Insights
The Insights series draws upon our collective consulting experience to address topics that we consider of current interest to the senior management of law firms.
Evolving Partner Structure
As the percentage of income partners grows within firms, it is time for firms to evaluate their partnership structure.
Establishing a High Functioning Governing Board
Given the crucial role the law firm governing board plays in shaping a firm’s future, the time has never been better for firms to test whether their board is functioning at an appropriately high level.
Positioning for Merger
Determining the right time to merge and, once a firm has determined that a merger is the right path, preparing the firm to be well-positioned for merger.
Evolution in Pricing, Value & Efficiency
The ACC Value Challenge and law firm pricing, value, and efficiency in the current economic environment.
The Potential Impact of Generative AI on Law Firms
The potential for AI is not a new topic, but the introduction of ChatGPT, with its easy-to-use interface, has certainly accelerated the awareness of how it might be applied in the law firm context.
Responding to Growth Pressures: Best Practices for Evaluating Merger
Law firms are facing intensifying growth pressure. Competitive and client forces have pushed law firms to not only focus on increasing revenue and profitability, but perhaps more importantly, to add practice depth, practice breadth, overall scale, and geographic reach. Significant investments in lateral hiring and law firm combinations have changed the competitive landscape by forming new, dominant firms in particular practice areas, industries, and geographic regions. This has reshaped the AmLaw 200, with an increasing number of firms now offering considerable scale and reach compared to existing competitors, regionally, nationally, and internationally. This evolution has created new choices for clients seeking advisors who can provide services across multiple jurisdictions or offer superior depth in particular practices and industries, further fueling the race for market share and the pressure on law firms to grow.
Looking Ahead: 2023 Priorities
Each year we look ahead and make predictions for the coming year. Each year brings uncertainty, and 2023 appears to be bringing more uncertainty than most. Economic headwinds, inflation, the threat of a possible recession, global unrest, and in particular the decline in the corporate transactions that drove much of law firms’ success in 2021 and the first half of 2022, are raising questions for many about what the coming year will hold for law firms.
Re-examining Law Firm Capital Models
After several strong years of performance, and looking ahead at economic uncertainty, the time has never been better for firms to revisit and reevaluate their capital structures to ensure that contributed capital is effectively supporting the firm’s current and anticipated future capital needs.
