David Jacobson's External Insights

Blawg Review #136

You don't believe in globalisation? Peter Black from QUT is this week's Australian host of Blawg Review #136 , prepared while the Americans were celebrating Thanksgiving.

It offers a great variety of law-related posts plus that wonderful time-killer, videos.

Designing law practice management systems

Designing a law practice management system is not as simple as documenting your office management procedures or your risk management systems (see here).

A comprehensive system will consider the matters identified by ISO 9000: 2000 as interpreted by Law 9000.

The system should deal with:

• Customer focus and customer satisfaction;
• Leadership;
• People;
• Process management;
• Continual improvement;
• Decision making; and
• Supplier relationships.

Connecting all of these issues is the Plan, Do, Check, Act model which deals with

• Interaction of processes;
• Analysing data;
• Outsourcing controls;
• Including support services as part of client services;
• Ensuring the processes are effective;
• Ensuring the availability of resources;
• Continual improvement.

It also discusses:

• document controls;
• record controls (client instructions, meeting notes, reports, professional negligence, notifications, storage and backups);
• management commitment;
• customer focus;
• quality review, file audits and reviews;
• purchasing;
• looking after client property.

Personality models

I first heard Chris Golis talking about personality models in the context of his assessing managers of businesses in which his venture capital funds invested. He would only invest in a business if he was satisfied with its management.

He has now retired from venture capital but has continued his interest in personality models.

He has written the Humm Handbook about the Humm Wandsworth personality model.

The model identifies seven primary emotions which together drive personalities: movers, double-checkers, artists, politicians, engineers, hustlers and normals.