Pathways Forward

KMS PracticeHealth Report

How your KMSPracticeHealth Report™ delivers powerful profit benefits for you… Our track record is in showing law firm principals and management where hundreds of thousands of extra dollars in profits lay waiting for them with basic improvements to their practices utilised by hundreds of other similar law firms…

We will apply our experiences with over 1385 legal firms to analyse your current situation, and in a written report, recommend priority areas for attention to lift your profits and market share in all key work areas, using proven KMS systems.

Emphasis will be placed on ensuring that the resources you already have are well used to increase your revenues without major increases in expenses, producing a better bottom line, and further strengthening your position in the market.

We will be happy to have a comprehensive phone discussion about our recommendations… once you have all had a chance to consider them. This is included in your agreed investment.

Our payment terms since 1988 have been that 50% of your agreed investment is payable, please by EFT when you send the initial materials and background information to us…the balance by transfer into our nominated Bank Account when we send you the PracticeHealth Report™.

We have set out below the sorts of things we normally like to get from firms before doing our usual analysis and report, so we can consider your present situation thoroughly. (We realise that you will not have many of the items listed below… and of course we don’t expect you to try at this point to put together anything you don’t already have):

KMS Practice Health Report™…Your investment and payment terms… To consider preliminary materials, and prepare an assessment of the practice with recommendations, and discuss it with you on the telephone…requires an investment of different amounts depending on your practice size (plus 10% GST for Australian firms).

Please e-mail us with some background of your firm and we will send you an ActionPlan setting out the necessary investment. When you are ready to proceed, please just send us a deposit of 50% of the agreed investment in Australian Dollars, with such of the requested materials as you have.

The balance of 50% is payable by EFT on the next business day after we forward the KMS PracticeHealth Report™.

Because of our extensive experiences in other legal practices in Australia and New Zealand since 1974 we are sure a KMS PracticeHealth Report™ will assist you to clearly see the best options for taking full advantage of your current structure and position, pushing on to achieve even better market share and bottom-line results…long after our intensive involvement ceases…using the systems we have recommended for you.

If required by you, ongoing KMSManagementSupport is available… We are looking forward to working with you to achieve your desired outcomes.

KMS ProfitGAP™ Analysis

KMS PROFITGAP™ ANALYSIS

In my wide experience of over 48 years since my Admission as a Barrister and Solicitor I have seen busy practitioners often wonder why they are so busy, seem to have good staff, but never seem to be able to break through into the realm of truly excellent profits… Salaries and other expenses just keep going up, but fee production never seems to grow at the right pace…

Cash flow often seems much tighter than it should be, and those never-ending cycles of tax payments can create periods of totally unsatisfactory stress… Overdrafts seem to be getting bigger without the apparently better returns to justify the extra risk and exposure…

Cutting to the chase, most private practice lawyers are very client work-focussed, and do not know what they do not know about the profit potential for their extraordinary efforts, so will really have very little idea what “excellent profits” would mean for them in their particular, unique, firm.

So, what is the KMSProfitGap™? It’s a term I coined more than three decades ago to describe the difference between the profit potential of the investment and infrastructure you have now, and the profits you are actually generating from that…

The critical importance of understanding how to close the ProfitGap™ is that almost every dollar you will in future generate properly from your existing investment and infrastructure belongs to you, because your overheads are already being covered…just!

A simple example…A very small firm I looked at was producing net income of just under $100K for the Principal. That’s not even a Principal’s salary these days! Just one simple idea I gave the Principal consistently, year in year out, ever thereafter, added $115,000 to his income…more than doubling his rewards, and finally generating him a true commercial profit. He’s now very happily retired!

You’ll be surprised to hear that not only did it not require any additional work, but it also cut his average daily time interviewing prospective clients by half overnight, saving him nearly two hours every working day.

In looking at over 1385 firms in consulting in the last thirty-five years I have developed strong insights into the key problem areas, and have specific inexpensive proven solutions… I’ve helped reduce the gaps between potential production and potential fees…and firms’ actual results…in large numbers of firms, with dramatic results for per Principal profit…

Recently, for example, we assisted a small firm in New South Wales and identified a fixable Principal’s ProfitGap™ of over $500,000 a year… A ProfitGap™ in excess of $200,000 a year is a very common outcome of the analysis.

Your Investment… You invest just AUD$2442.50 plus GST as a deposit when you agree to having me do the KMS ProfitGap™ Analysis for you, and the same amount by EFT the next business day after I deliver your analysis to you…

Your usual KMS “Absolutely No-Risk” Guarantee… We’ve done so many of these types of analysis we know we can achieve what you are expecting in terms of a heads-up, and are happy to back that up with our usual guarantee…in place for 35 years!

