by Bruce | August 6, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Strategy
Have you ever asked yourself why management education exists? Presumably, we know why law school exists (even the most curmudgeonly among us would admit the first year, and perhaps a fair portion of the second year, are an experience unlike any other, which, if...
by Bruce | July 28, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Back in March at the American Enterprise Institute annual dinner, Charles Murray gave a talk entitled “The Happiness of the People.” The managing partner of a large AmLaw firm recently brought it to my attention. The AEI’s...
by Bruce | July 25, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Strategy
By now the news is well and long since out (WSJ Law Blog, AboveTheLaw) that Howrey has decided to fundamentally change the nature of the first and second year associate experience, by focusing on training and an apprenticenship model in exchange for a substantial cut...
by Bruce | July 21, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations
Ian McEwan (no relation so far as I know, unless you go way back far enough, presumably) is an unorthodox but always fascinating author, nicknamed “Ian Macabre” in the British press. Nonetheless, he’s won the Booker Prize outright once...
by Bruce | June 15, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Strategy
Today we have an extremely unusual–for Adam Smith, Esq.–guest column. Indeed, if memory serves, this is only the third column in the history of this site (5 years, nearly 1,000 columns) not written by me. Leigh Dance is today’s...
by Bruce | June 3, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
The more I reflect on the news of GM’s bankruptcy, the more shocking I find it. My reaction is surprisingly akin to that when I learned of Eliot Spitzer’s or Bernie Madoff’s flameouts: How on earth could this happen? What were they...