Catherine Calder explains why modern management is key for today’s most successful chambers
Much is written about the modernisation of law firms but rather less about management advances in sets of chambers. Speakers at the Global Law Summit and the Modern Law Conference last month barely touched on the Bar, which is not generally considered to be at the forefront of business developments in the legal profession. However, the Bar—which arguably constitutes the very first Lawyers on Demand service, established some 500 years before the BLP initiative—is gearing up.
Strategic approach
Most sets have now adopted a more strategic approach and many have imported managerial talent to take them forward. In illustration of this trend, three chief executive/director posts are currently advertised and the excellent Legal Practice Management Association, which caters predominantly for those in chambers managerial and administrative positions, now numbers around a hundred members. It is increasingly evident that first class management is vital for a first class set.
Some attribute the arrival of dedicated chambers management to a lack of business skills among members of the Bar. On the contrary: as Alistair
