“Imagine this business school case study:  A global business is managed by part-time leaders with minimal business training.  The business offers different products to different customers depending on the varying skills and interests of the local service providers, who also serve as the salespeople, project managers and product managers.  Pricing is customized to each transaction and rarely follows a cohesive strategy, save for the fiat that prices must increase each year.  Marketing consists of promoting the business’s capabilities, which are presented as vast and unparalleled.  Customer demand has been a constant for as long as anyone can remember.  The challenge:  Customer demand shifts overnight from a constant to a variable, with immense competition for declining customer budgets.  What should the leaders do first to ensure the survival of the business?”

Welcome to the dilemma facing law firm leaders today.  How would you respond?  See my recent article here in the ABA‘s Law Practice Today ezine.

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‘Tis the Season… for Layoffs

December 20, 2011

Autumn is the time of year to see the orange and black of Halloween and the red and green of Christmas.  It’s also the season of pink slips.  As corporations reach the end of their fiscal year, the likelihood of senior management initiating layoffs is as certain as Santa Claus appearing in the Macy’s Day [...]

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Marketing Change – Differentiation Amid Upheaval

November 14, 2011

Clients have demanded changes from their law firms for years, but the economic downturn accelerated this process.  Law firms have begun to adapt business concepts that have proven to be effective in other business segments.  The most progressive law firms have embraced these changes and proactively seek opportunities to showcase their new capabilities to clients [...]

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Nobody’s Somebody Everywhere

November 14, 2011

I’m continually amazed at the curious phenomenon common to the legal profession, where we anoint to celebrity status certain lawyers who appear to have mastered a particular subject matter. It goes beyond wishful thinking and bleeds into blind optimism that somehow we are as world-famous, if not world-class, as we think. I visited four cities [...]

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The Legal Futures Conference, October 28-29 in Chicago

October 11, 2011

I have the good fortune to be a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, a group of highly esteemed and accomplished professionals who have spent their lifetimes improving law practice in a myriad of ways.  My own humble efforts in this arena were recognized some years ago when I was nominated and inducted [...]

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Respecting the Rule of Law Even When It Hurts

July 6, 2011

It seems as if the entire Internet went wild when Casey Anthony was acquitted of the charge of killing her daughter, Caylee.  Anthony was found guilty of lying to police during the investigation but isn’t expected to serve additional time beyond the period of incarceration prior to her trial.  There was, and continues to be, [...]

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More on MBAs for CMOs

June 16, 2011

One of the most popular destinations on this blog is my post about the utility of  an MBA for a modern law firm Chief Marketing Officer, and the healthy discussion that ensued.  You can re-read that post here.  In short, I suggest that the traditional path to prominence in a senior law firm marketing role [...]

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Law Firm Leaders: Moving the Needle

June 15, 2011

I recently attended a luncheon seminar in Washington, DC, hosted by the Capital Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association.  The subject of the day was “Law Firm Chairmen Panel: Moving the Needle” and the central topics were strategy, innovation and leadership. The panelists were John B. Frisch, chairman and CEO of Miles & Stockbridge, a [...]

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Off-Shore Outsourcing of Document Reviews

May 30, 2011

In the most recent edition of In-House Legal presented by Lex Mundi, I explore what In-House Counsel should know about Off-Shore Outsourcing of Document Reviews.  Special guests on the broadcast included Cindy Courtney, with Day Pitney LLP (Lex Mundi member firm for New Jersey), and Kate Bertini, Assistant General Counsel with United Technologies Corporation in [...]

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Personal Branding and You, er, Me

April 7, 2011

A short time ago, the whip-smart and impeccably-dressed law firm marketing director Jonathan Fitzgarrald launched a new blog, Bad for the Brand, in which he explores the nature of brands both corporate and personal.  This isn’t a tour of logos and taglines, but rather a discussion of reputation management.  What makes a good brand?  What [...]

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