by Bruce | January 21, 2008 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Strategy
On the wonderful landscape of economics, several highly visible landmarks are in the form of "laws:" The law of supply and demand, of economies of scale, of diminishing marginal utility, of the downward stickiness of wages, of decreasing returns to factors...
by Bruce | January 9, 2008 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Strategy
Text #1: "He was recruited as a very senior director in a very large City law firm. His work went well but the thing that really bugged him was the pass he had to show every time he went into the staff restaurant. The words ‘non-lawyer’ were printed...
by Bruce | December 27, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
As many of you know, back in November I was in London for a week. Among other activities—many other activities—I was pleased to be invited to participate in a panel discussion hosted by Guy Beringer of Allen & Overy, who was on the panel,...
by Bruce | December 26, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Our text for today, Dear Reader, coming from The American Lawyer, is as follows: "There’s nothing like a fund-raiser at a private school in Manhattan to define your social station. Time was, lawyers were near the top of the heap. Investment bankers...
by Bruce | November 17, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy
As we’ve known since October 19, Reed Smith reached agreement to merge with Richards Butler Hong Kong, nearly a year after completing its merger with Richards Butler (UK) in London. The agreement will add about $60-million in revenue and a little over 110...
by Bruce | October 31, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
As some of you doubtless know, I’m a Stanford Law graduate and, both on general principles and more pointedly with undying gratitude for the rigorous and exciting analytic education it gave me, a loyal one. (Stanford could learn volumes from Princeton when...