by Bruce | June 9, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Strategy
Much chatter lately has been devoted to, “Whither Uber?” Is its famous unicorn valuation justified and defensible? If it can’t, or shouldn’t, continue to give its middle finger to regulatory authorities on every major continent, will its growth...
by Bruce | May 25, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
Returning from nearly a full week in Prague–delivering the keynote at the second annual 2017 Innovation Legal Services Forum and meeting with firms there–a few reflections. A very few cities in the world are truly global centers: You can count them on the...
by Bruce | May 12, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Globalization, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy, Technology strategy
One may fervently hope that regular readers have come to expect certain recurring customs here at Adam Smith, Esq., and today we honor that expectation with our usual “Letter from _____,” when we’ve just returned from a significant trip and have some...
by Bruce | April 10, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Leadership, Strategy
Rarely do I snag anything from The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal as an entree into an essay on Adam Smith, Esq. (not because there’s anything the least wrong with them, but because I figure you’ve probably already seen it), but rules are made...
by Bruce | March 17, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Compensation, Finance, Partnership Structures
This is a guest column by a very good friend of Adam Smith, Esq., Richard Rapp, who was President and CEO of NERA Economic Consulting for 18 years (1988-2005), during which time the firm grew to global scale. Richard now co-heads Veltro Advisors, a law firm...
by Bruce | January 18, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Finance, Leadership, Strategy
From the foregoing analyses, it is apparent that the financial performance of law firms over the past 10 years has been driven by only one factor: rate increases. As we have seen, demand gowth for law firm services has been essentially flat, productivity has been...