Legal Briefs: New Associate Recruitment Tool?
July 31, 2008 | Filed Under Nice Work if You Can Get It, In the News
Is this a new style at a money-center law firm near you?
The New York Times suggests that it may be (this link may work as well).
While my company not only permits but in fact insists on shorts between May and September, I prefer to rock Birkenstocks, not wingtips.
This may be why the newest high-tech videoconferencing solutions feature people sitting at a table.
And a note to golfers: please do not even think of this…
Virtual Law Partners - Initial Thoughts
July 29, 2008 | Filed Under Law Firm Trends, Law 2.0
A few thoughts on Virtual Law Partners after last week’s posting and interview with co-founder Craig Johnson:
1. The concept itself is not news; there have been a number of firms that have pursued this. Law Dragon has a list here. One that they missed is The General Counsel Ltd. in Minnesota. I interviewed the founder, Kent Larson, back in 2006.
2. What is news is the potential scale of VLP: a year of planning to get the technology right and the practices and processes workable. When you want to go to 1,000+ attorneys, internationally, there are no templates for this.
3. The level of attorney interest is striking. When you get 200 resumes in one week, you have struck a chord, and won’t need to be using recruiters for awhile. Photos of real attorneys with lives outside the practice beats a boring recruiting brochure any day of the week.
4. The business model is bracing for VLP lawyers and clients. The lawyers get to keep more of the revenue they generate. This lets them make more or work less, or a combination of both. And the clients get as good or better service, without paying more for things they don’t want (over-staffing) or need (expensive offices in high-rent cities).
5. VLP is wisely avoiding litigation. They will likely develop a network of litigation firms to whom they can refer cases and, who, in turn, can refer corporate work to VLP. No reason that VLP can’t refer litigation to BigLaw firms, either. They just shouldn’t wait around for the favor to be returned.
What is also notable, but not surprising, is how some commentators are reacting to VLP:
1. In this article, there’s the remark I mentioned last week from a law firm consultant that VLP is not the next “big idea.” Hmmm. How can you know yet, after only one week? And while we’re at it, exactly what is the current “big idea” for law firms? Mergers?
2. In another article, a different law firm consultant offers that VLP will have a real hurdle as a new market entrant “… to convince clients to take a significant risk with respect to the legal services they buy.” I have a news flash: VLP’s partners already have clients. What’s the risk? That an experienced lawyer is working from home, providing high-quality work, and passing some hourly savings along? That’s not a risk for VLP; it’s called competitive differentiation.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, but I’ll stop for now.
Lastly, there’s one thing that Craig Johnson said that really caught my attention. And just might be the real big idea behind VLP:
===> no compensation committee.
Virtual Law Partners - Craig Johnson Interview
July 25, 2008 | Filed Under Law Firm Trends, Law 2.0, Unplugged - Audio
After yesterday’s overview, today an interview with Craig Johnson of Virtual Law Partners as the Wired GC goes:
Craig Johnson
Virtual Law Partners
Just press on the arrow to listen:
Time: 14:17
There’s a lot here; listen for some interesting stats and a compelling vision. Legal headhunters may also want to click away and reflect on how a firm like VLP can tap into a large number of potential recruits within a week of going public.
I have a few thoughts, but I’ll save them for next week.
(I apologize for the static at a few points, it does clear up, and it’s not VLP, it’s my conference call provider. Or rather my ex conference call provider).
Legal Services Without the Baggage
July 24, 2008 | Filed Under Law Firm Trends, Law 2.0
After noting the interest of the business press in the billable hour early last week, it was timely to see an article in The Recorder about the launch of Virtual Law Partners. There’s another from Law Dragon as well.
The idea and initial execution of VLP is simple and refreshing: combine talented lawyers, subtract big firm bureaucracy, and the result might equal something great.
One industry observer (quoted by Zusha Elinson), while praising the senior founder’s intellect, felt constrained to observe that VLP is not the “next big idea.”
I’m not so sure. But before I say why, let’s go to the source.
Right here, tomorrow, one of VLP’s co-founders, Craig Johnson. In his own words.
The Business Press and the Billable Hour
July 14, 2008 | Filed Under PEP Talk, Cost Control
Portfolio magazine takes a look at our favorite issue of the last hundred years.
Unlike many online pieces, it has a good number of links to other sources and material. Some of the mainstream borrows without such helpful attribution. (And the article mentions, among other new-thinking firms, Eversheds and Valorem Law Group; but it seems to have missed Tucker Ellis & West).
We do know, of course, that the billable hour will be with us in some form long after our children retire. So the “time is running out” title is a bit premature. And as far as the article’s neat graphic is concerned, there’s not enough sand in the world to fill that hourglass.
But related issues, such as the curious PEP fixations and escalating cost structures of major law firms, still seem to fly under the radar unscathed.
[editor’s note: For a seminar series that’s looking at these broader issues, see the post below…]
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