Immigration Lawyers Toolbox® Magazine
Essentials to Managing an Immigration Law Firm Author: Joseph Tsang, Esq.
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Joseph Tsang, Esq.
TsangSLaw.com, JDTsang@TsangSLaw.com
ere’s the thought: How would, Peter Drucker, the Father of Corporate Management, known for his profound insights that have shaped the way international companies have governed for over 20 years, lead a modern immigration law firm? As the managing partner of a boutique immigration firm, I have decided to implement three of his most revolutionary ideas and what follows are some of the key findings from our experience here. I hope you find it helpful. Principle 1: Knowledge Workers Are Not Robots
Drucker’s concept of Knowledge Workers, first introduced in the 1950s, revolutionized management practices around the world. Transitioning from a manufacturing-based economy, knowledge workers became our primary workforce today by generating value with their minds rather than muscle. What this means in practice is that knowledge workers of the law firm are not what they do but who they are.
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Law Firm Management
The human resources of the immigration firm are primarily knowledge workers and not robots. Robots are tasked with repetitive tasks such as filling forms and mailing applications (although those tasks need to be done, this is not the main reason why clients hire a law firm); but the core competitive value of an immigration law firm is how knowledge workers understand the unique needs of the clientele and navigate them through the complexity of the U.S. immigration system. This service demands creativity, empathy, efficiency, expertise, and a wide range of other soft skills that are distinct from manual labor. If the above is true, then the role of a manager in the immigration firm would be to develop workplace policies that would enhance the strengths of the employees that align with the firm’s core values and beliefs. As an example, here are two policies we have implemented to achieve this goal (please note: because each firm has different values, these policies should be varied depending on the needs of each organization).