Are you a practicing lawyer who is transitioning into a leadership role? Whether it’s as a managing partner, practice group leader, office managing partner, or executive committee member—in all cases, to be effective as a leader, you need to make…
The Economist has a major article about the intentions of the Big Four accounting firms in the legal market, entitled Professional services: Attack of the bean-counters. It’s worth a read. Here are some key takeaways: Size and scale are the…
International Women’s Day was March 8. The theme for this year is: Make It Happen. Patricia Arquette must have known that when she advocated for gender wage equality during her acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for best supporting actress.…
Most people in the legal industry feel like they’re finally starting to get a handle on all the various things that have been changing in recent years. We’ve become accustomed to the ideas of shifting client expectations, a buyer’s market…
We have an important new program coming up on April 9 in New York: The Emerging Legal Technology Forum. The one-day Forum is designed for all those who lead law practices—including law firms, law departments, practice groups, and other groups…
The team of a Firm Leader and a Chief Operating Officer (COO) is two people who have been forced to work together—rather than having chosen the arrangement voluntarily. That is not intended to be pejorative, but the reality is that…
This week, I want to share some suggestions on law firm leadership. I do so because I believe leadership, or the absence of it, will make a big difference in how law firms fare during these turbulent times. Effective leadership…
Maurice Watson, Chairman of Husch Blackwell, discusses his panel on law firm leadership at the 19th Annual Thomson Reuters Law Firm Leaders Forum, describing how his firm inspires its next generation of firm leaders.
As I wrote three weeks ago, new tools and new methods make possible a bright new world in law. Achieving that world will require change in the way legal service is delivered. We know the market wants the benefit of…
Not too long ago, most commercial legal practice was something carried out between a narrowly defined set of players: corporations (or other types of organizations), and the law firms they hired to do legal work. Today, the law firm industry…