Decision Making in Law Firms

Decision-making in an organization as complex as a law firm -- even a small firm -- is seldom easy. As Iryna Nikitina points out in her book, Decision Making in Law Firms, an already-challenging process can be further hampered by myths, false "best practices," organizational culture, and individual preferences. Ms. Nikitina offers a variety of structures, such as a decision-making pyramid, and practical tools from which any law firm can select the combination that will produce the most efficient and reliable decision methodology for their unique strengths, challenges, and aspirations.

- Norman K. Clark, Managing Principal, Walker Clark

The author does more than discuss personalities. She also considers structural issues in firms that affect decision-making, including what are the firm’s stated and unstated values, and the different ways in which partners develop a consensus. 

- Mark Anderson, Anderson Law LLP Law Society Gazette

Decision Making in Law Firms by Iryna Nikitina is a rare achievement in legal management literature — a work that combines genuine psychological rigour with hard-won practical insight drawn from the author's direct engagement with leading law firms across multiple jurisdictions. Nikitina brings a disciplined, systematic framework to a subject that is all too often addressed through intuition and anecdote, dismantling with precision a remarkable number of entrenched professional stereotypes along the way. The result is nothing less than a full anatomy of how partners actually think, deliberate, and decide — not how they imagine they do. Whether you are a managing partner seeking to strengthen your firm's governance, a senior associate trying to understand the dynamics of the partnership you aspire to join, or a consultant advising professional service organisations, this book will sharpen your thinking and challenge your assumptions in equal measure.

- Volodymyr Sayenko, Partner, SAYENKO KHARENKO