If you've been in private practice more than a month, you've seen the disconnect between the voice of the firm and that of the client. Law firms set targets for chargeable hours, billings and collection, which they monitor closely. Meanwhile clients want more for less and they believe, correctly, that one of the best ways to achieve this is by smart collaboration with firms, and indeed among them. How can you square this circle? How can you succeed if the client asks you to collaborate on a project and you know this will yield less chargeable hours, billings and collections, when those are precisely the key stats for which you're under pressure at work? This disconnect can be resolved, and to do it we need to re-examine collaboration.

Most of us in private practice understand what collaboration is, and how keen clients are for us to engage in it. Most of us also recognize that clients give us opportunities to collaborate in several ways. The most palatable variety is internal collaboration within the firm. This is sometimes misunderstood by firms as an invitation to leverage, much to the annoyance of clients. Then come three more varieties of collaboration which often seem less appetizing: 1) collaboration with the client's inhouse team, which is often misunderstood as upselling; 2) collaboration with technology providers, which is often viewed skeptically; and 3) collaboration with other firms and ALSPs, which is like garlic to a vampire. All these concerns arise because firms fear that collaboration means part of the assignment will get performed in house, another part by technology providers, and another part by rival firms and ALSPs. The remainder is less work, and collaboration often means even that will be subject to a fixed fee. It's no wonder that some law firms react adversely to the proposition.

So, what is the true effect of collaboration? Some firms believe it is a way to make money, and others believe it is a way to lose money. In either case, the belief will often be self-fulfilling.  Firms who take the closed-minded view will lose assignments, money and clients. Firms who see it as a way of making money are on the right track. But the better view is that collaboration isn't so much a way to make money, as a way to make relationships, by gaining a deeper understanding of the client, and becoming a part of a long-term solution.  Lawyers and firms who go about collaboration the right way, and take a long-term view, focused on the client's interest, will find they become trusted go-to counsel. Look at it this way, in a saturated market where raw demand is falling, and collaboration is resisted, a great way to stand out is to be responsive to client opportunities to collaborate. Better still, be innovative and make the suggestion your own.