by Bruce | December 21, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Knowledge Management, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy, Technology strategy
At the intersection of: technology globalization, and demographics we have, according to Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor under President Clinton and now Prof. of Public Policy at Berkeley), the challenge of "the economics of people" for the next few...
by Bruce | December 15, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy
In a piece in this month’s American Lawyer titled "Turning Point," Dan DiPietro, the head of the Citigroup Private Bank’s Law Firm group, provides quantitative financial support for a theory I’ve long held, that our industry is not just...
by Bruce | December 14, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Knowledge Management, Practice Group Management, Strategy, Technology strategy
Among the numerous obstacles to an effective and comprehensive Knowledge Management program are (a) lawyers’ reluctance—actually, make that absolute refusal—to spend 10 seconds in the active "care and feeding" of the KM system; and (b) the...
by Bruce | December 9, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
In general, I try to avoid staking out hard and fast positions. Partly, this is simply because I have a strong preference for spending my time analyzing and discussing issues where there really are two (or more) sides; they’re just plain more intrinsically...
by Bruce | December 8, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance
Last year, with base salaries for first-years at $125,000, associate bonuses at top New York firms ranged from $30,000 for first-years to $60,000+ for senior associates. This year, the news just broke that with base salaries for first-years at $145,000, associate...
by Bruce | November 30, 2006 | Articles, Finance, Leadership, Strategy
Seminal business/management books are few and far between, although you’d never guess that walking into your typical Barnes & Noble and knee-capping yourself over the inevitable piled-high/piled-deep table displaying the combined wit and wisdom of wannabe...