by Bruce | June 19, 2011 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Legion are the topics lawyers don’t talk about, and they could perhaps be accurately summarized as “anything we’d prefer not to talk about,” but primary among them is the strength or weakness of their own firms’ business models. So...
by Bruce | May 23, 2011 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Jim Surowiecki, writing his regular column in The New Yorker, “The Financial Page,” wrote last week about innovation and why it seems to take hold in the US before it does elsewhere. Jim is a good read almost any week, but this is a column demanding...
by Bruce | April 4, 2011 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Strategy
Recently, I wrote about what I called the Tier 1/Tier 2/Tier 3 challenge for BigLaw. Briefly, the Tiers are: 1: What everyone aspires to. Think Wachtell, Skadden, Cravath, et al. Good luck emulating them, or convincing the market you’re their peers if...
by Bruce | March 12, 2011 | About the Site, Articles, Finance, Practice Group Management
I’d like to bring to your attention an all-day seminar happening here in midtown New York on Thursday, March 24th, sponsored by the Ark Group and Managing Partner magazine, on Value-Billing Fee Arrangements and Legal Service Logistics.Here’s the rundown of...
by Bruce | March 6, 2011 | Articles, Leadership, Practice Group Management
As a management consultant to law firms, perhaps the most consistently infuriating phenomenon I encounter (all the time and everywhere, I’m deeply sorry to report) is transparently bogus strategic advice. Here are some examples: Have a struggling office? Hire...
by Bruce | February 25, 2011 | Articles, Finance, Practice Group Management, Strategy
There’s been so much talk recently about “alternative fee arrangements” (AFAs) that, frankly, we’re exhausted. But before we give up on the subject entirely (which, don’t be alarmed, we shan’t do), it’s perhaps time for a...