Deep thinking on the theory and practice of law

Ken Grady’s exercise in deep thinking on the theory and practice of law should be read, nay imbibed, by every practicing and aspirant lawyer, law firm leader, law school teacher and all others who care about the role of lawyers in society. Remember Philip Wood’s riveting The Fall of the Priests and the Rise of the Lawyers? If Ken and his kindred spirits are not heard, we may well be reading the sequel, The Fall of the Lawyers and the Rise of the…     

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Posted by on Jul 4, 2018 in Future, Lawyers | 1 comment

BigLaw firm change management: Reckoning and Retooling

BigLaw firm change management means having difficult conversations and empowering business development professionals. It’s a case of Reckoning and Retooling writes Heather Suttie.

A senior partner who has practiced law for 45 years recently observed to me, “The traditional firm pressures are huge. A few big failures and we will see radical transformation.”

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Posted by on Apr 10, 2018 in BigLaw firms, Change | 0 comments

What’s a lawyer now?

In What’s A Lawyer Now? I explore how lawyers define themselves because of the insights derived from the intellectual exercise, not only because lawyers like to define terms.

The American Bar Association (ABA) describes a lawyer as “a licensed professional who advises and represents others in legal matters”. This description raises more questions than it answers – and fails the ‘void-for-vagueness’ standard.

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Posted by on Dec 5, 2017 in Lawyers | 1 comment

Goodbye guild: Law’s changing culture

Mark Cohen’s column in Forbes, Goodbye guild: Law’s changing culture, struck a deep chord with this sentence: “Law is not about lawyers anymore”.

Rhetorically, one might ask, was law ever about lawyers? Like the other ‘original’ professions of medicine, priesthood and military service, law and lawyers – as I understand it – arose to further the interests of civil society and protect the rights of fellow human beings.

Which is what makes Mark’s commentary about law’s changing culture so important.

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Posted by on Nov 9, 2017 in BigLaw firms, Clients, Lawyers | 0 comments

Why your law firm can’t innovate

With ‘Why your law firm can’t innovate‘ Ken Grady adds to the exploration of BigLaw and innovation on Dialogue (1). As Ken puts it: “…the lament is there: why don’t large law firms innovate?” Ken offers four well-argued strategies to address the challenge.

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Posted by on Jul 18, 2017 in BigLaw firms, Innovation | 0 comments