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Kent Zimmermann

Full Narrative

Kent Zimmermann is one of the leading strategic advisors to law firms in the United States. Over the last two years, he has advised on the four largest law firm combinations to successfully close in the United States. He is currently advising multiple firms on active merger discussions, and he is also advising three Am Law 25 firms on firmwide strategy. He leads a series of engagements in which he serves as a trusted advisor to the leadership of many Am Law 100, 200 and global 100 law firms on an ongoing basis.

A former general counsel and chief executive officer, Kent counsels and provides insights to industry leaders on the challenges and opportunities they face as a result of the globalization, consolidation, specialization, and segmentation of the legal services market. As part of this work, he routinely conducts one-on-one interviews with chief legal officers, managing directors, and business unit heads at market-leading Fortune 500 and global companies.

Kent is valued for his sophisticated understanding of the evolving legal market and inside knowledge of the strategies, cultures and best practices of high-performing law firms. He has been called “an exceptional presenter” who is “the definition of value.” At the invitation of contributing editor and Harvard Law School Fellow Heidi K. Gardner, he recently co-authored a chapter on law firm merger best practices in Leadership for Lawyers: Essential Leadership Strategies for Law Firm Success, volume two (Globe Law and Business Ltd.).

For over a decade, Kent has been a sought-after speaker at law firm retreats and leadership meetings. He also serves as an ALM Intelligence Fellow, contributes to The American Lawyer, and has appeared as a legal analyst on CNN Headline News, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Live. His insights have also been featured by Bloomberg, CNBC, Law360, and Reuters.

Before joining Zeughauser Group, Kent was one of three equity partners who developed a small startup, Hubbard One, into one of the fastest-growing private companies in North America. He eventually led the sale of the business to the public company now known as Thomson Reuters. Subsequently, Kent was appointed chief executive and led the turnaround of New York-based West Legalworks, a unit of Thomson Reuters.

Kent is originally from Connecticut. He graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis and earned his J.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law. He lives in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood with his family. He is on the board of the Children’s Research Fund of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Areas of expertise

Law firm combinations

Collaborates with firm leadership to develop and build consensus around expansion strategies to accelerate achievement of the firm’s vision
Conducts market analysis and builds consensus among key partners around criteria that a candidate firm would have to meet
Develops a list of relevant candidate firms and facilitates meetings with firm leaders
Prepares clients for meetings with candidate firms by supplying relevant data and assisting in identifying and articulating the value proposition of the potential combined firm
Formally or informally facilitates merger discussions, manages the due diligence process, analyzes data that is exchanged, advises on and develops solutions to bridge performance and other gaps between the firms, and advises on internal and external communications to achieve the firm’s objectives
Advises on realizing the benefits of the combination through client interviews and leveraging cross-servicing and cross-selling opportunities in the combined firm

Strategic planning and implementation

Conducts firmwide, practice, industry sector team, and office strategic planning, often involving partner interviews, client interviews, strategic planning working sessions, and partner retreats
Develops written strategic plans
Participates in and leads strategic review sessions at the senior leadership team level to confirm or update strategic growth priorities
Undertakes strategic research, including benchmarking of peer and aspirational peer firms on compensation, governance, expense management, and other topics relevant to strategy
Analyzes data about firms, peer firms, and aspirational peer firms to identify opportunities to improve financial and operational performance

Retreats and ongoing guidance

Designs, facilitates, and speaks at meetings and retreats for partners, practice groups, industry sector teams, and leadership teams
Benchmarks against peers and aspirational peers the performance of the firm from a financial and client perspective
Provides periodic formal and informal consultations on management issues
Reviews and provides assessments of data about the firm's performance and benchmarks it against peer and aspirational peer firms
Assists with identifying growth opportunities as the competitive landscape for talent and clients evolves
Shares and provides analysis of market data and best practices relevant to strategic decisions
Acts as a sounding board for/coaches chairs, managing partners, and other firm leaders
Serves as an extension of the firm’s leadership and strategy team

Selected recent engagements

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