Mayer Brown Chairman Jon D. Van Gorp gave the keynote address at the conclusion of Fordham Law’s Law Firm Management Program on Friday, May 13.
Law firms that expect to succeed in the coming years should prepare to listen to their attorneys and staffers about the best ways to move forward, rather than imposing directives from above, Mayer Brown LLP’s chair said Friday.
There’s no better way to drive away talent at a law firm than to institute a corporate hierarchy, said Jon D. Van Gorp during a keynote address that concluded Fordham University School of Law’s Law Firm Management Program, a set of weekly sessions at the New York-based school with talks by leaders at various law firms in the country.
“Lawyers make a living on rules, but they don’t like rules,” Van Gorp said. “You have to direct behavior by using carrots, not sticks. You have to have people want to do it, not be told to do it.”