Almost daily, lawyers come together and open new law firms. High expectations accompany such births. With owners committing to work hard, promising to exercise given and acquired skills, and counting on a little (but not too much) luck, the newly created institution teases with the prospect of success.
The positive vibes at inception may be
The spring of 2018 has produced a spate of large law firm mergers. Despite this noticeable activity, the interest in mergers is not something new-over 600 mergers and acquisitions have closed since 2007. Based on the tactic’s popularity among firm leaders seeking a competitive edge, we can expect more mergers in the future.
For law
After years of success (by any number of measures), more than a few firm founders (or later generation leaders) confront succession. Some of them are simply ready to step back and enjoy life-turning their worries over to the next generation has great appeal. Others are driven by unanticipated developments-illness or family circumstances compel them to
A law firm report card is a good thing. Much like a child’s school report card telling a parent how school is going, a law firm report card can inform firm leadership about its progress, shortfalls, and areas that need improvement. In these days of industry disruption and heightened competition, periodic assessments can give a
Sometimes it is as simple as two lawyers acting on obvious synergies and a law firm is born. Once the firm is birthed, the days are heady ones as basic startup chores are mixed with the never-ending pursuit of clients, doing good work and building an enduring reputation. Coming up for air can almost seem
Tis the season, but holidays are not involved. Rather, market forces, activity and trends confirm that law firm merger is on the minds of law firms. While mergers once seemed to happen mostly around the start of the year, the complexity of the merger exercise means mergers can happen at any time. And even for
Time and time again the news includes another report of a law firm (most often small to medium in size) having been ripped off. The dollar amount involved in a majority of the reported thefts is a few hundred thousand, but in some cases millions of dollars have been misappropriated. In what I consider the
Every year about this time some of the major research and analytic minds focused on the legal services industry publish their annual reports or studies. Citi Private Bank/Hildebrandt Consulting LLC’s Client Advisory was released on December 14, 2017 and contains a wealth of information and perspectives about what happened in 2017 and what might
I recently finished a review of the 2018 version of the Georgetown University Law Center’s Report on the State of the Legal Market. Although the report contains numerous quantitative facts reflecting continued struggles for the law firm services market (falling productivity, realization and profit margins), I was intrigued by the commentary regarding strategy.
Predicting the future of the legal services industry is no easy task. The complexity of its landscape makes divining next year, let alone the coming years, difficult. Prophesying about the future, however, is not simply an academic exercise. It has practical importance because firms must develop sound strategies that can help assure future success. For
