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Sure You’re Smart, But Do You Think? (There is a difference)

by Bruce | September 3, 2026 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Law Schools, Recruiting

The following article is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. LLC. Our industry is awash with really smart people.  You kinda have to be to get into and through a top law school.  Then, why is there such a paucity of creative thinking in Law Land?  After...

The Maroons & the Grays: An Update

by Bruce | August 16, 2026 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Client Relationships, Generative AI, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy

Back in 2019 we published a three-part series introducing and fleshing out our model of the competitive market segmentation of law firms.   We posited that the two primary segments of BigLaw are the “maroons,” go-to firms for bet-the-company matters garnering...

Scale Matters

by Bruce | June 26, 2026 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Client Relationships, Generative AI, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy

In the past we have written that for law firms scale—number of partners and total lawyers, number of offices, total revenue, &c.—doesn’t really matter.  The distinctions that clients care about center around specific domain/practice area expertise, track record, a...

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

by Bruce | February 12, 2026 | About the Site, Articles, Branding, Business Models, Generative AI, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy

The following is a guest post from our long-time friend and astute observer of Law Land, Alastair Morrison.   –Bruce & Janet Alastair Morrison, Legal Consultant Alastair Morrison is a London-based legal consultant with extensive experience in law firm...

Janet on Bloomberg Law re the Non-Equity Tier

by Bruce | November 6, 2025 | About the Site, Branding, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Partnership Structures

Recently Janet was invited to participate in a Bloomberg Law podcast on the topic of Ropes & Gray remaining a single-tier partnership despite the industry’s overwhelming movement towards the two-tier (equity and non-equity) partnership model.  Her fellow...

Cross-serving vs. Cross-selling; yes, there’s a difference

by Janet Stanton | August 3, 2025 | Articles, Branding, Client Relationships, Cultural Considerations, Marketing, Strategic Client Management

The following column is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq., LLC–Bruce Firms are increasingly realizing the value of expanding relationships with their existing clients – be it involving more partners, additional practice areas, offices or other...
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