First, please allow me to acknowledge that no, I am not particularly into self-denigration. I am also well aware that I am, in fact, a consultant to the legal industry. This article is not intended to be an attack on any individuals or even the profession as a whole. Think of it instead as a reset—an opportunity for reflection and advancement.
Many law firm consultants and management teams are experts in the mechanics of law firm financials—RPL, PPEP, utilization, realization and the like. They wax poetic about the value of originations and working attorney figures, advocate formulaic compensation models, debate the merits of two-tier partnership structures and guide law firms through facilitated discussions of strategy and practice management. What if the truth is that none of these matter—or, more accurately, they matter a lot less than they used to? What if tomorrow’s law firm simply didn’t have any of these—no more measuring of time in six-minute increments, no more quibbling over origination credit, no more hardline divisions between practice areas (gasp!)?
