by Bruce | August 24, 2017 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Finance, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
We haven’t talked yet about realization. Shall we? The first time I saw this chart, it hit me between the eyes; your reaction may be similar. In a nutshell: Even if litigation “demand” is more or less steady, what about revenue to law firms from that demand? In...
by Bruce | July 27, 2017 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Question of the Month
This column is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. The second Question of the Month was: “Does the partnership form remain the optimal structure for law firms?” This resulted from our musing a couple of years ago, “Would any corporation reorganize...
by Bruce | July 24, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
This article is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq.: “Non-lawyers.” This is the prevailing term for business professionals employed at law firms. Really? Let’s just start with the fact that it’s insulting to be defined by what you are not. (Thought experiment:...
by Bruce | July 7, 2017 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Ineffable, Leadership
Unknown to me was that Chief Justice John Roberts’ son has been attending, and just graduated (9th grade) from Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire. Dad delivered the commencement address. An excerpt: Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish...
by Bruce | June 29, 2017 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Coming to the fore more prominently these days across a large portion of firms we work with and the industry overall is the issue of succession planning. It comes up in one or both of two contexts, (a) transitioning key client relationships from incumbent partners to...
by Bruce | June 25, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Leadership, Strategy
A brief follow-on to the earlier column on Amazon, GE, and Whole Foods. The typically worthwhile Greg Ip, writing in The Wall Street Journal on “The Economy Needs Amazons, but it Mostly Has GEs”, gives us the following chart: The point? For 20+ years,...