by Bruce | September 8, 2024 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Strategy
Few brands are more prominent in our daily lives (well, at least if you’re a Western world urban dweller) than Starbucks. Its rise to prominence has become standard-issue corporate lore: From its single Seattle store founding in 1971 to Howard Schultz’s...
by Bruce | August 27, 2024 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Partnership Structures
This column is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. Let’s get something straight from the get-go: “Equity” as it is known in Law Land is a chimera. Unlike in the other 98% of the economy, equity in Law Land is an illusion. It has no intrinsic or market value...
by Bruce | June 6, 2024 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Client Relationships, Finance, Leadership, Marketing, Strategic Client Management
This column is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. At far too many law firms, client or matter intake consists of a perfunctory credit and conflicts check, and you’re off to the races. This forfeits the opportunity to intentionally and purposefully manage the...
by Bruce | May 8, 2024 | Articles, Business Models, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Sometimes it’s the quiet, seemingly unremarkable, things that ultimately rear up and bite you. Here may, or may not, be one. Let’s start with this chart from Thomson Reuters redoubtable annual Report on the State of the US Legal Market (here, the 2024 edition...
by Bruce | December 18, 2023 | About the Site, Articles, Business Models, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Recruiting
“Cravath To A Million Squillion!” Sorry, but we’ve seen this dance so many times before that, you have to admit, we all know the script by heart. Cravath (or other blue chip firm [insert here]) bumps up associates’ salaries across the board by an average of...
by Bruce | October 5, 2023 | Articles, Business Models, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Partnership Structures, Strategy
“Ripped from the headlines,” as the cliche-inclined might say, we have this from The American Lawyer in the past week or so: Elite Firms Revisit Comp Formulas as Star Talent Has ‘Extraordinary Leverage’ Some highlights: According to Kent Zimmerman over...