Are Law Firms Ready To Give Up Control To a Non-Attorney?

I recently read an interesting article on the blog the [non]billable hour that references the choice by the Henry Ford Health System to select a non medical professional as the president of one of their system hospitals. The slant is towards the concept being adopted by law firms and the potential benefits. While the concept of placing specific departmental or business leaders in to a role outside of their formal discipline, i.e. an accountant appointed CIO or a marketing professional in finance is not new, the top spot in a law firm has been consistently secured by a lawyer.

The interesting rub with Matt Homann's post is the optimistic hope that a law firm would shun the stodgy paradigm and allow itself to be run at the top of the ranks by a non-attorney. It's an interesting concept. Would the attorney population be able to let go of the idea that someone without a JD can run a law firm?

Personally, I say "why not?" A law firm is primarily a business and most firms would be well suited by the process and policy constraints that bind a corporate enterprise. Why not bring in leadership focused at the customer service level? An operations expert or marketing/PR executive would provide a different outward face for the firm focused on the client without the pressures of having to still bill hours. They would be able to speak the same language as the client and build a culture at a firm that is consistent with the clients they serve.

The main issue would be, would a law firm be able to handle those same processes and policies that a corporation holds so dear? There is no doubt that there are tremendous opportunities for savings and streamlined performance through standardization and procedural controls. Unfortunately, anyone that has worked for a law firm knows how implausible this would be. Imagine telling a senior partner that they cannot have a certain application or widget because it isn't the firm standard or they didn't fill out a form.

I am interested to see if a large firm takes on such a revolutionary concept. It would be a bold exercise to say the least, with a successful firm redefining the industry.