OK, so this really doesn’t have anything to do with the economics or
management of law firms.
Still, Barron’s has a wonderfully contrarian editorial about
the pending Google IPO, pointing out among other things that under the
Corrupt Bad Old Frank Quattrone System of IPO allocations, shares tended
to end up in the hands of the most wildly exuberant speculative bulls. Whereas, under the Transparent Hygienic New Dutch Auction System of Google’s
IPO, shares will tend to end up in the hands of the most wildly exuberant
speculative bulls.
Could this be the end of Silicon Valley as we know it? Or only
the end of mutually parasitic (ooops—we meant to say "symbiotic")
dance between the VC’s and the investment banks? Or are those the
same thing?