by Bruce | August 6, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
"Is this any way to recruit associates?" asks a lead story in this month’s American Lawyer. What is "this way?" We all know the drill, most of us from both sides of the table: Top law schools orchestrate dances of...
by Bruce | August 1, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Strategic planning is hard to argue with. Unless your practices and your operations are absolutely positively optimal across the board (in which case you need to divulge to me the source of your pixie dust), strategic planning is the generally accepted tool for...
by Bruce | July 25, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Practice Group Management
But enough about Gen X and Gen Y. As urgent as the issues of associate retention can be, with the human costs and the financial repercussions front and center, it’s time to focus on the other end of the generational spectrum: Partners nearing...
by Bruce | July 20, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy, Technology strategy
We conclude our three-part history of Allen & Overy with the years 1998—2007, the decade surrounding the turn of our current century. These years are, for my money, primarily the story of A&O’s investments in internationalization bearing...
by Bruce | July 17, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
When we left Allen & Overy in June 1971, Jim Thomson had just died. "He, more than any one other single individual, represented Allen & Overy; in the minds of many people in the City, clients and competitors alike, Jim Thomson was Allen &...
by Bruce | July 10, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy, Technology strategy
The FT is out with its second annual "Innovative Lawyers" Survey and much has changed since I reported on the original survey a year ago. Primarily, the survey is far more ambitious in scope this year: "The 2006 report covered only UK lawyers...