by Bruce | October 22, 2004 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Marketing, Technology strategy
If "three anecdotes constitute a trend," as the possibly apocryphal credo of journalists has it, then I am here to announce a trend: Corporations are beginning to apply professional purchase-manager techniques and metrics to selecting and overseeing...
by Bruce | October 21, 2004 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Strategy, Technology strategy
Inflamed election-year rhetoric aside, outsourcing has arrived. According to Forrester Research, just over 40,000 lawyer jobs will be sourced abroad by 2015 (about 8% of total projected lawyer employment). Financial services and IT shops recognized the...
by Bruce | October 17, 2004 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, M&A, Strategy
Here’s a thought experiment: What if law firms could become publicly traded companies? In the UK, it’s not going to be a thought experiment much longer. Under a proposal approved by The Law Society (more or less their ABA), non-lawyers will...
by Bruce | October 14, 2004 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization
Can a UK firm crack the New York market without bending its lockstep partner compensation model? No, at least not if you’re Clifford Chance. CC has a global lockstep for its equity partners except some "super-pointers" in New York. This anomaly...
by Bruce | September 28, 2004 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Strategy
"Wanted: Law Firm to Sue the UK’s Big Five Banks" is the headline of this piece at The Lawyer. They report that, per their "research," 26 of the top 30 UK firms in the "Lawyer 100" are conflicted out of acting against...
by Bruce | September 24, 2004 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, M&A
"Mergers 101" prompted some reader response curious for more detail behind my concluding observation about how the composition of the AmLaw 200 as of 2004 differed from that as of 1999. Here are the raw numbers: 11 firms were acquired 3 dissolved 8...
