Cheap armchair Armchair the armchair survivalist .
Cherry armoire Armoire baby armoires .
Best awning Awning rv awning repair .
Outdoor barstools Barstool commercial barstool .
High bed frame Bed Frame bed frame loft .
Oak bedroom set Bedroom Set cherry bedroom sets .
Mahogany bookcase Bookcase metal bookcases .
Majestic buffet Buffet no.1 buffet .
Outdoor canopy Canopy easy up canopy .
Inexpensive chaise lounge Chaise Lounge chaise lounge slipcovers .
Coffee veseat sets .
Sectional sofa couch in sectional couches sectional couch on sale .
Sectional sofa sleeper with a sectional sleeper sleeper

Lawyer Defections–a Sign of Deflation?

July 31, 2009 | Filed Under Legal Cost Deflation, Law Firm Trends 

Is it conflicts or cost?

Cynthia Cotts of Bloomberg goes deeper into the trend of large law firm departures here, profiling a notable defection from DLA Piper (Ron Schiller leaving for Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin); other firms are mentioned as well. DLA Piper co-CEO Francis Burch puts on a brave face, with good reason for now:

“There is no partner who could walk out the door and create any material economic problems for the firm,” Burch said. “We are too big, too well diversified, and our business base is too well-institutionalized. Our global revenue for 2008 was $2.26 billion.”

(I first stopped reading after the “We are too big…” and pondered for a moment. –Ed).

With some exceptions, many big-firm lawyers with a healthy book of business aren’t going across the street to a similar big firm. They are going smaller, boutique, or virtual. Lower costs equals staying in the game; fewer conflicts and more flexibility are the icing on the cake.

It’s not just that clients are becoming increasingly demanding about cost. They are starting to talk about it. And over time they will become even more informed. Some law firms will have the critical mass to charge a lot, stay large and perhaps grow. But not as many–certainly not 200, maybe not even 50.

It can’t be easy being an Admiral on a BigLaw battleship as you try to change course in an increasingly shallow corporate legal bathtub.

battle_of_trafalgar_1822.jpg


I took a look at the issue of deflation and the billable hour about 6 months ago; it’s still rather fresh, so time for a summer rerun (click on the box, and you’ll be taken to the correct page).

wgctv1.jpg

GM - The Real Transformer?

July 10, 2009 | Filed Under Law Firm Trends, In the News 

The New GM emerged this morning, 40 days after a Chapter 11 filing, feeling clean and fluffy after a “quick rinse” of $128 billion in debt.

The joke around Detroit is that GM went through bankruptcy in less time than it took outsiders pre-filing to get a response to voicemails and schedule a meeting. You have to hand it to GM and government lawyers, as well as lead counsel Weil Gotshal. They also benefited from being second in line after Chrysler, changing a few pages in the playbook along the way.

It’s still uncertain how the economy will do, how GM will do in it, and how long the government will have a majority stake.

The GM saga has spawned a cottage industry in speculating how it informs issues in the legal industry like BigLaw firms or legal education.

I tend to think that GM is a special case. Law firms have been spectacularly profitable for years; GM, not so much. I doubt there are many takers in the Am Law 200 to roll the dice with a Section 363 gambit (not least of which because law firms have few real assets save for the relationship partners that walk out the door every night). The biggest challenge facing the largest law firms is peering through their past success and seeing what awaits about 80% of them in the next 18-24 months.

Surely doing something decisive in the next 40 days isn’t easy, given the vacations planned, and Labor Day running late this year…

So let’s leave that messy business for another day; The New York Times notes today that the new Camaro is proving to be a hit; so I guess it’s OK for hard-core import owners to go out and buy one.

bumblebee1.jpg