Legal Commentary

My aforementioned boss, Aric Press, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer, wrote a lights-out great editorial in the November issue , challenging law firms to accelerate into the curves and make seven key decisions about how to run their law practices.

They are all spot-on, but I particularly liked two. Predictably, "Mine Your Technology," but even more, "Embrace the Suck."

Says Press: "That's military jargon for being caught in a difficult situation and having to deal with it. Law firms and their lawyers are in the throes of choosing whether to adjust to, resist, or embrace the fallout from the economic calamities. Virtually every major firm has altered its billing practices, at least on the margins, in order to accommodate client demands for fixed, alternative, or hybrid fees. What's unclear is whether firms are, well, embracing the suck: Are they using this period to analyze their work flow and staffing, and then seek ways to do their work differently, more efficiently, and just as profitably? Or, are they begrudging, and counting the months until a robust sellers market returns? That's a process question -- which lawyers are good  at -- and a taste for risk question -- which lawyers are poor at. G.I.s have a term for the consequences of making the wrong choice: FUBAR."

Read the whole article here.