LSSO Announces Awards for Law Firm Excellence

The Legal Sales & Service Organization announced today that it will begin accepting entries in the Thomas H. Lee Awards for Law Firm Excellence.   According to Leonardo Inghilleri, former Senior Vice President/Brand Manager, BVLGARI Hotels and Resorts, the awards are designed to advance the systematic pursuit of excellence in client service delivery among law firms.

"We created the awards to be a stimulus for law firms to catch up with 21st century in client service.  The award criteria are all client-driven.  Law firms will need to show visible, tangible results -– we'll look at look at leadership, execution of a plan, and a decision-focused measurement system," said Inghilleri, who is now with West Paces Consulting in Atlanta.

The award is named after Thomas H. Lee, an MIT Professor who was a founder of the Center for Quality Management (CQM) and a pioneer in developing modern management techniques.  He died in 2001.  Lee was convinced that American industry would be more competitive if its leaders were able to apply the operational strength of TQM in combination with the power of strategic planning.

The awards will evaluate firms on how successfully they apply the practices of:

• Business development
• Client Retention and Growth
• Profitability
• Value Creation

There will be awards categories for experts (firms with most requirements are being built or in place), intermediate (firms that have demonstrated results in specific areas and and beginners.  There will be three award recipients per category:
1. Law firms under 50 lawyers
2. Law firms between 51 and 151 lawyers
3. Law firms with 151+ lawyers

Applications will be available on the LSSO Web site in October.  "The awards will not be given just because you have a pretty face and a nice office," Inghilleri quipped.