by Bruce | June 11, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Marketing, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management
My friend Rich Gary has an enlightening column in the current issue of Law Firm Inc. in which he addresses "Ten Questions CMO’s Must Be Ready to Answer." If all CMO’s came to the table prepared to respond to these as thoughtfully and thoroughly...
by Bruce | June 11, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Although this is really by way of an update to the immediately preceding post, I think it’s worthy of standing on its own because, while it raises essentially the same issue, it approaches it from a sufficiently different perspective that it deserves its own...
by Bruce | June 8, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
When both David Childs of Clifford Chance and Tony Angel of Linklaters say something’s a serious problem, I pay attention. The issue du jour (or should that be du decade?) is retaining associates who find the time demands and general stress of large law firm...
by Bruce | June 6, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
In the past 24 hours, I’ve spoken with the managing partner/chairs of two AmLaw 50 firms, and I heard something from each that I hear altogether too rarely: They know what their firms are not going to do, or be. The first put it in these terms (I...
by Bruce | June 2, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
A regular reader (partner at an AmLaw 25 firm and, coincidentally, a fellow Princetonian) writes: "You write about lockstep and eat-what-you-kill, but you don’t say a word about “completely black box” compensation. There are some firms in which...
by Bruce | June 1, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Marketing, Practice Group Management
In Trust-Based Selling, Charles Green (who co-authored The Trusted Advisor with David Maister), titles Chapter 7 (pp. 70—74), "Sell by Doing, Not by Telling," and relates the following story: The "Chief Counsel of a Fortune 50 company" needed...