Having been tagged separately and independently by J. Craig Williams and by Gerry Riskin to contribute to the meme launched by Stephanie West Allen and Julie Fleming Brown to participate in the "Lawyers Appreciate..." round-robin, I feel it incumbent upon myself to respond before the midnight Dec. 31st deadline, so without further ado:

Lawyers appreciate professional management at senior executive levels of their firms.  Lawyers are not taught, and by and large don't care to learn about:

• competitive strategy
• management 101
• finance
• marketing
• IT, or
• human resources.

Erego those functions should be left strictly under adult supervision.  Hire worldly-wise and savvy strategic advisers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Marketing Officers, CIO's, and heads of HR, and get the lawyers out of their way.

What lawyers do care about is professional excellence, a collegial and fulfilling atmosphere, and above all else the ability to serve appreciative clients with impeccable legal counsel.   Lawyers appreciate being able to focus on that to the exclusion of all else.  Let them.