by Bruce | February 7, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
Over in the UK, they’re one step closer to the inevitable: Whole or partial public ownership of a law firm. (An investment bank is talking with "some of the largest firms" about IPO-ing them.) Regular readers know that I’ve been...
by Bruce | February 3, 2006 | Articles, Finance
Unfortunately, I don’t believe there’s anything remotely amusing about Sarbanes-Oxley. There is increasing evidence that SOX: has made small public companies an endangered species; is threatening the vitality of our dynamic public markets and driving...
by Bruce | February 2, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Marketing, Strategy
Global Expansion Junkies: I have bad news. Far too many law firms seem to enjoy expanding for its own sake, in an intellectual vacuum devoid of strategic analysis or rigorous consideration of the implications of growth in both headcount and geographic...
by Bruce | January 30, 2006 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
If that call came in to your firm tomorrow morning, where would it go? If the answer is, "anyone’s guess," and if you consider your firm "a player," you have some work to do. Consider that at last week’s Davos meeting of the "World...
by Bruce | January 27, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
David Maister confesses: "I have spent twenty years trying to say all professions look similar and can learn from each other, but I’m finally prepared to concede that lawyers are different – and it has nothing to do with economics." In a piece...
by Bruce | January 27, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Questions for your managing partner, executive committee, and executive director: Is your firm as profitable as it could be? How does it measure up vis-a-vis its peer group? And what defines that "peer group," precisely? Do you...