by Bruce | December 10, 2004 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
Just how "corporate" is the management model at sophisticated firms? While there may be superficial similarities of structure in an increasing number of firms, Legal Week posits that if lawyers simply mimic a corporate form of management without...
by Bruce | December 9, 2004 | About the Site, Adam Smith Himself, Articles, Just Plain Interesting
Adam Smith’s thought (the real Adam Smith, that is) has been famously characterized by the economist George Stigler as a "stupendous palace erected upon the granite of self-interest." I have long labeled this a "mischaracterization,"...
by Bruce | December 8, 2004 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Perhaps the single most challenging question to answer cogently—from both the economic and intellectual perspectives—is what can law firm managers actually do to increase profitability? You imagine rightly, dear reader, that I have sacrificed...
by Bruce | December 7, 2004 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Strategy
More on the Piper Rudnick/DLA deal again courtesy of The Financial Times. Nigel Knowles, managing partner of DLA, tosses out the unnecessary comment that "Piper Rudnick’s reasons [for the deal] may be slightly more defensive, while ours may be...
by Bruce | December 6, 2004 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Strategy
So it’s official: DLA is merging with Piper Rudnick (which has already, more or less, merged with Gray-Cary). The resulting firm, whose name will not long remain "DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary," will be the second largest globally by revenue,...