Griping from partners is over as the 'herded cats' become converts to the cause of leadership in law. City partners are now overwhelmingly backing the importance of senior management, finds Jeremy Hodges

Leading City lawyers believe strong management has helped drive law firms' success in recent years, with new research showing partners are now ascribing far more value to effective leadership than in the past.

The latest Legal Week/Big Question survey found that 96% of partners cited effective leadership as being either 'very important' or 'important' to the success of a sizeable commercial law firm. There was not a single respondent who believed management was not at all important in achieving success.

Crucially, the survey, which is based on responses from 153 partners, revealed that partners believe those at the coalface are now much more appreciative of the importance of strong leadership at firms, with 55% saying partners attribute 'considerably more' value to leadership now than five years ago. A further 12% said attitudes have changed 'greatly' over the period.

Linklaters private equity partner Ian Bagshaw (pictured left) said: "Strong leadership is fundamental to the success of a global firm. There are more and more opportunities open to firms now – sometimes more than they can handle. The quality of the managing partner is to maximise the potential of those opportunities – it is this strategic leadership that firms require."

Ruth Grant, head of Lovells' London office, added: "Sizeable firms require a level of strategy, the development and implementation of which requires effective leadership. Gone are the days of firms being successful through just having talented lawyers running their own franchises."

Significantly, respondents have more faith in their own firm's leadership than in management across the sector generally. Almost half (47%) rated leadership at their firms as 'good', with a quarter (25%) claiming it to be 'excellent.' Less than 10% of respondents said their management was either 'poor' or 'not very good.'

In contrast, when asked about the general standard of leadership within the management teams of large law firms, less than 40% rated it as either 'good' or 'excellent'. Instead, the overwhelming majority (57%) said it was 'mixed.'

Stephen Parish (pictured right), global head of banking at Norton Rose, commented: "There is a growing awareness and acceptance that management is not an easy option and that firms with the right management team will do better. That said, this is not universally accepted."

With the likes of Linklaters, Ashurst and DLA Piper held up as examples of firms that have flourished under strong management teams, respondents were asked to what extent their executive teams were responsible for the success.

Virtually all (90%) attributed the firms' success to the management teams. A third of respondents (66%) said the firms owed a 'considerable amount' of their success to the executive, with a further 24% saying they believed the executive teams were 'very much' responsible for the success. Only the remaining 10% claimed management had not played a significant role in the firms' achievements.

Jo Rickard (pictured left) , head of litigation at the London office of Shearman & Sterling, said: "In the recent boom there is a sense that magic circle firms have moved ahead of other firms and that must be linked to effective leadership and good management."

Will Meredith, head of finance at CMS Cameron McKenna, concluded: "Certainly if you look at the firms that have been successful you cannot name many without naming the management guy behind it. Leaders set the tone for the firms and bring it together. If a leader can bring a firm together, it can be more than the sum of its parts."