Carolyn
Thornlow
Founder
Carolyn Thornlow is the founder of Concinnity Services. She is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in American Law.
Her book, The ABA Guide to Professional Managers in the Law Office, was an ABA top ten best seller. Her articles, public appearances, and webinars are also popular.
She has advised scores of business owners on how to grow and fortify their firms which has resulted in rousing success for her clients.
Prior to starting Concinnity, Ms. Thornlow was CFO and COO of several prominent NYC law firms.
She graduated 6th in her class with honors in management from Bernard M. Baruch College.
She is a member of Mensa and has held leadership positions at the American Bar Association, The Association of Legal Administrators and The Insitute of Certified Professional Managers, from which she holds certification as a Professional Manager.
Partners
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What others are saying
Arlen Gelbard
General Counsel | Chief Compliance Officer | Bank President | Independent Outside Director
I have known Carolyn Thornlow for over 20 years. When I was a partner in a law firm (and member of the executive committee), Carolyn was our management consultant. Anyone who has served on a management committee with strong people who are not necessarily experienced specifically in firm management knows how challenging it can be. Carolyn was skilled in not only conveying the drivers of our firm’s strengths, but in creating actionable plans in which everyone had a role. We shared a lot of business sensibilities, which she underscored by presenting me with a “management acumen” plaque. Dare I say, she has a good eye for what works. Any firm or Director looking for management expertise, strategic guidance and operational know-how would do well working with Carolyn.
David Rosenbaum
Principal at Citrin Cooperman Technology Consulting
Carolyn is masterful at developing procedures and protocols, and monitoring and "enforcing" them, to assure that her clients have access to the information they need to best service THEIR clients.
Gerald Shapiro
Managing Partner at Mitofsky Shapiro Neville & Hazen LLP
Practicing law in a thriving firm finds me focusing on legal matters practically to the exclusion of everything else. Yet, this luxury of focusing on legal work while knowing that the firm is on the right course is credited to Carolyn Thornlow and Concinnity Services. Concinnity Services, with Carolyn at the helm, has set our firm's direction since its inception in 1993. My co-founder and I were rich in dreams and legal skills, but short on a whole lot else which is necessary to build and run a firm. Carolyn's expertise in marshaling resources, allocating the right amount to the right initiatives and managing their execution is what has built and sustains the firm's infrastructure. As if building a firm, admittedly back then on a shoestring, was not demanding enough, the firm has been confronted with the untimely death of my co-founding partner. Needless to say, there were extraordinary occasions, above and beyond more predictable challenges, where Carolyn has crafted plans which led us to success. I have relied and have every intention of continuing to rely on Carolyn as my business advisor and on Concinnity Services for outsourcing the firm's management functions. Carolyn is a consummate professional manager, talented analyst and creative strategist. Any firm contemplating working with her and Concinnity Services would be wise to do so.
Why Concinnity?
You started a businesses and devoted yourself to it because you love the product or service or mission. The beginning is great. You created something out of determination and passion. Then cash flow gets tight. People don't cooperate. Clients and customers get annoyed. Good people leave. Simple tasks are now fraught with confusion or frustration. All the time, energy and money that used to go to the product or service or mission goes to keeping chaos at bay. And you start questioning if there is a better way.
There is! You CAN have what gives you the ultimate in freedom and pride.
What Does it Take?
All it takes is getting really good at management. And that's why Concinnity is important to business owners and organization leaders. We are management experts who partner with you. We can install the systems and refine the processes and train the staff and control the finances. We can foresee the future and plan for it and make your clients happy and add more to that fan club. We can do it for you so that you can get back to that product, service and mission you love. But, you're still the boss. So, we whisper into your ear the why of what we're doing so that you become smarter as your firm becomes stronger. Even better, we teach you how to see the big picture so that you will always be the perfect guardian for your business. Success is never final. But, you'll always know what you have to do to hit the next success level.