Executive Summary
In 1902, Chadbourne & Parke LLP was founded with its headquarters being located at New York City at the Rockefeller Plaza. The creation of the New York Office was meant to serve clients inside and outside the United States, thus becoming the firm’s base of operations. Representing all the practice areas, the New York Office consists of a number of employees, with different attorneys collaborating to meet the firm’s clients’ needs. The New York Office also coordinates activities in various other offices across the world. Therefore, the New York Office is a busy environment that cannot afford a relapse in concentration. However, this relapse has been evident in recent times with complaints of delays in service provision due to the tardiness of some employees. This concern raises concerns of loss of clients and their trust, as well as the destruction of the firm’s reputation. This relapse of concentration might be attributed to the firm’s rather freestyle way of management whereby employees are not strictly monitored because the firm believes in self-discipline.
However, the belief in self-discipline has led to the lack of it and arrogance among some employees, especially accomplished attorneys. First, the firm needs to address these concerns with urgency. This should prompt the convening of an urgent meeting whereby all the employees at the New York Office are in attendance. The managing partner and the management team need to confront the affected employees so that they know the reasons for their tardiness to work. Second, the management needs to review its management style so that it creates an environment whereby employees adhere to the set rules and standards. The firm has to have an efficient and effective working environment and workforce if it is to live up to its standards and levels professionalism.
Background
Chadbourne & Parke LLP is a law firm that operates as one integrated partnership rather than US-based firm. The law firm comprises of a network of offices in overseas countries, with lawyers from various offices regularly working together to share their experiences and knowledge of local law and practice. The multidisciplinary approach that the firm uses enables it to achieve, effective, efficient and practical results for its wide range of clientele. The key practice areas include corporate, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, insurance and reinsurance, climate change, international arbitration, intellectual property, real estate, trust and estates, litigation, project finance and tax. Founded in 1902, the company is headquartered in New York, at the 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Some of the most notable offices within and without the United States include Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Moscow, London, Kyiv, Warsaw, Dubai, Istanbul and Beijing. The firm works with key industries which include mining and materials, energy, bilateral and multilateral agencies, renewable energy, telecom media and technology, transportation and pharmaceuticals, across five regions namely Latin America, North America, Africa and the Middle East, Russia and Central Europe and Europe. Since the law firm operates in various cultural diverse regions, it maintains a diverse community and observes diversity in its recruitment process. The firm has 394 attorneys and is ranked aa position 50 on profits per equity partner (Law Firm Stats 1).
Issue Analysis
Issue Identification
The law firm’s New York Office is its headquarters and represents all the practice areas of the firms which have been mentioned above. The range of practices at the New York Office requires that attorneys with various skills collaborate in order to meet the needs of the many clients. The office also acts as the base of operations whereby practice groups from New York drawing on expertise of other offices, both inside and outside the US. However, there have been recent reports of complaints by some attorneys about the lateness of their colleagues. These complaints of tardiness to work arise because attorneys collaborate and work together in handling different cases. Therefore, the lateness of one attorney impacts derails the delivery of service to the clients.
Causes
Tardiness might be caused by a number of reasons. They include low morale, arrogance, lack of self-discipline, illness, emergencies, and other minor circumstances such as distraction and traffic jams. However, at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, employs are highly motivated with the firm seeking to create an efficient workforce. Therefore, lack of self-discipline and arrogance might be the cause of tardiness to work, whereby attorneys feel that they have reached a level whereby punctuality means nothing to them.
Effects
The effect of tardiness to work is greatly negative. Being the headquarters of the law firm; the New York Office cannot afford its employees being late. Tardiness to work leads to delays in the delivery of service to clients both inside and outside the U.S. because it is the base of operations. This is likely to cause a loss of customers and give the firm a bad reputation (Mooney 1). It can also lead to the clogging up of matters that are yet to be attended to. This is unhealthy for practice in a company that strives to uphold professional excellence of provision of high level service to its clients.
Works Cited
Chadboure & Parke LLP. New York Office. Web. 02 May 2013. http://www.chadbourne.com/newyork/
Chadbourne & Parke LLP. About Chadbourne. Chadbourne & Parke LLP, 2013. Web. 02 May 2013. http://www.chadbourne.com/firmoverview/
Law Firm Stats. Chadbourne & Parke Rankings. Law Firm Stats, 2013. Web. 02 May 2013.
Mooney, Lisa. How to Deal with Tardiness in the Work Place. Chron, 2013. Web. 02 May 2013.
