Growth is Dead: Part 9-Future Models

by | November 2, 2012 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy

The first eight columns in this series, to state the obvious, have been all about the challenges facing BigLaw, which I believe may be mortal to some firms who don’t or can’t respond effectively.  The new landscape reflects trends bubbling up under the surface for some time, including globalization and the relentless march of IT, spreading transparency into talent, ideas, and value for money, and all of which have been accelerated and brought into the clear light of day by the Great Reset of 2008 and beyond.

A rational reader might ask: “Is it all gloom and doom? Do you really think BigLaw will cease to exist as we know it?” Fair question, the answer to which is no.

In this column I want to describe what I believe the future of BigLaw, more or less “as we know it,” may hold. I predict it will be:

  • Smaller overall as an industry, in terms of revenue and headcount;
  • Cylindrical rather than pyramidal at its organizational core;
  • More cloud-like than either cylindrical or pyramidal in its reach;
  • With an obsessive and intense firm by firm focus on delivering stringently defined services for carefully identified, and narrow, categories of clients.

You may have noticed I’ve said nothing there about profitability. That’s because I believe the jury is out on that scorecard, but I see no intrinsic reason whatsoever that profitability need take a systemic plunge.  Profitability will be far more dependent on smart and focused management than ever before; the days of “do no harm” and “steady as she goes” are gone forever, and room for error will be tightly circumscribed.

First let me lay out the reasons I believe BigLaw will continue to exist in some form we could agree is recognizable today, and then let me describe what adaptations creatures will have to make to survive and thrive in the new ecosystem. Think of the first part as demand and the second as supply.

Demand:

  • Globalization is here to stay (see #3)
  • Regulatory, precedential, and financial complexity is here to stay.
  • The ability of talent, ideas, and capital to cross borders is here to stay (see #1)

Let’s explore this a bit.

123Next Page +
View Single Page | Print Version| Share on LinkedIn

Related Articles

Email Delivery

Get Our Latest Articles Delivered to your inbox +
X

Sign-up for email

Be the first to learn of Adam Smith, Esq. invitation-only events, surveys, and reports.





X

Get Our Latest Articles Delivered to Your Inbox

Like having coffee with Adam Smith, Esq. in the morning (coffee not included).

Oops, we need this information
Oops, we need this information
Oops, we need this information

Thanks and a hearty virtual handshake from the team at Adam Smith, Esq.; we’re glad you opted to hear from us.

What you can expect from us:

  • an email whenever we publish a new article;
  • respect and affection for our loyal readers. This means we’ll exercise the strictest discretion with your contact info; we will never release it outside our firm under any circumstances, not for love and not for money. And we ourselves will email you about a new article and only about a new article.

Welcome onboard! If you like what you read, tell your friends, and if you don’t, tell us.

PS: You know where to find us so we invite you to make this a two-way conversation; if you have an idea or suggestion for something you’d like us to discuss, drop it in our inbox. No promises that we’ll write about it, but we will faithfully promise to read your thoughts carefully.

close window