The job of the Managing Partner can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. But it can be lonely at the top. Who does the MP talk to when he/she isn't quite sure how to deal with sensitive problems in the firm, especially sensitive partner problems?
 
Here are some typical issues MPs have to
work through:

• A partner who brings in a lot of business but is abusive to staff, causing turnover.
• Efforts to get everyone on the same page have not worked.
• “I’m a new MP: what should I be doing and what should I stay away from?”
• Lots of partners are retiring, but no new partners coming up.
• A sensitive memo needs to go out—whom can I trust to do a careful review of it?
• A firm has approached the MP about merging, but the MP doesn’t want the other partners to know about it.
• “We’ve been talking to a small firm about merging them in. How should we proceed?”

Here is how we work:

1. Often, issues like these are the main agenda items of my site visits. But when a site visit might be overkill, a few hours on the phone may be just right. It might be one call or a series of calls over an extended period of time.
2. Some MPs send an email with a list of topics they want to discuss before they call.
3. Some mail me data to review.
4. Others just call.
5. We simply charge for the time we spend, which is entirely dependent upon what the MP wants.