by Bruce | August 9, 2008 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Strategy
Put these trends together, as reported by this month’s issue of The American Lawyer, and what do you get? Midlevel associates, despite their pay jump since 2006, aren’t satisfied with with their compensation; New York City salary levels have penetrated...
by Bruce | August 4, 2008 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
This is about the Cadwalader layoffs. But I won’t be piling on. I really won’t. Instead, I’d rather examine how the firm got to this unhappy pass and what managerial lessons it might hold in store for us. To understand what brought it to cutting...
by Bruce | July 24, 2008 | Articles, Cultural Considerations
"This is [the program] in its best light. But what lies beneath is a pattern of behavior that places law firms at risk. Generally, the improper activities take place out of the spotlight. … [Participants] expressed a sense of feeling powerless about how to...
by Bruce | July 21, 2008 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Law Schools
My friend Prof. Bill Henderson of Indiana University School of Law has just published a highly significant column titled "How the ‘Cravath System’ Created the Bi-Modal Distribution." At least one blog ("MoneyLaw") has already deemed it...
by Bruce | July 18, 2008 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Does it strike you (as it does me) that the noise level surrounding "innovation" in law firms is reaching crescendo proportions? Just in the last few months, I’ve written about Legal OnRamp, Allen & Overy’s mini-conference on innovation here...
by Bruce | July 14, 2008 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Practice Group Management, Strategy, Technology strategy
Here’s an addendum to the coverage I gave to Eversheds’ Report on The Law Firm of the 21st Century, as well as to the story I published last month on the conference held here in New York sponsored by Eversheds. This email came in over the weekend...