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Category Archives: Leadership
The culture-driven law firm
The era of the free-agent lawyer, and the law firm lateral hiring frenzy that it spawned, is drawing to a close. The rise of the culture-driven law firm is at hand.
It’s going to take me a while to explain how I got here. I’ll try to do this in two parts.
1. Followership in law firms
This [...]
Also posted in Big Firms, Management, Talent 5 Comments
Preparing for the storm
The “About” entry in the column over on the right there states my belief that the practice of law is heading into “uncharted territory.” If you’re skeptical about that, or if you’re unconvinced of the reality of imminent upheaval in this profession, here are two items you might want to look at.
The first is the [...]
Also posted in Innovation 2 Comments
Leading by asking
“There go my people,” said 19th-century radical French politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin, supposedly on seeing a mob pass by the café where he was seated. “I must find out where they are going, so I can lead them.” You won’t find a more succinct summary of the paradoxical nature of leadership than that: how can [...]
Also posted in Collaboration Leave a comment
Something’s actually happening
There’s a lot of buzz building about an article in today’s New York Times with the rather odd title “Who’s Cuddly Now? Law Firms.” It summarizes a recent rash of new business models in American law firms, from flextime for lawyers to flat-fee bills for clients to alternative billable-hour schemes and more. It’s the second [...]
Also posted in Big Firms, Billing, Clients, Competition, Innovation, Management Leave a comment
Is stewardship dead?
Maybe not quite, but in the context of most professional law firms with more than just a handful of partners, it’s on life support and the priest has been called in.
I honestly don’t know of any midsize or larger law firms, at least, that operate other than “to maximize the wealth of the current shareholders.” [...]
Also posted in Purpose Leave a comment
A to Z: 26 trends for the legal profession
This article was co-authored with Mélanie Raymond, then-Senior Editor of National, and appeared as the cover story in the April/May 2006 edition of the magazine.
The legal profession is turning upside down, and many of the familiar landmarks are disappearing or bring replaced by brand-new structures. There are so many changes afoot that National’s editorial team [...]
Also posted in Billing, Clients, Competition, Generations, Globalization, Innovation, Law School, New Lawyers, Satisfaction, Technology Leave a comment
Looking for leaders
These days, young lawyers are often said to be joining firms and immediately expecting exciting work, handsome paycheques, flexible hours and endless compliments. Their attitude, apparently, is that they can bypass all the hard work put in by their elders and head straight for the reward, while bolting to a higher bidder on a moment’s [...]
Also posted in Generations, New Lawyers Leave a comment
Credit crisis: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet