Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. We have an 18-attorney firm in Portland, Oregon. I was recently hired as the firm administrator. This is my first law firm. My previous employment was with a small manufacturing and distribution company. I have read some articles that discussed the importance of managing inventory in a law practice. Does a law firm even have inventory? I would appreciate your comments.
A. Inventory (or pipeline) management is a term used in the management consulting profession to refer to the process by which you continually evaluate your active opportunities (prospective clients to booked clients) for their balance of quality and quantity. The goal is to continually stay on top of the overall health, which is a full pipeline. Pipeline management allows client relationship managers to more accurately forecast fee revenues, better staff and manage client engagements, and close more client business.