As
lawyers, we govern our affairs with guidelines we call “Fair
Practice Policies.” These
provide our expectations with respect to minimum hours, non-billable
time, charging and
billing clients, mentoring associates and promoting young partners,
professional development, client development, and sharing in the
firm's management and operations. Essentially, we view ourselves
as an integrated whole with responsibilities and obligations towards
each other. Our goal is to create and maintain a working environment
where staff and lawyers can grow and prosper.
Achieving
this goal requires a management structure which relies heavily
on practice groups and practice group leaders who are responsible
for managing the personnel and expectations of their group. Within
the practice group structure, the firm annually evaluates performance,
commitment to the firm and its goals, and compliance with directives
and policies, and re-evaluates the strategic plans and initiatives.
In
all of our policy and planning documents, we strive to balance
life inside the firm with life outside the firm. We understand
that everyone goes home at the end of a long day to family,
to community, and to a myriad of activities and obligations.
Our “outlook
on life” is to recognize that work is just one aspect of the
quality of life that our staff and lawyers experience.