Law firm ownership: An evidence-based approach

Law firm ownership: An evidence-based approach was posted by Ron Friedmann on his blog on September 04, 2017. coming from the land of the world’s first stock exchange-listed law firm, I cannot but say Ron’s rebuttal of Bruce MacEwan (aka Adam Smith Esq.) is a must read to mull over.  

All in and observers of the BigLaw ecosystem need to have a view. Ownership and its consequences is a very important issue in maintaining the capacity of firms to deliver high and sustainable value to clients. In my opinion, the woes of Slater & Gordon not withstanding, ownership is already the major issue of our times.    

A professional services value chain

Michael Porter’s famous value chain did NOT have me at hello. I’ve never found it a particularly valuable tool in crafting professional service firm strategy. Most firms don’t talk about “Inbound and Outbound Logistics” or have “Procurement” as a major support function. Distinguishing between “Operations” and “Service” in a service business is just plain confusing.

In the spirit of further developing the theory of the professional service firm, here’s my go at a professional services value chain…

tl;dr – a Primer on Managing External Legal Providers

Before you innovate, fix your business model

The future lawyer

One step forward and two steps back

Today’s title is a line from the Don Henley song, “A Month of Sundays,” which laments the loss of small farms and businesses to “progress.” Lawyers tell me that business development sometimes feels like a constant struggle, with sustained forward motion being elusive. They take a productive BD step today, then do nothing for a few days or a few weeks. Their feeling is accurate.

Classic: Why BigLaw firms go down the money hole

‘Why BigLaw firms go down the money hole’ was first published by Ed Reeser in 2015. It is re-posted on Dialogue as a Classic because I have recently been made aware of two Australian law firms that are in difficulty, at least in part, for reasons related to Ed Reeser’s thesis, namely propping up profits per equity point is somehow viewed as a means of maintaining confidence in the firm.