The Altman-Weil 5th annual survey of law firm leaders has been recently published to much commentary. Some of the more striking results of the survey relate to leaders’ assessment of the market challenges (primarily reflecting the viewpoints of 250+lawyer law firms) and their firms’ ability to meet them. Over the next 24 months, most managers cited the … Continue Reading
Speaking of China, while touring a job fair in Tianjin last week, China’s President Xi Jiping answered his own question to a local official as to what the critical ingredients of good Communist leaders are. “Intelligence quotient and emotional quotient – which is more important?” the president evidently asked. When the official answered “both,” it was reported that … Continue Reading
Our last post reported on Citibank’s first quarter financial analysis and noted that in spite of “alarmingly low” growth in demand currently, managing partners of mostly AmLaw 100 firms were exhibiting an unusual display of optimism: they expect overall demand for legal services to increase this year. A more nuanced snapshot of managing partner … Continue Reading
First quarter 2013 results obtained from 166 firms included an “alarming” drop in demand of 3.3% from the comparable quarter for 2012, according to Citibank’s Law Firm Group. Lower revenues this year had been anticipated because of last year’s push to capture revenue ahead of 2013′s tax increases. And revenues were in fact lower, just much … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir, Esq., will present a seminar at Yale Law School on March 13, 2013 on "The Unique Psychological World of Lawyers–Strategies for a Successful and Satisfying Career." She will review data from research with respect to personality assessments, positive psychology, conflict management, the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator and emotional intelligence showing the particular characteristics of lawyers that … Continue Reading
A question was posed recently in the press: – "Why are lawyers such terrible managers?" The article appeared in CNN’s online Money/Fortune magazine. It cites statistics from the National Association for Legal Professionals Foundation that in 2010 law firms with 100 and fewer lawyers and 251-500 attorneys lost nearly one fifth of their associates. This is after the … Continue Reading
In a study at Northwestern University, subjects who were told that the white coats they wore were doctors’ coats outperformed by nearly 30% those who were told they were wearing painters’ coats. Both cognition and attention improved dramatically on the various tests taken by those wearing "doctors’ coats." It has long been demonstrated that what you wear … Continue Reading
Most of us have very high standards for the work we deliver our clients. We demand from ourselves and those on our team the best possible product. "Performance at whatever price" might be our mantra, even if it requires nagging and criticizing or even bullying. Yet confrontational environments feel uncomfortable to most people and over the long run are in fact not conducive … Continue Reading
Citi’s Midyear Report on the state of the legal industry for the first 6 months of this year is a cautionary read, harrowingly notable for its brevity. "[W]e’re now concerned that this year the legal industry may be unable to match 2011′s low single-digit profit growth. There are three reasons for our concern: demand growth slowed during … Continue Reading
While it’s unlikely that anyone would attribute all of Research in Motion’s troubles to corporate geography, it’s worth noting that RIM’s two chief executives, both now gone, were located over the last few critical years in offices about a 10-minute drive apart. And, according to former RIM executives, meetings with both of them present were rare. In the … Continue Reading
Muir’s entry "What Do Women Want? Challenging the Diversity Myth" was republished in June’s Law Practice Today, the monthly webzine of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. The article will also be used in the workshop at the ABA meeting this July, entitled "LPM Diversity and Inclusion Workshop: The New Look of Law Practice Management."… Continue Reading
Here is the latest on the financial state of the US legal industry. Citibank reported last month that during the first quarter of 2012, demand for legal services grew a paltry 1.5%, although at least reversing the decline in the 2011 fourth quarter. But expense growth of 5.9% outpaced the meager revenue growth (1.2%) even more than in 2011–a rise … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir of Law People Management LLC, Randall Kiser of DecisionSet, and Daniel S. Bowling III of Duke Law School will be co-presenting a Center for Competitive Management audio presentation on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 2pm EDT entitled "Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence." The presentation will cover the relatively new science of emotional intelligence, its relationship to … Continue Reading
As another pundit among many slowing down to rubber neck the wreckage strewn from the Dewey & LeBoeuf crash, it’s hard to know where to start. The question that hovered on everyone’s minds since earlier in the year, as the media dissected every move there, was whether we were watching the disintegration, again, of a major law firm: one which … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir of Law People Management LLC, Randall Kiser of DecisionSet, and Daniel S. Bowling III of Duke Law School will be co-presenting a Center for Competitive Management audio presentation on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 2pm EDT entitled "Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence." The presentation will cover the relatively new science of emotional intelligence, its relationship to … Continue Reading
Speaking of the industry being "over-lawyered," one of the reasons that that conclusion is being reached is because of the impact of incoming new technologies, which are not even yet being fully felt in the industry–technologies that both raise the hope of more targeted and cost-efficient client service while at the same time spelling the demise of many back-office, data slogging, routinized legal jobs. The current … Continue Reading
In case anyone questions whether the legal industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation, you might consider some of these developments: The number of US law school applicants is down almost 25%, or over 200,000 applicants, over the last two years. Which might be in part because the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that over the next ten years only … Continue Reading
There’s so much going on in the legal world these days, it’s hard to keep up. Here are some updates on topics we’ve covered recently. Hospitality In connection with our entry Bringing the Hospitality Mind-Set to the Law is this recent inquiry into what makes a small hotel with no designer touches or fancy perks like restaurants or … Continue Reading
Speaking of hospitality, during the 6th Annual HR in Hospitality Conference & Expo in San Francisco last month,Chip Conley, the founder of the hotel chain Joie de Vivre, said that most leaders have strong IQs, but far fewer have EQs—emotional intelligence—to match, and that can be detrimental to business. Why? 1) Emotions are more contagious than viruses, so … Continue Reading
The American Lawyer has just issued its Report on Laterals 2012, in which it found that in the 12 months ending September 30, 2011, 2,454 partners left or joined Am Law 200 firms, for a 22% increase over 2010, when there was the lowest number of moves since 2000. "This year’s figure was consistent with the annual average of 2,458 partner moves … Continue Reading
Much space here is devoted to building professional and profitable relationships at work. But there are also work relationships that should end and some that end in any event. While not minimizing the trauma and suffering often associated with divorce and other relationship losses outside of the office, the end of work relationships pose unique difficulties with potentially damaging repercussions … Continue Reading
The reports are in for 2011 on mergers and acquisitions in the law firm biz– the pace is picking up– and the prospects for 2012 look to be the same. US Mergers Hildebrandt reports that 45 mergers that involved U.S. firms were completed last year, a 67% increase over 2010, with the Midwest being a locus of activity, With 11 U.S. mergers already announced by … Continue Reading
So here is the typical routine: clients that demand not overnight but one-hour turnaround, associates that don’t hand in assignments on time, working into the night to deliver a reasonable product (see the first two), phone conferences scheduled for 6 am, which turn out to be at 3 am in California, where you are that … Continue Reading
Lawyers suffer from a high rate of depression–the highest of all professions–and the peak time for depression to hit is around the holidays. Add to that the stress that many are feeling now over the economy and whether they will have a job come the first of the year, and you have a recipe for poor … Continue Reading
