A firm that runs without the partners running it.
Operational structure for growing UK law firms — collections and lock-up under control, capacity you can actually see, compliance built into the process, and partners freed to do the work only they can do. Embedded, part-time leadership at a fraction of a full-time COO.
Why a growing UK law firm needs a fractional COO
At 5 to 30 fee-earners, most firms hit the same wall. The partners are still the operational engine — chasing bills, resolving capacity clashes, signing off on everything — while trying to fee-earn at the same time. Lock-up creeps. Collections slip. The practice manager is excellent at administration but was never meant to design the operating model. Growth adds revenue and complexity, but not control.
What a fractional COO installs in a law firm
Cash & lock-up discipline
Forward cash visibility and a billing-to-collection rhythm that pulls lock-up days down and gets the firm paid for work already delivered.
Capacity & utilisation
A clear view of who has capacity, where the bottlenecks are, and how to plan hiring against real demand rather than instinct.
Decision authority
Clear ownership and thresholds so day-to-day decisions stop routing back to the partners — and the firm keeps moving without them.
Compliance in the process
Client onboarding, file management and SRA obligations built into how the firm runs — not bolted on as a separate burden.
What it looks like in practice
Working with a founder-led law firm of ten fee earners, with strong client relationships but an underdeveloped operating layer — collections inconsistent, cash management reactive, and a leadership team identifying problems without installing the fix.
MPWe love working with David. It may end up being the most impactful decision we have made in our business.
Managing Partner · Law firm · Confidential, ongoing engagement
How an engagement starts
Most firms begin with the 4-Week Operational Assessment — four weeks embedded, a conversation with each key person, and a prioritised written plan. Paid, and no obligation to continue. If you do continue, the first 90 days follow a fixed order, because each part depends on the one before it.
Cash and lock-up
Forward cash visibility and the billing-to-collection rhythm go in first. Most firms see their WIP and debtor position properly for the first time, split rather than lumped together.
Authority and rhythm
The authority map is agreed and published, and the weekly leadership meeting starts producing decisions with an owner and a date. Matters stop routing back to the partners.
Accountability
One named owner per number that matters — collections, lock-up, utilisation, capacity — reviewed weekly rather than discovered at year end.
After day 90 the work is governance: holding the structure while the firm grows, developing the people who own it, and correcting drift as it appears. Most engagements run six to eighteen months, month to month after the initial term.
Who does the work
Every engagement is delivered by David Schofield — twenty years in operations across professional services, construction and digital, in the UK and US. No associates and no bench: the person who scopes the engagement is the person in the room each week.
I am not a solicitor, and law firms are not all I work with. What transfers is the operating model — lock-up, realisation and collections are the legal profession's version of problems that show up in every business that does work before it gets paid.
Go deeper
Practical guides on the operational levers that move a growing UK firm:
Who it is for
UK law firms of roughly 5–30 fee-earners, founder- or partner-led, where growth has outpaced the operating model and the partners have become the bottleneck the whole firm runs through.
Start with a conversation
A 30-minute Operational Clarity Call — a direct read of where your firm stands operationally. Or begin with a 4-Week Operational Assessment for the full picture.
Book an Operational Clarity Call →