by Bruce | September 29, 2017 | Articles, Question of the Month
Today is September 29th and voting is about to close on this month’s Question: Is the prohibition against non-lawyers having an ownership interest in a law firm still a good idea? Cast your vote here. At this moment we’re at 143 votes; let’s break...
by Bruce | September 19, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy
Most readers are familiar with our habit of writing a “letter from…” when we have spent some time in a particular market. We spent last week in Toronto among other things delivering the keynote and moderating breakout sessions at the annual meeting of Interlex, an...
by Bruce | September 13, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Finance, Leadership, Practice Group Management, Technology strategy
At the outset of this series, I explicitly said that I am not implying that disputes in the world were declining, just that revenue to law firms from the litigation practice would decline. But it never hurts to ask. So again our good friends at Thomson Reuters said...
by Bruce | September 1, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Partnership Structures, Question of the Month
Our fourth question of the month. At this point, you know what to do. As always, please use the comments box to add thoughts, glosses, and, well, commentary. [poll id=”9″]
by Bruce | August 31, 2017 | Articles, Client Relationships, Finance, Leadership, Question of the Month
Question of the Month #3 was, “What is the best measure of law firm performance?” This column is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. This question is gaining currency in our industry, with it being asked with greater frequency and not a few...
by Bruce | August 29, 2017 | About the Site, Articles, Globalization, Latin America, Marketing
In its latest issue, Dinero, Colombia’s most important business magazine, published an interview with our Bogotá-based Director, Antonio Leal Holguín. The interview is part of a special edition on law firms, which the magazine publishes once a year. The special...
by Bruce | August 28, 2017 | Articles, Finance
With thanks to our friends at Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute. You spend from January 1 to April 23 devoting your revenue to paying taxes; After April 23 (we’re talking averages here) another 40% of your year is “wasted” in...
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 | August 18, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Practice Group Management
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about litigation. It’s been one of the two major locomotives driving revenue and profit for BigLaw for the past 50 years or so–the other being transactional or corporate work–and has customarily provided 25–60%...
by Bruce | August 14, 2017 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Client Relationships, Marketing, Strategy
The following guest column is by Richard Hinwood, based in London. Richard is the Head of Strategy & Chief of Staff at Withers. As Head of Strategy, Richard leads the formulation and implementation of firm-wide strategy and business planning across the...