The Plinko Effect (and what we’re doing about it)

We’re excited to share an important development in how we organize our client relationships — our Practice Leadership System. At the core of the system is the designation of a Client Lead for each client and a Project Lead for each significant project. We’ve designed this system to maintain consistency, improve communication, and clarify accountability as our team grows.

We observed a common problem with the big firms where most of us started our careers. We call this The Plinko Effect. A client comes to the firm because of their relationship with a specific attorney. The client trusts that attorney, and they’re excited to work with them. Then, the attorney drops the client into the giant peg board. Over the years, and across several projects, they’re bounced around to seemingly random attorneys in the firm. They’re never quite sure who’s the best person to talk to, who has relevant information, and who (if anyone) is taking responsibility for their representation. When things settle out at the bottom, the client is often left dealing with an attorney different from the one they started with, without ever being asked their preference.

When Howell Legal started, The Plinko Effect wasn’t a problem. You knew Ted was your lawyer. You could come to him, knowing that he was responsible for your goals and that all of your information was either in his head or at his fingertips.

Now that we have four attorneys, Howell Legal is a stronger company. We can execute on transactions faster, we can allocate work more efficiently, and we have a broader base of skills and experience to draw upon. But having this bigger team creates a real risk that our clients will face The Plinko Effect. With our Practice Leadership System, we’re making sure that doesn’t happen.

We start by designating a Client Lead for each client. Initially, this is going to be the attorney you spoke to before engaging us. In a way, you can think about the Client Lead as your general counsel. They will be:

• Ultimately accountable for your satisfaction
• Responsible for overseeing and identifying the legal issues facing your business
• Your primary point of contact for general issues
• Attuned to your history, active projects, and goals

For discrete projects, like financings, acquisitions, and large contracts, we also designate a Project Lead. The Project Lead is:

• Responsible for planning and executing the fulfillment of your goals for the project
• Accountable for the project’s budget
• The team leader for the attorneys staffed on the project
• Your primary point of contact for the project
• Attuned to the project’s status and what’s outstanding from whom

The Project Lead will often be the Client Lead. However, if a different attorney has more relevant expertise or more bandwidth to lead a project, the Client Lead will suggest that a different attorney serve as the Project Lead. For simpler projects, we may also suggest that a more junior attorney with a lower billing rate lead the project to minimize fees. Your Client Lead will always check with you before we designate a different team member as the Project Lead. You can always ask that your Client Lead remain the Project Lead. If we designate another attorney as the Project Lead, you should feel free to tell your Client Lead if you are unsatisfied.

You can take comfort that your Client Lead will remain constant unless you want a change. If we’ve noticed that you’ve developed an especially strong working relationship across several projects with an attorney who is not your Client Lead, we’ll check in with you and ask if you want to change the Client Lead to that other attorney. Either way, the choice is yours. You should also feel free to initiate a change at any time, and we will always honor it.

We are taking care to mature our business rather than to simply grow it. We know that the close, personal engagement that drove our business when it was just Ted is vital to why our clients stayed and referred new clients. We’re implementing our Practice Leadership System to ensure that we maintain our highly personal connection even with our larger team and ensure that nobody feels the Plinko Effect.

That is, unless you’re this guy.