by Bruce | March 14, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management, Strategy
When it comes to law firm financial performance, there’s a fatalistic school of thought which more or less adopts the following position: "Profitability all depends on matters outside the firm’s immediate control, starting with the basics such...
by Bruce | March 2, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy
In my last post, I referred somewhat obliquely to "long-term threats to the privileged positions" of firms, pointedly including large and prosperous firms (not just the struggling, the stragglers, and the stagnant). What exactly might those threats be?...
by Bruce | March 2, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
I’ve written before with some passion about the need for law firms to think and to act strategically. The "act" part should follow as the day the night, but of course it’s not that simple. Why does this matter? Why is it, in...
by Bruce | February 24, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
It’s a rare privilege to see a candid discussion of a major firm’s strategy in the press, so I urge you to run to this piece in The New York Law Journal, essentially an interview with Rohan Weerasinghe, Shearman & Sterling’s new chairman, about...
by Bruce | February 15, 2006 | About the Site, Articles, Compensation, Finance, Partnership Structures
We pause for a time-out to consider a metaphysical question: Is blogging journalism, and whether or not it is, to what standards of accuracy and precision should it be held? Actually, I have no intention of trying to answer these questions as posed. What I...
by Bruce | February 13, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy, Technology strategy
When you see—or when I see, at any rate—sustained outperformance by a firm over a five-year span, I cannot help but ask myself: "How did they do that?" What follows has a dusting of speculation at the end, but I think it’s a path worth...
