Encouraging Entrepreneurs
Encouraging Entrepreneurs
Stagnant demand for law firm services and the attenuation of long-term client relationships place pressure on law firms to take steps to ensure that they have a steady stream of work. This leads them to emphasize to their lawyers that they must be entrepreneurial, in the sense that they must be constantly alert to opportunities for new work from both new and existing clients. It also requires that lawyers stay busy so that they can demonstrate that they are generating sufficient revenues to be regarded as productive. The demand to be entrepreneurial requires that partners engage in "identity work" to develop an understanding of themselves that incorporates this characteristic in a coherent conception of themselves as a lawyer. This can be done in a way that either changes one's understanding of oneself as a professional, or that reconciles this characteristic with traditional professional values. The chapter describes how the demand to be entrepreneurial can be especially challenging for women because they may not have as much access as men to partners with influential client relationships, or may not be regarded as possessing attributes that warrant giving them responsibility for such relationships.
Keywords: entrepreneurial, lawyer productivity, identity work, women in law firms
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