With an Eye on Efficiency, Firms Are Ditching Old Methods for a More Corporate Form of Governance
A growing number of firms in the United States and the United Kingdom are eschewing historical partnership norms in favor of more centralized management, and with that comes fewer and fewer partnership votes.
Financial stability within a law firm practice does not guarantee harmony within the partnership itself — far from it. Law firm management that does not acknowledge or reflect the importance of firm leadership and the contributions and needs of its members endangers a firm's cohesiveness and its very existence, no matter how many clients come through the front door.
It's now been 10 years since the economic crisis of 2008, and just under 10 years since we saw the greatest dip in demand for services experienced by the legal market. The market has stabilized since then, but growth has remained, year-over-year, flat. The Thomson Reuters 2018 Report on the State of the Legal Market shows this trend will continue as we see a market characterized by flat to sluggish growth, a continued decline in productivity, modest rate increases and the continued downward pressure on realization.
The new law offers two obvious potential benefits: a 20% deduction for pass-through entities such as partnerships, and a 21% tax on corporations.
This article describes the provisions of the Act most likely to impact law firms.
When it comes to law firm business, not everyone is depressed about the slow growth that plagued many firms in 2017, and that's predicted to persist into the new year. Or at least they won't admit it.
With the new year upon us, law firms have just been through the typical year-end crush of collections, budgeting, compensation decisions and more. The authors recently took a look at 2017's hottest trends, and explored what we could expect from them in 2018.
You say your law firm is profitable. How do you know? To fully understand your law firm's results of operations and financial condition, you should measure and examine key performance indicators (KPIs) on a granular level. Looking beyond high-level KPIs can provide actionable information to make operational and strategic decisions.
Last Year Saw a Number of Interesting Decisions Concerning the Identity, Rights and Obligations of Non-Equity Owners, Including Partners and Shareholders
2017 saw a number of interesting decisions concerning the identity, rights and obligations of non-equity owners, including partners and shareholders. As more firms utilize non-equity members to play vital roles within their firms, it will become more important for them to take note of these decisions and the guidance they provide.
The Numbers Say Yes, But Not for the Reasons Many May Think
Conventional wisdom has it that mergers enhance profitability through increased revenues and reduced costs. However, the numbers contradict this view: post-merger revenues are lower relative to competitor firms than are the sum of the predecessor firms' revenues, and costs per lawyer increase markedly.
