by Bruce | September 27, 2005 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Marketing, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Actually, this post is less about hockey players and associates than it is about how the top firms are all able to mysteriously agree on the "going rate" ($125,000 for first year’s) without colluding, and on the dynamics behind the scenes when that...
by Bruce | September 22, 2005 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
A radical repudiation of a time-tested model or a long overdue dose of sanity? One imagines those are the reactions to Allen & Overy’s revealing that it’s considering a third career path for associates, neither "up" nor "out," but...
by Bruce | September 17, 2005 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
The Lawyer (UK) is one of those publications you ignore to your impoverishment: Somewhat like the role the Financial Times has vis-a-vis The Wall Street Journal, or The Economist vis-a-vis Business Week, The Lawyer provides a refreshing, candid, often cheeky,...
by Bruce | September 1, 2005 | Articles, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
The American Lawyer’s "A-List" is out, and I’ll have something to say about it in the next day or two. (The A-List, I probably needn’t remind you, ranks firms not by revenue, size, or profitability, but by a combination of (a) revenue...
by Bruce | August 18, 2005 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
We note with great sadness the passing of a 150+ year old firm, a pioneer on the international scene in ways many are still trying to emulate. (Also here.) The firm’s demise strikes me as exceedingly unnecessary—given the long perspective—but...
by Bruce | August 12, 2005 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Imagine a highly productive partner with a stand-out book of business that other firms would salivate over, years of experience and accumulated wisdom, and deep ties to blue-chip clients. What are the odds a firm would introduce a clause in its partnership...