Last week’s post, “The decline of the associate and the rise of the law firm employee,” wasn’t just my longest Law21 title on record. It also triggered a detailed response from Toby Brown of 3 Geeks, to which I left a lengthy comment and which in turn inspired a further comment from Susan Hackett of… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Talent
The decline of the associate and the rise of the law firm employee
Earlier this month, Greenberg Traurig became the latest large US firm to take a new approach to its legal talent. Rather than firing secretaries or de-equitizing partners, however, as is all the rage elsewhere, Greenberg proposed something different and potentially groundbreaking: the introduction of a “residency” program for new associates. Here’s how the Am Law… Read more »
Your future legal survival kit: Another Law21 survey
I have a new survey for you to complete, similar to my previous questionnaire about building your own law firm — except that today’s quiz looks like a lot more fun. But first, some background as to what prompted this one. Five years ago this month, I posted a short entry here at Law21 called… Read more »
Disrupting the legal education marketplace
Are you old enough to remember when the only way you could send a letter or a package to someone in another city was through the Post Office? Do you remember what it was like to deal with the employees and policies of a company that had a complete monopoly on a vital service? Remember… Read more »
Law firm profits in the process era
Large and midsize law firms appear to have an “expenses problem.” Profit is weak, flat or in decline at many midsize and large law firms, says the Hildebrandt Institute. It reports that demand slacked noticeably in the second quarter of 2012 following decent but uneven growth in the first quarter. More problematically, however, expenses soared… Read more »
Learning to run
There’s an old expression among professional sports coaches: “You can’t teach speed.” It’s usually meant to indicate that there are things you can train athletes to do well (skills) and things that are simply God-given (raw talent), and it encourages the traditional view that talent is more valuable. I’ve come to believe differently. In most… Read more »
The new capitals of law
A minor parlour game for BigLaw cognoscenti is the question of which city will be the next world capital of law. New York has held the unofficial title for many years, although London made a powerful case throughout the 2000s. Down the road, who knows? Maybe Hong Kong or Shanghai, possibly New Delhi or Mumbai;… Read more »
Are you selling the lawyer or the firm?
From England and Wales, the newest hotbed of innovation in the current legal marketplace, comes word that the first nationwide solicitor franchise is on its way. Legal Futures reports that Face2Face Solicitors “is initially aimed at small private client law firms and will provide franchisee solicitors with centralized back-office systems – including accounts, IT and… Read more »
The year of the free-agent lawyer
Thomson’s acquisition of Pangea3 last November capped off what I think we can fairly call the year of law firm outsourcing. Among 2010’s LPO highlights, in chronological order, were: the departure of Rio Tinto’s GC to take a top position with CPA Global, Microsoft’s move to send general legal work to India, WilmerHale’s outsourcing of… Read more »
Can’t buy me motivation
I still remember the story told by a friend of mine who quit his job at a large national law firm. The income, of course, was great. But he had become increasingly unhappy with the work he was doing, the people he was doing it for, and the culture of the firm for which he… Read more »