Category: Management

General Counsel Buying Habits

In a recent announcement reported by Elaine McArdle of the Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, Harvard Law School’s Center on Lawyers and the Professional Services Industry, chaired by David Wilkins, said that Harvard was conducting a survey about the issue of how and why in-house counsel hire outside lawyers/law firms.
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Managerial chaos – Practice management philosophy

Jack Welch, in a regular column in BusinessWeek talks about the “Dangerous Division of Labor” at Hewlett-Packard caused by the separation of authority between Chairman of the Board and CEO. Welch (and his wife Suzy) contend that governance “experts” are mistaken when they promote placing these two positions in separate hands. There can be only one leader, not two, in a company to be successful. (more…)


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How to fire an associate —

In one of my coaching sessions today, I was confronted with a question that doesn’t arise often, but often enough to merit some review.

An associate was “guilty” of not attaining and remaining at the level of quality desired by the firm. The precise details are not important for our purposes.

The associate was with the firm only 6 months and had previously been warned to address the issues of client service and quality performance of legal services. My client, the managing partner, decided that the time had come to dismiss the associate rather than wait for the eventual malpractice suit, Bar disciplinary action, or loss of client(s). (more…)


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More Outsourcing

Another announcement of a major law firm going to India, this time in a very big way. Not just for legal services, but for staff functions.  Lawyers normally want these functions right "next door" where they can get the information they request immediately ("instant gratification"). (more…)


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Small firm hiring is flat

A recent NALP survey suggests that associates in large firms feel free to make lateral moves from one law firm to another … and that  such movement in small firms is neglible. (more…)


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