by Bruce | October 22, 2008 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
We are surely living in times of manic-depressive equity and fixed-income markets ("We’ve made the future safe for Western financial institutions!" "No, we haven’t!). New York City itself can seem to be suffering from one gigantic case...
by Bruce | October 14, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Practice Group Management
Making the rounds is a presentation by Sequoia Capital on "startups and the economic downturn," which constitutes a sort of come-to-Jesus meeting for that storied VC firm’s portfolio companies. It tells a tale of radical gloom, with...
by Bruce | October 7, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Strategy
A few weeks ago I posed the question to you all: Will the realignment of the top financial services institutions fundamentally alter the long-term demand for legal services? Here’s how you voted: A couple of aspects of these seem worth commentary: ...
by Bruce | October 4, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
With all the body blows the New York City financial services industry and its attendant handmaidens (BigLaw, that would be you) have taken in the past couple of months, it may be time to remind ourselves that for the past two centuries or so, ever since New...
by Bruce | October 1, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Strategy
Analogies are imperfect (that’s why they’re called analogies), but here’s an interesting thought experiment tying together the wild rides investment banks have had on Wall Street during the past few weeks and the potential impact of the Legal...
by Bruce | September 22, 2008 | Articles, Finance
Now that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will be converting into traditional bank holding companies, the landscape has changed for keeps: "With the move, Wall Street as it has long been known — a coterie of independent brokerage firms that buy and sell...