took the lead in the early stages of his career and chose the path of a professional manager. So, from your perspective, what is the difference between a professional manager managing a law firm and the traditional law firm director and partner managing a law firm?

Lu Yaxin:The most obvious point is that most of the directors or managing partners of law firms are mainly engaged in law practice and part-time management, while professional managers are engaged in full-time systematic law firm management and operation.

Now the legal industry is becoming more and more refined, and lawyers' business is also developing in the direction of specialization. Professional people do professional things, which is a very obvious trend. If lawyers are liberated from the management of law firms, to pursue more professional business, and to deepen their own profession, the ability of law firms to resist external market competition risks will be enhanced; and the internal public affairs management of law firms, including law firm operation construction mechanism and brand perception shaping, will be handed over to specialized professional managers.

Ultimately, the effect of 1 + 1 > 2 is achieved.

Therefore, the professional manager system can actually promote the business specialization and management specialization of law firms at the same time, achieve a balance between the two, and empower management for business, forming a virtuous circle.

Of course, many law firm directors and managing partners now also have very strong management skills, and they are also improving and learning, but the problem is that they do not have much time to implement, and there is a lack of the first responsible person to implement management decisions. This is also the difference between the two management models.

Yu Pengming:In summary, professional people do professional things, lawyers do their own professional work, and professional managers do a good job in the management and operation of law firms.

So, at different stages of development and in different types of law firms, what role do professional managers play?

Ren Xue:Professional managers play a similar role to the CEO of a company. They are responsible for the entire law firm's development process from 0 to 1, or even the process from 1.0 to 2.0. The role of the executive director often determines the development of the law firm and is the core driving force in the operation of the law firm. Zhiheng headquarters is very clear about the management system and planning of branches, and the development of a law firm often goes through four stages.

First, the preparatory stage. As professional managers, we are often unaware of the local situation when we are sent out. To build a branch, professional managers need to do a lot of back-transfer work. The most important thing is to understand the local market environment, the development of the lawyer industry, economic industry, location positioning, etc., and use these data to analyze and judge: What are the advantages of setting up a local office?

What is the positioning? How long can it take to do it? How to do it? At this time, professional managers need to make a clear positioning and strategic plan for the development of the branch.

Second, the start-up stage. After a law firm is established, in order to develop rapidly, lawyers are the primary productive force. Take Zhiheng Longgang Branch as an example. As a foreign firm, if it wants to quickly gain a foothold in the local area and attract the market, it must have a group of excellent lawyers. This requires the executive director to find relevant teams and professional lawyers in the local area that are in line with the development of the law firm, such as what kind of management committee director should be selected and what kind of equity team should be built.

With a good foundation, a good leadership team will empower the young lawyers of the law firm. For example, Director Li Junqiang, Director of the Management Committee of Zhiheng Longgang, is the first deputy secretary of the Longgang Industry Party Committee and the director of the Longgang Law Work Committee. He has won the title of National Excellent Lawyer and has been deeply cultivated in the field of environmental protection for more than ten years. He is very influential and professional representative in the industry.

The joining of such a big name in the industry has set a very good vane for the early development of the law firm. A good leadership team can provide very good support and professional guidance for the development of the law firm. In addition to choosing the right people, we must also do a good job in every standard action and service work in the firm, such as party building, public welfare, law firm culture construction, etc.

At this stage, the executive director needs to do a good job in talent strategic planning and brand infrastructure construction to lay the foundation for the next stage.

Third, the growth stage. At this stage, the law firm has reached a certain scale, and then the executive director needs to do a good job in the system construction and professional construction of the firm. Zhiheng has always established a professional firm, a professional firm, and a professional strong firm. The executive director should guide lawyers to develop in a professional direction and encourage everyone to form a team.

Only when lawyers achieve professional division of labor and form unique style characteristics can the lawyers in the firm have more differentiated integration and maximize the benefits of resource integration.

Fourth, the mature stage. At this stage, the development of law firms is at least among the top three in the local area and has a certain influence. What we need to do is not only pay attention to the development of law firms, but also take on social responsibility, do a good job as people's lawyers, and strengthen party building and public welfare undertakings. At the same time, professional managers can start to explore external markets, strengthen the integration of law firms, and improve the overall service quality.

The ultimate goal is to increase the income of lawyers who develop on this law firm platform by 30-50%, and the per capita income generated by the firm is higher than that of the industry.

Yu Pengming:Director Ren's sharing made me very emotional. In fact, many directors may not be able to think so deeply and carefully. Professional managers are the CEOs of law firms, and they need to consider the different choices of law firms at different stages of development.

So, for a large-scale law firm like Zhiheng that is in a stage of rapid development, what role does the professional manager system play and what has it achieved?