Late bills and inaccurate invoices enjoy a special place in the law firm relationship. Almost endemic — the invoicing process has advanced little in improving the state of the art. This is especially concerning for any law firm serving the private equity market.
Kirkland is out searching for their first Revenue Operations Manager. This individual “will work with a Senior Partner within the Investment Funds Practice to ensure the quality and timeliness of all aspects related to successful matter administration.” The description continues “Critical to the role is coordination with the Senior Partner, their teams and assistants, the Billing Team, and the client. This position will interact with, and directly manage, key client relationships.”
The leading law firm in the private equity world is dedicating a client-facing professional to shepherd and manage the billing process — making sure it flows smoothly and most issues are resolved before it goes out the door.
This is a stark contrast to some law firms who have set up billing departments and send invoices to clients without partner review.
Kirkland is freeing up partner time, improving collection time, streamlining the process, and making clients’ lives easier. They are also placing staff in client-facing positions.
The firm indicates this position is a template they will use to bring on more revenue operations managers. They will support more clients in private equity and other practices.
All this will bring more business, improved profits, and happier clients. Looks like this is at least a 10-bagger in terms of return on investment.
Any firm with 25 or more attorneys will benefit from bringing on a revenue operations manager. Given the right latitude — this position can bring these returns to almost any firm. You can see the job description here.
We recommend law firms consider adding this position — sooner as opposed to later. The race is on.
Client service moves forward.
Best in the market ahead.
MBR
The Mad Clientist
