Interested in becoming a lawyer? Fine. First earn an undergraduate degree and then about 90 more credits in law school to earn a J.D. (Juris Doctor). Some even go on earn an LL.M (Master of Law) degree.
You’d assume that after all of that legal training, the graduate would be qualified to practice law — but hold on. What do law grads know about essential business principles, the kind of issues their clients deal with day to day? Maybe not as much.
That’s the thought behind the Applied MBA course being offered to the attorneys (and some of their clients) at one of Kentucky’s largest law firms, Stoll Keenon Ogden.
The ten half-day seminars (40 hours) at the firm’s Louisville office began in late September and run through April. They cover a wide variety of business topics, including accounting; strategy; economics; markets and marketing; selling and sales channels; analysis and financing; organizations and operations; ethics; real-estate investing; financial planning; and negotiations.
No type of certification or college credit may be earned through the course, but a lot of solid and applied business training will be conducted.
“Especially in the changed economic environment of the last few years, it’s more important than ever for lawyers to look at the world through the same lens as their clients,” explained Bill Lear, Stoll Keenon Ogden’s managing director.
“The course will give us even more insight into the kinds of problems our clients confront and the best business as well as legal approaches to solving those problems. In many cases, the program will also help us anticipate and take steps to prevent problems before they arise,” Lear said.
Lear participates in what’s called a Law Vision group made up of managing partners of various law firms around the country. At a meeting in May, a Dallas firm shared a new and innovative MBA-type program they are doing. Lear was impressed and returned to Lexington and asked staff to see if it could be done for the firm’s Kentucky attorneys.
John Terry is the founder of ChurchillTerry, an advisory firm serving entrepreneurs and investors. He was hired by SKO to deliver the course material. Since 2001, Terry has served as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University Cox Business School in Dallas.
“He’s the one who created this program for the Dallas law firm and spent a year developing the curriculum. He’ll be traveling here for all of our sessions,” explained Vitale Buford, Stoll Keenon Ogden’s director of marketing.
Fifteen SKO attorneys and 10 client representatives signed up for the first course. Terry said the point of the program is to offer the core courses that are generally taught in business graduate school.
“Most of a law firm’s current clients, and most clients in the future, will probably have MBAs. Those clients went to school and were taught to think a certain way, much like law school students are taught,” Terry explained.
“MBAs look at the world a certain way and approach problem solving a certain way. The goal of this course is to share with attorneys how their clients try to solve problems and what they can do to be more valuable to their clients,” he added.
Terry said that earning his MBA changed his life. It altered how he looks at problems, interacts with clients, and even how he invests. The course does not come just from an academic perspective but from a day-to-day, real-world, problem-solving perspective.
“I am not trying to turn them into accountants or financiers or real-estate developers,” Terry said. “If they understand their clients’ intuitive leaps, then that makes them more efficient and valuable attorneys. It expands the options and solutions offered by an attorney.”
Also because of his MBA, Terry said he and his consulting company are better able to work with entrepreneurs because they understand them. “With that understanding, I’m a better counselor and advisor to my entrepreneurial clients who seek investments,” he said. “That’s what I hope for with the attorneys.”
Did any particular topics stand out with the attorneys? What did they say they wanted to know? Far and away, said Terry, the No. 1 answer was a better understanding of accounting.
“It’s important for attorneys to understand how transactions are financed and accounted for. In-house attorneys are considered part of a company’s senior management team. The CEO and the CFO look to them to help make critical business decisions. You must understand the financial implications of those decisions,” he said.
Another area of interest for attorneys is the economics section of the course. The financial world has been turned upside down in recent years with news about such things as hyperinflation, the Federal Reserve and the role of government. So, to understand the economy is to make you more valuable.
Buford said she assumes there will be another SKO MBA-type course available after this one. “We thought this would be a great opportunity to have our clients and attorneys together in a learning environment,” she said.