A little more than a year ago, reports of the Big 5 accounting firms’ acquiring law firms and practicing law in Europe, hiring lateral partners out of major U.S. law firms, and snagging top tax lawyers leaving government service were dismissed by many as just a passing fancy: too remote to have any real impact on the practice of law in the United States.
Think again! They keep coming — picking off top partners in major firms, paying big compensation packages, setting up strategic alliances with law firms, and funding “new” law firms. They’re getting closer. And if you continue to ignore them and stand frozen in your tracks, they will eat your lunch.
