by Bruce | March 8, 2007 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
I’m composing this on the plane on my way to the 12th annual "Law Firm Leaders Forum: Leading the Law Firm of the Future" this Thursday and Friday, March 8 & 9, at the Four Seasons in San Francisco. Ralph Baxter of Orrick founded the "Leaders...
by Bruce | March 6, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
Is there anything remaining to be said about the Great Associate Salary Spike of 2007, to a starting salary of $160,000 at New York offices of big deal firms? (You might be excused for thinking there’s not, if you were to follow every link in this round-up.)...
by Bruce | February 16, 2007 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
"I’ve become accustomed in the last six years to facing the presumption that a profession cannot be a business in its true sense. It is quite a common assertion, made equally by a number from within our own profession. It is underpinned by the belief that...
by Bruce | February 14, 2007 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Profiles of Individuals, Strategy
Last month I had a chance to sit down with Pete Kalis, Chairman and Global Managing Partner of K&L Gates, for nearly two hours—and don’t think for a moment that we even scratched the surface of all we wanted to discuss. The pretext for our meeting was...
by Bruce | February 9, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Time to play "Name That Firm:" Here are some clues. “They are definitely the firm to watch,” said the managing partner of one leading New York firm recently overtaken by [Firm X] in the profit charts. “Even though they recognize the...
by Bruce | February 7, 2007 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
It has been amply reported that last month New York, and then all major national, firms went to $145,000/year first-year associate salaries, and that the following "Simpson Thacher bump" raised the ante to $160,000/year. Several people have asked me...
