Earlier this month I had a chance to interview Chris Marston, founder and CEO (not managing partner) of Exemplar Law Partners for an article that will appear in the ezine, The Complete Lawyer. Marton is a thirty-something entrepreneur who started a law firm with a unique approach, characterized by flat-fee only billing, hiring only entrepreneurial lawyers, creating cross-functional teams from the beginning of a matter, and an obsession for client service.
The article is co-written with Tojo Thatchenkery and Carol Metzker, authors of Appreciative Intelligence: Seeing the Mighty Oak in the Acorn. Chris Marston is a living example of the three tenets of Appreciative Intelligence:
- Reframing, or seeing people, problems or things in a new way so that something good is visible;
- Appreciating what is good; and
- Envisioning how what is good now can grow into a great future.
I had intended to post elements of Chris's interview on my blog, but he beat me to it. Read his answers on his blog: http://chrismarston.blogspot.com.
You can also hear a podcast interview of Chris Marston that www.lawbiz.com "aired" some time ago. His approach to value billing is quite interesting and provides a challenge to the rest of our profession.
Posted by: Ed Poll | April 13, 2007 at 07:49 AM