Law · 40 lawyers
Hartley & Osei
Be the best firm in the country at protecting family businesses across generations
full threadteaching example
A teaching example, not a client
Hartley & Osei is fictional, used throughout the course so every step has a complete answer to read before you write your own. Every figure attributed to it is illustrative.
Said about itself
“A full-service, client-focused firm”
What the evidence showed
Ten years of case history clustered on family-owned businesses; clients staying 20+ years across two generations; a lucrative corporate client refused because the work meant suing a family firm they once advised.
Innate identity
The firm families trust when business and family collide
Belief
Be the best firm in the country at protecting family businesses across generations
Constellation
Point at a star to read its measures
At the startForesight is the dim one — and the one that mattered
| Star | Leading measure | Lagging measure | Then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust | Next-generation family members met per client per year | % of clients retained through a generational handover | Bright |
| Depth | Training hours in succession, tax and family governance | Outcomes in shareholder and succession disputes | Medium |
| Calm | % of disputes where mediation is tried first | % of disputes resolved without court | Medium |
| Foresight | Proactive succession reviews conducted | Share of revenue from planning vs. dispute work | Dim |
The gap
Foresight. The firm was excellent at repairing damage but rarely there before it happened — and protecting means preventing, not just fixing.
Waypoint one
Launch a proactive succession review service for existing clients6 months · brightens Foresight, Trust
In the way
Hundreds of clients, and no clear view of who to approach first.
The arrow
“Age, siblings, silence”Prioritize clients where the founder is over 60, more than one child is in the business, and there is no written succession plan.
What moved
Succession reviews went 0 → 22 in six months; planning share of revenue 12% → 19%. The reviews also revealed that many families needed help talking to each other more than they needed documents — which reshaped waypoint 2.