A Moment with a Law Office Manager

Lane Powell was looking for a business-oriented person at a time when they were on the forefront of major technological changes. They wanted stronger management and business practices. I spent over 15 years in telecommunications and software engineering companies early on in my career. In my last position I was the chief financial officer and vice president of finance administration, and that provided a lot of background for this position.

I'm responsible for several areas: finance and accounting, client relations, marketing, library services, information technology, human resources, central records, conflict management, facilities and office services. When I come in I turn on the computer and I have a list of what I want to get done for the day. I spend a good piece of the day problem solving and moving projects forward. But I never know when the Human Resources Director will walk in the door and say, "We have a personnel issue," and we have to address that. I have to be able to change hats for the different areas that demand my time.

The unexpected! I don't know what problem or issues will be raised at any given time. So I need to ensure that I'm up to speed on all areas, so when I'm questioned I can respond. Lawyers are very positive people but they're very impatient. They don't like to hear "we'll have to get back to you." They want the answer right away.

Attorneys are trained to question everything. You need to be able to exist in an environment where anything you do will be questioned. You have to be confident in your job. It's more likely that somebody will tell you that your decision was wrong than the opposite. If you make the right decision it's likely that nobody says anything. Law office management requires a strong will. You're dealing with very intelligent, strong-willed individuals, and you can't allow yourself to be steamrolled.

You definitely have to have a financial background to understand how the money moves within a business. You also need compassion, because you're dealing with people from many backgrounds. You've got to able to strike some balance between human and business needs. The other piece is leadership versus just management. There's a strong management piece to the position, just keeping things going. But you've got step up and lead in the way that things should be done, so you must be a risk taker.

In the law firm there are two environments; an attorney group and a non-attorney group. In a firm that hires the top 5 percent of lawyers in the country, attorneys might have a hard time understanding the problems of the people who clean up the conference room. The executive director needs to be able to relate to the problems that everyone faces.