by Bruce | March 19, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Practice Group Management
I doubt I need point out to any of my readers the front-page story in today’s Sunday New York Times’ Business Section (above the fold, even!) headlined, "Up the Down Staircase: Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms," but in...
by Bruce | March 17, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Two weeks ago I posed the question, "Is there a natural limit to the size of global law firms?," and I invited you all to vote on various possible answers starting with "No; like global accounting firms and banks, they can grow to the sky," through...
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...