The future lawyer

The Future Lawyer is based upon the Mark Cohen’s keynote address to The German Bar Association on May 26th, 2017. Mark starts by identifying some of the key challenges attorneys will confront, and then sets about the skills they will require to meet them.
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Posted by on Aug 28, 2017 in Lawyers | 0 comments

Legal marketing spend is up, so is client dissatisfaction. Now what?

Competition for corporate legal work is keen, writes Mark Cohen in Forbes in April.

Law firms vie with each other for a shrinking segment of outsourced legal work. Corporate legal departments and a growing array of well capitalized, tech and process savvy service providers now account for an almost 50% of legal spend. It’s not surprising, then, that law firms are stepping up investment in marketing and business development activities. Will this narrow the growing delta between rising demand for legal services and declining call for law firms? Short answer: not unless law firms address the myriad of reasons for client dissatisfaction as well as differentiate themselves.

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Posted by on May 17, 2017 in BigLaw firms, Clients, Law departments | 0 comments

The legal vertical is already corporatized; law firms should be permitted to operate that way, too

The legal vertical is already corporatized; law firms should be permitted to operate that way, too by Mark Cohen explores a contentious topic. I congratulate Mark on his cogent arguments in favour. And I am sure all readers of Dialogue are looking forward to hearing the views of BigLaw firm leaders and the institutions of the legal profession, like bar associations and law societies.   

Mark starts by with an exhortation: It’s time to stop pretending that the $300B U.S. legal industry is anything but big business. All legal providers—including law firms– should be able to operate from a corporate structure.

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Posted by on Apr 25, 2017 in BigLaw firms, Regulation | 0 comments

‘Legal Innovation’ is not an oxymoron—it’s farther along than you think

‘Legal Innovation’ Is Not An Oxymoron by Mark Cohen makes some provocative statements, e.g. ‘Law’s Uber moment has yet to occur….’ Read on and judge for yourself. Will there be a tipping point? Or should we expect rapid incremental change? Afterall, there are many segments in the legal services supply chain and each is being affected in different ways and rates of change.  

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Posted by on Apr 7, 2017 in BigLaw firms, Business models | 0 comments

BigLaw’s Gender Diversity Problem Is The Traditional Model Itself

Anyone remember the Jerry Reed song, “She Got The Goldmine, I Got The Shaft”? The country crooner garnered a Grammy for singing about the inequitable upshot of his divorce. That song came to mind when I read the recent Law 360 “Glass Ceiling Report” on women in law firms. Perhaps a female lawyer with a good voice and an ability to strum could reprise Reed’s tune and call it: “He Got The Corner Office, I Got The Door.”

Female lawyers still get the shaft. Why?

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Posted by on Aug 31, 2016 in BigLaw firms, Lawyers | 0 comments