Quantification and Law Practice Management

How many open files does it take to produce X hours of billable work in Y period of time?

That question came into my email inbox today, courtesy of a discussion group where people talk about law practice management. (What, that doesn't sound like fun to you?)

The consensus of the group was that the question is unanswerable. The group members said there are too many variables, from practice area, to average fees, to technology utilization, to astrological signs. Maybe I added that last one. It was, the group agreed, the 21st century law practice management version of wondering how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

A contrarian by nature, I disagree with this conclusion. Not only is the question answerable, it is essential for lawyers engaged in private practice to seek and find the answers.

Every business worth its salt devotes time and resources to answering these questions. Apple, Toyota, Southwest Airlines and just about any other business you can name invests time into planning the marketing, sales, and production of its products or services and projecting how much of them it is going to sell, to whom, through which channel and at what price. These businesses are infinitely more complex than the average law firm which is engaged in selling one thing (legal advice) at one price (billable rate) through one channel (in person).

I'm not suggesting that it is easy to determine financial metrics, particularly when trying for the first time, or that a lawyer won't make lots of mistakes in her calculations, assumptions, and predications. What I am suggesting is that to act like straightforward management metrics are arcane and unknowable mysteries from the far corners of the universe (like why Apple won't just put the iPhone on Verizon already or why Germans love David Hasselhoff) is dangerous and wrong. In boom times, law firms may succeed in spite of poor management. In competitive times like these, it is a game of inches and the little things matter.

"That which gets measured gets done" is a famous management bromide. It's easy to infer what happens to that which does not get measured.