A bifurcation between legal and business acumen is playing out in law firms as the traditionally lawyer-led legal industry recognizes the need for MBAs and CPAs to supplement the skills of JDs.

A war for the nonlegal business talent can be observed at the level of senior leadership as well as practice support staff as law firms adopt a structure that bears an increasing resemblance to their corporate clientele. In some cases, firms are even recruiting executives from their clients to manage the business side of operations.