Osprey Approach’s latest podcast EP.21 How law firms can build financial resilience
Osprey Approach’s latest episode in its Empowering Law Firm Leaders podcast, is available now to watch and listen for free on YouTube, Spotify, and Amazon Music. It features Tom Blandford, a leading authority on law firms’ financial resilience, who shares his knowledge on how to build a financially resilient law firm by managing cash flow, understanding financial data, and preparing for future challenges.
In conversation with Amy Bruce, marketing director at Osprey Approach, Tom – who owns Sursum Advisory which provides strategic financial consultation and fractional CFO services to law firms – outlines the essential characteristics of a successful firm; the steps to building long-term resilience; and shares insights from The Law Society’s Financial Benchmarking Survey.
Episode 21 covers:
- Understanding your firm’s financial data
- The importance of improving lockup
- Adhering to regulatory requirements
- Strategies for financial growth
- Improving cash flow
During the podcast discussion, Tom outlines the characteristics he associates with financially resilient law firms, including the ability to manage lock up. “Lockup is the idea that at any given moment you have an amount of work in progress and an amount of invoices that have not yet turned into cash… Knowing what that number is, and why that number is what it is, and what you can do about that number, and how that number has changed is really, really important for firms,” he explains.
Tom also highlights how to improve cashflow and the importance of good matter management from the outset. “What have we said about billing on account with the client? What does it say in our client care letter about milestone payments?” He suggests firms should consider offering multiple payment options to make it easier for clients to settle their accounts, and to make better use of technology to improve their cash flow management and gain better visibility of their financial position.
Against the findings of The Financial Benchmarking Survey 2025, which revealed a substantial amount of non-chargeable fee earner time, Tom suggests that leaders should encourage fee earners to report their actual time spent on tasks, regardless of whether they think it should be billable. “If you have put down two hours, and it should have been one, that is my fault, as the managing partner of the firm, because that means I have got something wrong in our processes, in our templates, in our workflows.” To combat this, Tom suggests that firms streamline their processes and workflows to ensure that fee earners can maximise their chargeable time – this includes reviewing templates, workflows, and operational procedures to identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
Watch the full interview with Tom Blandford now to discover more advice and guidance on building a financially resilient law firm. You’ll also hear Tom’s exclusive advice on the questions leaders should be asking of the finance director or chief financial officer.
Osprey’s Empowering Law Firm Leaders podcast series follows the success of its Build Better Habits webinars. It takes a critical look at the key topics that will empower legal leaders and teams to help make running a law firm easier. Over the coming episodes, Amy Bruce will be joined by several guest speakers including Robert Flint, author of the book Working with Strangers, Graham Moore, Founder of Katchr, and Eloise Butterworth, risk & compliance officer at Foot Anstey.
Kindly shared by Osprey Approach
