Dispatches from a legal profession on the brink
Filed under: Innovation, Solo & Small Firm
I’m willing to wager that the one phrase most frequently spoken in partnership meetings, when the subject of potential new initiatives comes up, is: “Are any other firms doing this?” Law is virtually the only industry where a negative answer to that question is met with disappointment. Doing what everyone else is doing will get… Read more »
Filed under: Law21
Before providing a series of links to articles I’ve recently published elsewhere, I want to bring your attention to my next two public speaking appearances and encourage you to come check them out. First, I’ll be in Toronto this Friday, August 5, at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association. I’m honoured to be… Read more »
Filed under: Innovation, Outsourcing
It’s July, we’re in the middle of a record-breaking summer of heat, and the major-league baseball trade deadline is just days away. So naturally, I’m going to talk about football. This isn’t entirely a propos of nothing: the National Football League lockout recently ended with a 10-year collective bargaining agreement, and a frenzy of free-agent… Read more »
Filed under: Clients
There are days when I feel optimistic that lawyers can rise to the challenges before us and take the lead in the new legal marketplace now emerging worldwide. And then there are days like today. Three data points for you. The first from a friend who sent along this item from the 2010 ACC/Serengeti Managing… Read more »
Filed under: Big Firms, Outsourcing, Talent
A minor parlour game for BigLaw cognoscenti is the question of which city will be the next world capital of law. New York has held the unofficial title for many years, although London made a powerful case throughout the 2000s. Down the road, who knows? Maybe Hong Kong or Shanghai, possibly New Delhi or Mumbai;… Read more »
Filed under: Law21
Time for my regular roundup of what I’ve written in other locations recently, along with a quick itinerary of my upcoming speaking appearances. 1. I’ve been especially busy at Law Firm Web Strategy, the blog of Stem Legal, with three recent posts on social media: Sponsored stories: Facebook’s legal marketing breakthrough? considers a new advertising… Read more »
Filed under: Competition, Law School
If law schools were publicly traded companies and you held some in your portfolio, I would be strongly advising you to sell. Fast. Here’s a quick review of some recent news concerning the US legal education industry and the legal profession it is purportedly preparing its graduates to enter. As reported by the Wall Street… Read more »
Filed under: Innovation
Lawyers are supposedly averse to innovation. Apparently, someone forgot to inform these law firms and companies. Allen & Overy, whose FIG Global Compensation Tracker helps banks and hedge funds monitor compensation reform initiatives Campbell Law Group of Boulder, Colorado, which is developing a global distributed legal support infrastructure for social enterprises Choate Hall & Stewart… Read more »
Filed under: Big Firms
What is the point of a law firm? This is neither a rhetorical nor a snarky question. I’m interested in nailing down the economic rationale for a law firm’s existence. What benefits flow to both clients and lawyers from law firms? In what ways are the buyers and sellers of legal services better off because… Read more »
Filed under: Big Firms, Innovation
Legal historians might look back at the spring of 2011 and judge it the time when the old law firm model began to pass away and a new one began to take its place. Specifically, they might contrast last month’s dissolution of Washington-based global firm Howrey LLP with today’s announcement by 300-lawyer Irwin Mitchell LLP… Read more »
