The Introduction to “Tomorrowland”
Many readers will know that this past spring I published my third book, Tomorrowland: Scenarios for law firms beyond the horizon. With the author’s permission, I reproduce here the Introduction to...
View ArticleOnline Panel on The Big Four–With Janet Stanton
Dear Reader: If you are free Tuesday 28th November at 11 am PST / 2 pm EST, please register for a one-hour panel “Big Four: Substance and Hype” featuring Stephen Poor, former managing partner of...
View ArticleTomorrowland Now Available in Spanish
Tomorrowland, our third book (2017), has just been released in Spanish translation–becoming Mundos del Manana. Thanks to the multi-talented Antonio Leal Holguin, Director, Adam Smith, Esq. (Bogota...
View ArticleThe End of Leverage?
More so of late, but for some time, we’ve been harboring the suspicion that the glory days of the high-leverage model are over. Could we be seeing the end of leverage? Of course, many management fads...
View ArticleLetter from London
Observant readers will have noted that I was in London all last week and so, as is our custom, a few observations about my time and conversations there and the state of the market. This has taken me...
View ArticleReflections of a GC
In the spirit of generosity, which I hope is an active presence in your life but which is conspicuously abroad at this time of year, a regular reader granted me permission to share some of his...
View ArticleIs BigLaw One Business, or Two?
I’m coming to the conclusion that BigLaw is not one business, but two different businesses. Some firms (a minority) are in one business, but most firms are in another business entirely. Note what I am...
View ArticleQuestion of the Month: Succession Planning
“The Church is always one generation away from extinction.”—Archbishop of Canterbury According to the 2018 Citi Law Firm Group Client Advisory, one-third of equity partners are at or approaching...
View ArticleOne Generation Firms
Janet Stanton co-authored this article. Corporate endurance should not be an end in itself. That said, in a very real sense, survival is the ultimate performance measure. –Ian Davis, Managing...
View ArticleHow Big is the NewLaw Revenue Suck?
OK, that’s an uncivilized headline, so we can dignify matters by calling the NewLaw Revenue S-&$*(# the NewLaw multiplier. This multiplier, however, is not your friend. In economics the concept of...
View ArticlePolls Closing Soon on this Month’s “Question”
If you haven’t voted yet, polls are closing soon on the January 2018 Question of the Month (hint: why are law firms so bad at succession planning?). By “bad,” we mean four out of five seem to be...
View ArticleThe 2018 Thomson Reuters/Georgetown Report on Law Land
Our friends at Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute asked us if we might share some thoughts with them on this year’s always enlightening and probing Report on the State of the Legal Market and...
View ArticleAlan Hodgart, RIP
With deep sadness and a large dose of shock, I received word early this morning that Alan Hodgart, a friend and colleague, died suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday in London. I have taken the liberty...
View ArticleReport on Question of Month: Succession Planning, or “Apres moi, who cares?”
This column is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. Dear Readers, Succession planning has been much on our minds lately, in part because it is so rarely on the minds of most law firms or...
View ArticleFebruary 2018 Question of the Month: Origination Is ____?
You know what to do! Please use the comments box at the bottom for any additional thoughts or observations.
View ArticleMergers & Alliances: Proceed with Caution
The following column is by Antonio Leal Holguin, Director, Adam Smith, Esq. Antonio is based in Santiago, Chile, and spearheads our Latin America practice. Mergers & Alliances: Proceed with...
View ArticleThe Parable of Two Airports and a Snowstorm: Is Your Firm Logan or Kennedy?
This piece is by Janet Stanton, Partner, Adam Smith, Esq. Shortly after the New Year, a powerful winter storm marched up the East Coast. While certainly a very serious storm, Grayson, as it was named,...
View ArticleLeopard Solutions’ Annual Competitive Analysis
Our good friends at Leopard Solutions have just come out with their annual recap of the law firm competitive landscape. If you don’t know Leopard, they have one of the most rigorously researched and...
View ArticleThe Use & Abuse of Words
John Adams notably wrote that “facts are stubborn things.” Words, however, can be fluid, flexible, and subject at times to arbitrary diktat. This last sense was famously expressed in Alice in...
View ArticleHow Big is the NewLaw Revenue Suck?
OK, that’s an uncivilized headline, so we can dignify matters by calling the NewLaw Revenue S-&$*(# the NewLaw multiplier. This multiplier, however, is not your friend. In economics the concept of...
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