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 27, 2007 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Strategy
I’m pleased to announce that I’m now the US director of the Strategy Panel of the UK-based Managing Partners’ Forum. My co-directors are Andrew Hedley of Hedley Consulting (London) and Rob Millard of Edge International (Bahamas). What...
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 14, 2007 | Articles, Book Reviews, Cultural Considerations, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
A couple of weeks ago, the two volume history of the firm of Allen & Overy arrived FedEx from Europe. I had just recently learned that the books existed, and the firm was kind enough to send me them when I expressed interest. When they arrived, they...