It’s always surprised me that so many law firm leaders come from the transactional side of their shops. Sure, deal lawyers often pick up a business acumen almost by osmosis by working shoulder-to-shoulder with clients on transactions. But the business of law firms is a peculiar beast. A partnership is a delicate thing. All the consensus-building that comes with maintaining one would seem to lend itself to someone with expert communication skills. Law firm leaders are also charged with telling the story of an institution in real-time. Litigators are trained to marshall facts into credible narratives, aren’t they?
Sure there are the Brad Karps and the Jami McKeons and Yvette Ostolazas of the Big Law world, but when a law firm is set to announce a new leader, my betting money would still be on a deal lawyer.
