Legal Commentary

The American Lawyer has been tracking the earthquakes that have been reconstructing large firms for about a year now. Editor Aric Press, in a recent update on the Am Law Daily, notes that not all expectations have materialized: outside investors aren't quite breaking down law firm doors, and "the transformational technology remains a slow-gestating messiah"; but "there are plenty of disparate events that support the observation that this business change is more than just a sideshow."

Among the signs: Half of the TAL's "A-List" firms have started alternative fee arrangements with important clients (e.g., Pfizer, Citibank). "If Microsoft could chop K&L Gates and Sullivan & Cromwell from its preferred provider list, what client-firm relationship is inviolate?" Press asks.

And more firms are exploring legal process outsourcing, be it to Bangalore or Bangor. Firms may want to heed the advice of Microsoft GC Brad Smith: "Work on process improvement. That's the holy grail for us."

As Press observes: "Think of it this way: Why is it that law firms are the only businesses in which increasing productivity is a measure of how many more hours a lawyer bills rather than how more efficient she has become?" Read more on the Am Law Daily here. And check out TAL's 2009 Law Firm Leaders Survey here.