Firms that do tend to focus their planning on attorney-based roles often omit planning for legal administrator positions — which can pose some risks, says Cynthia Thomas, Executive Director of law firm management consultancy PLMC & Associates and a member of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter.
An administrator, for instance, may be the sole person who knows a small firm’s banking and trust account passwords, Thomas says. Some might serve as the main vendor contact.
“Firm administrators are the keepers of all the keys; there is not someone [else] who has integral access to all the information that is needed to run the firm,” she says. “It can cause your business continuity to come to a standstill.”
Advantageous Integration Attributes
With a number of long-time employees, succession planning has been a consistent consideration for national law firm Husch Blackwell, according to Chief Operating Officer Angela Quinn.
During the 25 years Quinn has spent at the more than 1,000-attorney firm, she’s transitioned into several different roles — trial attorney, Partner, Director of Strategic Growth, and Director of Operations for the Healthcare, Life Sciences and Education unit.
“We’ve always, whether on the attorney or the business leadership side, had that philosophy — making sure you are identifying the next leader of the group,” she says.
Husch Blackwell’s executive leaders discuss possible chief-level position successors on a quarterly basis in anticipation of future leadership needs, and firm members have frequently given ample notice before leaving, Quinn says.
The former Chief Executive, for example, announced his retirement more than a year before it occurred, which allowed his successor to spend several months working with him, visiting the firm’s more than 20 offices and meeting with business professionals and associates.
“She would be at lockstep with Paul, the previous Chief Executive, being part of the conversations,” Quinn says. “She took over officially having had a lot of exposure to the various issues and projects we're working on.”
Being able to shadow the person who holds a role can help successors comprehend nuanced operational aspects such as how meetings have been run.
“[It provides] a lot of lead time for you to get up to speed, understand the culture [and] develop relationships before you’re actually responsible for any particular part of the job,” Quinn says. “They just get to meet people, learn about them and build trust, which is critically important to get anything done.”
The firm is now preparing to find and assimilate its next Chief Financial Officer; the current one, who has worked at Husch Blackwell for more than 30 years, will retire in May 2026.
Being able to shadow the person who holds a role can help successors comprehend nuanced operational aspects such as how meetings have been run.
“Each time we've had a succession like this, there is a plan put together,” Quinn says. “We’ve already started working on the things we want to make sure this person understands, who they meet with — an entire onboarding integration plan so we’re ensuring there’s [a] transfer of knowledge from one person to another.”