by Bruce | June 15, 2009 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Strategy
Today we have an extremely unusual–for Adam Smith, Esq.–guest column. Indeed, if memory serves, this is only the third column in the history of this site (5 years, nearly 1,000 columns) not written by me. Leigh Dance is today’s...
by Bruce | November 27, 2008 | Articles, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Twenty-six years ago Tom Peters and Robert Waterman published In Search of Excellence, and to some extent the genre of writing for business managers hasn’t been the same since. If for no other reason, it’s worth taking a moment to revisit...
by Bruce | September 1, 2008 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Strategy
Time to take stock. This dratted credit crunch has now celebrated, if that’s the word, its first birthday, and there is no clarity about when it may end. What’s a law firm to do? If you believe McKinsey, and if you believe that where investment...
by Bruce | July 22, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, M&A, Practice Group Management, Profiles of Individuals, Strategy
I recently had the chance to sit down with Jay Zimmerman, Chairman of Bingham, to discuss the changes he’s seen over his career, and to talk about the future of the legal industry and Bingham. Herewith a synopsis. Jay (Harvard, Harvard Law) started his career in...
by Bruce | July 3, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
This is a column about wringing our hands. Our first text, from the Old Testament conventional debate, stems from today’s WSJ story on "Axiom Legal," headlined Newcomer Law Firms Are Creating Niches with Blue-Chip Clients, discussing the business model...
by Bruce | June 7, 2008 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership, Profiles of Individuals, Strategy
Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Allen Fagin, Chairman of Proskauer Rose. Allen is Columbia BA summa cum laude, and Harvard Law JD cum laude at the same time he earned an MPP from Harvard’s JFK School of Government. He’s worked at Proskauer...