by Bruce | January 30, 2017 | Articles
It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices [checks and balances] should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be...
by Bruce | January 30, 2017 | Articles, Strategy, Technology strategy
Well, it was comfortable while it lasted. I’m referring to the widespread attitude towards artificial intelligence in law, to the effect that we don’t have to do anything about it yet because the technology has yet to prove itself. Some day, maybe, and...
by Bruce | January 24, 2017 | Articles, Leadership, Strategy
The Premortem “The premortem is a great idea. I mentioned it at Davos and the chairman of a large corporation said it was worth coming to Davos for. The beauty of the premortem is that it is very easy to do. My guess is that, in general, doing a premortem on a plan...
by Bruce | January 18, 2017 | Articles, Business Models, Finance, Leadership, Strategy
From the foregoing analyses, it is apparent that the financial performance of law firms over the past 10 years has been driven by only one factor: rate increases. As we have seen, demand gowth for law firm services has been essentially flat, productivity has been...
by Bruce | January 17, 2017 | Articles, Recruiting
The following article was first published earlier this week in The Lawyer. We reproduce it here with their kind permission. Two days after the US Presidential election, the Atlantic magazine’s lead article, “The Trump Transition Begins,” opened with this short...
by Bruce | January 6, 2017 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Technology strategy
Q: What could put your firm at severe peril of failure that has nothing to do with clients, markets, bank debt, partner flight, infighting at the top, or any of the other usual suspects? A: A cybersecurity breach of your systems exposing confidential client info. Yes,...
by Bruce | January 2, 2017 | Articles, Leadership, Strategy
It’s become a commonplace to observe that Law Land has entered a period of negligible overall real growth in demand. (Five years ago I published Growth Is Dead: Now What?, which at the time prompted a fair amount of skepticism, a perspective on the book which...
by Bruce | December 8, 2016 | Articles, Leadership
Having been born in Manhattan, raised in a very close-in suburb which orbited in the firm grasp of The City and existed to serve it (it was the era when parents did that), and having lived and worked on this Island ever since college and law school, I plead guilty to...
by Bruce | November 30, 2016 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Strategy
You deem the following quote: Surprising, because your partners are totally game for whatever changes the rapidly evolving world is throwing at your firm; Utterly familiar—depressingly so; The ace you have up your sleeve as Managing Partner when it’s simpler to...
by Bruce | November 24, 2016 | About the Site, Articles
A Macy’s Parade balloon gets ready for its big annual moment–this all happens about a mile from the offices of Adam Smith, Esq.: Courtesy The New York Times.
