“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker We’ve all heard this famous admonition from the founder of management consulting, but what does it mean to us, today, in the legal world?...more
10/10/2023
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Alternate Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Business Development ,
Change Management ,
Corporate Culture ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Firm Leadership ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Law Practice Management ,
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Strategic Planning ,
Technology
The legal industry has been on the verge of either “ending as we know it,” or being forced to endure massive change, every five to ten years since at least the 1980’s. Consider some of the history:...more
Perhaps not surprisingly, two of the most frequent and challenging requests we currently receive are for assistance with “thinking through growth questions” (aka, “mergers and acquisitions”) and “dealing with generational...more
As we enter the final countdown to the end of 2022 – hard to believe another year has come and gone! – there are lessons to be learned from where we’ve been. This year might go down as the “year of shifting winds” for the...more
In our COVID-19 Recovery Playbook, we provided our thinking for firm leadership on how to manage through the current crisis. In this four-part continuation of that work, we examine where and how the industry may be shaped by...more
Wait, what? It’s still January, right? Well yes, it is, but now is the time to lay the groundwork for a strategically successful year. Most of us are just finishing up figuring out what happened and allocating the fruits of...more
The first quarter is behind us and the legal industry as a whole seems to be doing reasonably well. Early reports on AMLaw firm performance suggests that at least most (though not all) of the larger firms are doing very...more
The three wise monkeys of Buddhist tradition were said to represent the positive personality trait of not fixating on the negative or on evil thoughts. But in the business world, and certainly in the legal industry, a less...more
Can 2018 really be here already? A year ago, in “2017 – The Year to Try Something New?”, I argued that 2017 was already a year of change outside the legal profession (“The Cubs are national champions and University of...more
We’re coming up on the 10th year-end closing since the financial crash got rolling, and as many as two-thirds of American law firms are still not back to pre-recession demand levels, according to some reports. But, some are...more
Thanksgiving is here again – just a bit earlier this year than usual. As I sit in Chicago looking out at the dark grey skies, I can’t help but think that winter is coming – soon. It’s hard to believe another year is almost...more
It’s hard to believe but it’s here – the fourth quarter. The time when most law firms become intensely focused on the immediate, short-term, administrative and highly internal management needs of their organization. For...more
“A leader’s greatest challenge is not leading – it is making others great.”
Juan Carlos Varela, President of Panama, May 6th, 2017
The words above were from President Varela’s commencement address at Georgia Tech...more
My wife and I had a recent real estate experience that illustrates an underlying challenge for law firms when it comes to sustained innovation. A few years ago, to help our daughter while in med school, we purchased a...more
Client satisfaction is dead – or you may be, if that is your primary focus as an organization. This seemingly radical statement is but one conclusion you might draw from reading Value As a Service, a fabulous new book by Rob...more
2017 has arrived, and already the year is looking like one of change outside the narrow bounds of the legal profession: The Cubs are national champions and University of Alabama is not, Brexit negotiations will be getting...more
A few weeks ago, while facilitating an All-Lawyer retreat, I had an interesting ah-hah moment. This was an unusual retreat. In the course of our consulting work we facilitate and attend a lot of client retreats, but most of...more
Holy Cow! After 108 years, the Curse of the Billygoat is dead, and the world has changed.
For Chicagoans, it’s been a long time. No one alive today actually remembers personally the last time the Cubs were World...more
Can it really be Fall again? Some of us have hardly noticed, being more astonished by the Cubs in the playoffs, or perhaps dismayed by the upcoming US election. But law firm leaders know it. As we enter October, firms are...more
It seems law firms everywhere are going back to basics. Who are we and where are we going? What is our strategy? What are we trying to do? Simple questions, all, but not so simple to answer – at least if you want to answer...more