Training Matters - March 2010
Management Course Stage 1 – can it make a difference?
Management Course Stage 1 (MC1) is a compulsory course that solicitors are required to undertake before the end of their third year of qualification. But how far can MC1 go to help junior lawyers understand the business in which they work and to improve their contribution?
The College of Law’s answer is ‘a lot’, hence the recent extensive revamp of our MC1, with particular emphasis on issues vital to law businesses operating in tough economic times, including:
- Budgets
- Gross contribution to profit
- Net contribution to profit
- Gearing (leverage)
- The importance of time recording
- The recovery rate
- Work in progress
- Lock up
- Debtor days
A new financial case study has been developed which deals with the issue of an unprofitable fee-earning department. The delegates are provided with extensive factual and financial information and are asked to come up with practical solutions to return the department to profitability.
The key benefits of the new case study include:
- Practical approach
- Easily understood financial and factual information
- Group approach to discussion and solution options
The revamped course and case study have proved enormously popular, with delegate feedback including:
‘The course was great. My partner kept on referring to the recovery rate of a matter and I never really understood what it meant until I attended this course.’
‘I now know a bit about law firm budgets and how my own personal fee budget fits into the bigger picture.’
‘I now understand why my partner is always talking to me about my timesheets and making sure that I record all my time.’
The course also covers client relationships and managing people. The focus in client relationships is why client relationships fail and strategies to retain and develop clients. Our people management content looks at developing and maintaining relationships within the firm and working effectively in a team.
The course is taught by trainers with many years of experience as partners in law firms, who understand the importance of conveying key financial and management concepts in simple terms to junior lawyers.
More information on Management Course Stage 1
Further management programmes
The College is committed to developing management programmes to meet the needs of practitioners in challenging times.
In addition to MC1, we currently offer the following management courses, designed to assist practitioners at all stages of their legal career:
- Managing Risk in the Law firm - designed to identify what risk is within a law firm and how to minimise it.
- Managing People - builds upon the knowledge gained in MC1 and focuses on the role of a senior associate or junior partner in managing work groups.
- Law Firm Strategy - looks at the importance of law firm strategy as a key to a firm’s growth and profitability.
The above courses form part of our Associates Management Development Programme, delivered on an in-house basis.
The College has also provided assistance to a number of law firms in developing bespoke management programmes. For more information on this, and the above programmes, please e-mail our Customer Contact Centre at pd@lawcol.co.uk