If for some reason you are not happy with our KMSProfitGap™ Analysis, call/email me personally within 2 working days, and discuss any concerns you have with me before you pay the balance of your investment. If I cannot address your concerns promptly for you at our cost, we will refund your full investment…

Here’s all you need to do now… Just e-mail me and in the Subject line type “Yes Please KMSProfitGap™ Analysis”. We’ll e-mail you a Tax Invoice, and you electronically pop the agreed deposit above into our Bank Account.

We’ll then urgently e-mail you a short questionnaire and promptly complete your KMSProfitGap™ Analysis for you when you e-mail the completed questionnaire back to us…it usually only takes a few days to get you the completed Analysis.

This is a great opportunity for you to head forward with a sensible clear KMSActionPlan™ to secure to yourself the sorts of rewards from your practice that you so richly deserve…from experience I’m sure you’ve already built most of the infrastructure…now for getting you the benefits that have not been flowing properly and consistently to you…

I look forward to the opportunity to identify for you the key causes of the ProfitGap™ that exists in virtually every modern legal practice, large or small…so you can begin to address the right issues, and enjoy the very substantial additional income every year for the rest of your practising career…

To read what some existing clients have to say about my impact on their firms, check out the testimonials on my LinkedIn profile.

Facilitated Planning Retreats

What KMS Planning Retreat clients say…

Ian Heathwood, Partner, McKays “Three years ago we admitted a new partner upon the merger of our firm with a smaller firm in Mackay. In order to get to know the new partner better and for him to get more of an understanding of what we are about we decided to have a Partners’ Retreat held in Mackay.

We had discussed whether we would ask Rob Knowsley or someone else to be a moderator and decided it wasn’t worth the expense as, after all, we knew what we wanted to do and had some pre-conceived ideas of where to go. The result was that when we met most of the time was spent with the two partners in charge of our two branches, one being myself, continually arguing over various points – none of which probably mattered one way or the other.

It must have all been quite a shock to the new partner. He saw the two partners responsible for the firm’s management heatedly arguing with each other without actually getting anywhere. It was all friendly as far as we were concerned but for a new partner it would have been quite intimidating.

The net result of the retreat was that we did decide a couple of things which we have gone on to follow but, generally, it was really a wasted opportunity. One year later we had another ‘Partners’ Retreat’ when one of our existing employees became a partner and another, a letterhead partner. Basically, we played golf and drank beer and decided nothing and did nothing thereafter. Another waste of time and money.

This year, however, we had a Partners’ Retreat in Brisbane with Rob as our moderator. The difference was quite dramatic – the difficult issues were discussed, solutions agreed on, committed to and implementation strategies devised.

Using Rob as a moderator made all the difference. Not only did we reap the benefits of his experience in dealing with hundreds of other legal firms, but he was able to quickly put us back on track whenever we started getting off-track. If you want to conduct a retreat and actually get something out of it, I strongly recommend you employ the skills of a good moderator. For a legal practice, I don’t think there are any better than Rob. Finally, the key is to ensure you involve Rob in following up regularly with the implementation of what was decided at the retreat. If you leave it to yourself to do, the chances are you won’t do it!”

Chris Quilter, Partner – Bull Son & Schmidt, Sydney, NSW “When you have a Firm Planning retreat, you’re crazy if you don’t have an excellent facilitator, to ensure the time is well-used and everyone is focussed throughout on the expected outcomes. At Bull Son & Schmidt we have used Rob Knowsley from Knowsley Management Services to facilitate many of our Retreats over the years and we’re delighted we did.”

Principal, Small suburban practice, Sydney, NSW “On a personal level, Rob is readily accessible and comfortable to deal with across all levels of practice. He has a practical, common-sense, and hands on approach which all of our professional and support staff find beneficial. His ideas are straightforward, always relevant, and easily applied. Time spent with Rob in intensive analysis of firm challenges and opportunities is time particularly well-spent. We are both wiser and happier for having worked with Rob. We look forward to our continued association. If you decide to work with Rob, your investment, both in time and money, will be returned to a significantly greater degree than you ever imagined. The writer would happily elaborate on any issues.”

Your Venue

Rob Knowsley allocates slots every year for firm planning retreats around Australasia…some firms hold them every year.
To discuss Rob’s availability, organisational details, likely outcomes, and your level of investment, please email Rob now via Contact Us…

KMS Management Support

Running a professionally satisfying and highly profitable legal practice should be quite straight-forward, but you don’t need to try to cope alone without the experienced practical help of… KMS Management Support™.

The Problem: Practice is getting more complex by the day and you have less time to learn how to cope with both your client work and firm management…

Managing a legal practice is highly demanding, and it’s not getting any easier…especially when many firms are generating little true profit and even less cash!

Faced with the demands of marketing in a highly competitive environment, while at the same time managing productivity, cash flow, and people, within ever tightening margins, it’s not surprising that many firms are experiencing real difficulties… cash flow is tight and enjoyment is harder to find in day to day practice.

