Remaking news of the week: Deloitte acquires law offices

On Law.Com on June 06, 2018, Dan Packel reported that Deloitte UK will acquire the Berry Appleman & Leiden’s eight overseas offices. This is in addition to regulation-circumventing (my words) alliance between Deloitte and Berry Appleman & Leiden’s US operations. 

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Posted by on Jun 14, 2018 in Big Four, BigLaw firms | 1 comment

Big Four’s Big Bite

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water …” Thirty years ago, that was the tagline for Jaws 2, the 1978 second installment to the iconic shark movie, Jaws, that three years earlier kept many movie goers from daring to dip a toe in the water never mind venture out for a swim.

The odds of being killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067. Furthermore, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, you’re more likely to be killed by fireworks (1 in 340,733), lightning (1 in 79,746), drowning (1 in 1,134), a car accident (1 in 84), stroke (1 in 24), or heart disease (1 in 5).

However, if you’re a law firm, the odds of being badly bitten by one or more of the Big Four professional services firms are chillingly high.

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Posted by on Jun 13, 2018 in Big Four, BigLaw firms | 0 comments

Who’s In Dialogue: 01

 Today we start introducing Who’s In Dialogue.

Commenced in December 2015, Dialogue on Remaking Law Firms now has more than 200 posts from 50 contributors around the world. Some know others well; others tell me they have never met. As contributors, it’s time to get to know each other a little better.

Once-a-week, I’ll provide a clue about one of our contributors. Join the fun; in a comment tell us to whom you think the clue refers. Don’t out yourself! Proofs will be published the following week from public sources.

The answer will be revealed next week.

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Posted by on Jun 12, 2018 in Who's In Dialogue | 1 comment

Remaking news of the week: No consolidation

Today Remaking the news of the week celebrates some of the American Lawyer’s best writing in years.

On May 22, Hugh Simons and Nicholas Bruch opened their article with “A mistaken and dangerous belief pervades much thinking about the US legal market: that it is consolidating as larger firms grow more quickly than the market by taking share from their smaller rivals. A thoughtful look at the numbers reveals that no such consolidation is happening.”

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Posted by on Jun 7, 2018 in BigLaw firms, Remaking News of the Week, Small law firms | 1 comment

Law is a profession and an industry: It should be regulated that way

Mark Cohen’s title Law is a profession and an industry: It should be regulated that way states what we all recognize, but somehow do precious little to regulate in an appropriate way, denying opportunities for clients and lawyers to create more value for society.

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Posted by on Jun 5, 2018 in Lawyers, Regulation | 0 comments

Barriers to tech adoption in BigLaw

PwC’s 2017 survey of large UK firms highlights the barriers to tech adoption in BigLaw writes Stephen Poor. According to PwC, 70% of the firms reported using client collaboration technology. But before you jump to the conclusion that law firms are technological savants, remember that such technology has been around a very long time; 70% feels like a low number.
 
Read Stephen’s views on the barriers to tech adoption in BigLaw – he knows a thing or two about this as the leader of Seyfarth Shaw for many years.

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Posted by on Jun 1, 2018 in BigLaw firms, Technology | 1 comment

Remaking news of the week: Mergers don’t make sense 

Today’s Remaking the news of the week post is a bit unusual. This a post about a post about a 2012 WSJ article on BigLaw firm mergers. Ron is a brilliant blogger (and an active contributor to Dialogue), so I read his argument all the more carefully, asking myself ‘Is this still true?’. And I concluded, yes it is – and it’s newsworthy.  

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Posted by on May 31, 2018 in BigLaw firms, Remaking News of the Week | 1 comment