Don’t waste your time trying to control the uncontrollable, or trying to solve the unsolvable, or think about what could have been. Instead, think about what you can control and solve the problem you can solve with the wisdom you have gained from both your victories and your defeats in the past. – David Mahoney
A lot has been written about the indictments handed down against the former Dewey leadership. To review, they are accused of manipulating the Dewey books and falsely representing Dewey’s financial condition, presumably for the purpose of keeping the Dewey ship afloat when it started taking on water in 2008. Unfortunately for these former leaders and
One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Various
Seth Godin (who you might consider following if you don’t already) had a great and very short post recently.
The essence of the post, translated to law firm business, is:
You must routinely and relentlessly monitor the quality of the individuals that comprise your law
Last week’s indictments of four individuals formerly involved in Dewey LeBoeuf’s management reverberated through the legal industry. The reactions were varied. Some commentators surmised that the indicted were destined to such fate given the spectacular demise of Dewey. Others noted that the indictments were different since the alleged perpetrators gained no financial reward but
Never look down on someone unless you are helping them up. J. Jackson
I have been troubled ever since I read the Above The Law article titled Dewey Know Why Patton Boggs Is Consulting A Top Bankruptcy Lawyer?
I have no issues with, and in fact support, probing the challenges and changes that
History is littered with failed law firms. Dewey, Howrey, Thelen and most recently, the Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie, succumbed for various reasons. In the case of most of these failed law firms, the decision to cease as a going concern was largely reactive as they fell apart at the seams. While
Last week’s blog Law Firm Growth: Maintaining a Sensible Strategy (Part One) reviewed the uneven success from the non-organic growth tactics of lateral hiring and mergers. Also reviewed were some of the unspoken motivations behind lateral and merger growth. Despite noting these non-strategic reasons, last week’s blog concluded that these two popular means of growth
Law firm growth over the last thirty years has been constant. Through economic ups and down law firms have pursued growth, by growing organically, hiring laterally, doing mergers. For all the effort by law firms to grow, it is surprising that the resulting law firms are not much larger today. Setting aside the franchise like
History tells us that Heenan Blaikie’s failure was not an isolated event. It was preceded by more publicized failures, like Dewey, Howrey and Coudert Brothers, which failed due to a combination of their own unique reasons and maladies found in all law firms. For good reason, many in Canada and the US note
Last week’s decision by major Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie to dissolve received a lot of coverage in the Canadian press as well as among legal commentators. Yet discounting its demise as being peculiarly Canadian is unwise. The market and competitive dynamics that contribute to a Canadian law firm’s success or failure are very similar