It’s easy to lose major slices of your profit with minor periods where your eye is off the ball! This is the biggest trap of all…working for everyone else but yourself!!

With many firms unable to afford competent management support, is it any wonder that they struggle to produce a reasonable return for their principals’ strenuous efforts and substantial money invested?

The Answer: For over 29 years firms all over Australia and in New Zealand have been relying on…KMS ManagementSupport™

This is a unique practice management package that puts practical and up-to-date advice, support, and information, in your hands when needed. It offers value-packed benefits to firms for which a major KMSRetainer arrangement involving scheduled visits is not suitable…particularly because of their size or location.

A subscription to the KMS ManagementSupport™ practice management package will give your practice affordable access to a very experienced, competent, former lawyer and Practice Manager, a true professional with sound ideas and proven capacity.

You will be able to make all the important strategic decisions and quickly implement them, allowing you to concentrate more on the profitable practice of law, rather than getting bogged down unnecessarily in learning by trial and error the keys to successful management. It will bring a new vitality to your practice.

KMS Management Support™ subscribers receive:

Prompt access to Rob Knowsley by emailing or dialling our National Freecall 1800 number. This means that you get sensible advice on the problems and issues facing you as they happen, and enables you to deal with them effectively and without delay.
A prompt email service means that you can send written material for quick review and get it back with our comments and suggestions without delay.
Management support in the critical areas such as profit improvement, staff recruitment, marketing, financial analysis and tenders…plus a lot more.

Having the ongoing support of an objective external management professional will take many of the headaches of running your practice away from you, enabling you to make the important management decisions with the benefit of wide-ranging practical experience and a clear head, and to get on with more fee-paying client work.

In addition subscribers are provided with:

First options on KMS Marketing initiatives where we are not making things available to more than one firm per area.
Free admission to KMS Seminars (currently charged at $265 – $485 per person per session).
Preferential booking for visits to your firm at $2500.00 off our normal daily rate…up to four full day visits per year, or split days with other nearby firms by arrangement!
Free appraisal of any ads you have drafted for any purpose…saving you up to $1350/year.
Up-to-date practice management information, keeping you abreast of current developments in practice management.

Access to the KMS library of books, magazines, videos and audiotapes on relevant practice management topics. Just tell us what you’re interested in and we’ll see what we have in our library we can lend to you.

What do you need to do now to secure the benefits described?

The KMS Guarantee means that there genuinely is absolutely no risk to you.

To subscribe simply email us a request to join the programme and we will let you know the annual investment for a firm of your size and structure. You can pay the Annual membership fee in a wide range of instalments but there is a very substantial saving available to you paying once on joining the program, or converting to a single annual fee once you are settled in.

We are looking forward to using our experience to assist you to dramatically accelerate your profits, and continue to enjoy practice in these challenging times.

Our unconditional KMS guarantee to you…

We are so confident that you will be delighted with the ideas, information, and support you receive, that if you believe that KMS Management Support™ fails to live up to its promise we will rectify the situation for you totally at our own cost.

P.S. We also guarantee your annual membership fees will not escalate in the first three years if you are continuously a member…other than on the introduction of any change in the GST rate.

KMS Retainers

Most small-medium law firms do not have the financial resources to have personnel in each area of the required management expertise to stay on top of things and get the best results possible from the firm’s structure and investment in Expenses. As a result principals often struggle along doing the best they can with limited experience…meaning almost inevitably that their outcomes are less than optimum.

The very effective alternative that KMS clients in Australia and New Zealand have turned to, in many cases for well over fifteen years, is to retain Rob Knowsley on a fixed term arrangement to provide all his experience as and when needed.

Some of Australia’s leading firms have been on KMSRetainers continuously from the point they decided to get serious about their success.

There can be particular agreed emphasis on one or more areas, such as Marketing, Pricing, Cash flow management, productivity improvement, budgeting etc, or the retainer can be much broader, with input sought on a needs basis as issues arise. There is no cap on the level of advice provided, but a standard retainer does not cover site visits unless specifically agreed…and one-off events such as firm planning retreats are not included, but will be provided to KMSRetainer firms at a very substantial discount.

Having a retainer gives firms the benefit of a known fixed cost, and a significant reduction over the investment needed to bring in assistance for ad hoc assignments.

An additional benefit of a retainer is that where firms require on-site assistance not already covered by the scope of a particular retainer, they are entitled to that assistance at $2500 less than whatever is the current standard rate…for up to 8 days per membership year.

Practitioners have also found that much of the advice provided can satisfy their particular State CPD requirements for Practice Management and Business Skills.

To discuss assistance for your firm and the potential applicability of a retainer please call Rob Knowsley on 1800 621 270 or email using the Contact Us page.