by Bruce | October 23, 2015 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Strategy
This fall we had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time in the Pacific Northwest—multiple trips to Seattle and Portland—and became better acquainted with the dynamics of that particular local/regional legal market. No mention of those two cities would be...
by Bruce | October 12, 2015 | Articles, Business Models, Cultural Considerations, Globalization, Leadership, Strategy, Technology strategy
This is the second in a two-part series recapping some of our thoughts, analyses, and impressions gleaned during our time in London late last month. The first installment, where we discussed Business Models and Compensation, is here. Today’s topics are...
by Bruce | October 9, 2015 | Articles, Business Models, Client Relationships, Finance, Strategy
The following is reproduced from LegalBusiness with the kind permission of the author, Tony Griffiths, who heads the London office of K&L Gates. Many centuries ago while studying law as an undergraduate, a particularly inspiring corporate law lecturer suggested...
by Bruce | October 7, 2015 | Articles, Client Relationships, Compensation, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Strategy
We recently returned from London on business, and this will be the first of a few installments presenting our thoughts given the benefit of 17 meetings in five business days. As you know, we work globally with firms of all sizes in a wide variety of markets with every...
by Bruce | September 30, 2015 | About the Site, Articles, Leadership, Strategy
We know many of our loyal readers are based in the Pacific Northwest, and for those who might find themselves in Seattle on Thursday, October 15th, we invite your attention to the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators’ annual Law Firm...
by Bruce | September 14, 2015 | Articles, Branding, Business Models, Client Relationships, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy
I’ve previously mentioned the Business Leadership Summit being organized by The Lawyer, taking place in London September 22—23. (More information here; registration here.) On the afternoon of Wednesday 23 September I will be moderating a panel (3:30 pm –...
by Bruce | September 8, 2015 | Articles, Client Relationships, Finance, Marketing, Strategy
A week or two ago, we were having drinks here in New York with two senior corporate partners at an AmLaw 25 firm that is quite self-aware enough to know it’s not in the realm of the super-elite, and the topic turned to pricing. A matter they’d both been...
by Bruce | September 4, 2015 | Articles, Compensation, Finance
Last week I published a column asking you to weigh in on how reliable you believe the AmLaw numbers to be – and your firm’s degree of participation in the survey. (Firms that aren’t AmLaw reporting firms can simply record that fact as their answer.)...
by Bruce | August 26, 2015 | Articles, Finance, Partnership Structures, Recruiting
The AmLaw rankings have been with us for over thirty years, and despite the evergreen complaints about their design, purpose, impact, and reliability, to our knowledge no one has ever tried to systematically ask AmLaw firms themselves whether and to what extent they...
by Bruce | August 25, 2015 | Articles, Technology strategy
Herewith the second installment of Doug Caddell’s essay on cyber-security. We closed part one of this article by stating that improving your cyber security posture was about managing risk, and that risk will be dependent upon your firm and how you measure the...