No ‘Alternatives’ Anymore

These days reference to ‘alphabet soup’ is frequent when speaking and writing about legal services. I recently heard Richard Susskind rattle off 20 different acronyms and names for the many and varied forms of legal services provider, which in my Remaking Law Firms book I called a ‘kaleidoscope’. In today’s post our regular contributor Heather Suttie calls for abandoning the term ‘alternative legal service provider’ (ALSP). I heartily concur. Read what Heather says and decide for yourself.

BigLaw, MVPs and all that

Classic business rule: develop the product then unleash it on customers. Modern business rule: find the skinniest expression of your product, unleash it on your customers, then lever up. Startup thinking has invaded the traditional business model.

Classic: The cause of, and solution to

George Meyer, producer and head writer of The Simpsons in its glory years, was once asked about his favourite line from the show’s run. He cited the closing scene from the Season 8 episode “Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment,” in which the town is celebrating the end of a brief period of Prohibition. Homer stands atop a pile of beer barrels, hoists a sudsy glass, and proposes a toast to the gathered crowd: “To alcohol! The cause of — and solution to — all of life’s problems.”

In a similar vein, I would like to propose, if not an actual toast, then an explanatory observation for the business of legal services: “To lawyers! The cause of — and solution to — all of law firms’ problems.”

Remaking News of the Week: Adam Smith Esq on lateral madness

Three days ago I tweeted “Poor odds: 24% of lateral partners leave firm that hired them within 3 years, nearly half within 5. Average cost of hiring a lateral is $1.7m per year trib.al/tyd7V8E Via @AmericanLawyer”

In today’s Remaking News of the Week features a recent post by Adam Smith Esq, aka Bruce MacEwen, develops the theme of what can only be called ‘lateral madness’.

A serious question: Should Clifford Chance’s corruption initiative be taken seriously?

As befits a fine, independent mind from a leading academic institution, Richard Moorhead examines a critical issue: Trust in the integrity and ethics of professional practitioners, particularly when their firm is a leading ‘name’.

Remaking News of the Week: Tom Rodenhauser

In Remaking News of the Week, Tom Rodenhauser questions the veracity of the belief that that ‘clients…will flock to the Walmart/Amazon/Google of professional services‘ – the so-called one-stop shops epitomised by the Big Four.

Law is lagging in digital transformation

Law is lagging in digital transformation by Mark Cohen adds to Dialogue’s focus on digitalisation. Last year I featured a new book by MIT’s Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner, What’s Your Digital Business Model?. I stressed its relevance to law firms and law departments; now Mark adds more to the why and how.