Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
Survival Tools for Small and Midsize Law Firms
Law firms — indeed, most professional services firms — will be confronted by some formidable challenges between now and the year 2030. Consolidation of the legal market, the emerging dominance of large service providers with national and global capabilities, a continued profitability crunch, and increased competition for professional talent are probably the most obvious threats to continued success.
Independent small and midsize firms are the most vulnerable.
An Open Indian Legal Market: Opportunity or Threat to Indian Law Firms?
The Bar Council of India is about to approve rules to permit foreign lawyers to practice in India. National and local law firms in India are already concerned about how the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms could change the competitive dynamics of the Indian legal market.
Balancing Optimism and Pessimism
In 2009, President Barack Obama faced the difficult decision about whether to proceed with his agenda for health care reform in the United States, on the heels of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
His advisors asked him somewhat facetiously, "Do you feel lucky? Because that is what it's going to take to pull this off."
Resilience: Playing an Unexpected Poor Hand Well Enough to Win
"We are in a window of change right now. There are certain traditional firms that will die," said Richard Rosenbaum, former CEO and current Executive Chair of Greenberg Traurig.
How can law firms become resilient during unprecedented changes in the profession?
Level Playing Fields, Giant Shadows, and Other Cliches that can Come True through Electronic Publications
Most small and midsize law firms are missing great opportunities to improve their visibility and communicate their competitive advantages in increasingly competitive legal markets.
These firms might have thought about how to use electronic publications, such as newsletters, client alerts, and electronic guides, to extend the reach of their marketing message, but they have rejected them as something that works only for larger firms.
They are mistaken.
The Coming Seismic Shift in Law Firm Business Development
As legal markets become even more competitive over the next ten years, commercial law firms will need to reconsider many of their long-held assumptions and practices about marketing and business development.
Some firms will negotiate the coming seismic shift well and continue to succeed. Others will not.
Why Law Firms Fail: Failure to Observe and Anticipate
There is no simple answer to the question "why did a law firm fail?"
This is the first in a series of posts that will point out some of the most frequent causes.
Making Lemonade
Crisis usually brings opportunity, and one of Ukraine's leading law firms, Sayenko Kharenko, has demonstrated commendable strategic agility in response to the Crimean crisis in a newsletter that they published today.
Why Small and Midsize Law Firms Can Have a Great Future
At Walker Clark, we remain amazed by how many law firm partners — and even some law firm management consultants — really believe that the legal profession will eventually be dominated by the global giants. Under this overblown scenario, all the other firms will simply have to be content with the scraps that fall from the big firms' dining tables.
Our firm's experience and observations advising small and midsize firms on business strategy, profitability, and internal operations, persuasively demonstrate that smaller firms can compete very effectively even against some of the best-known and most powerful law firms in the world.
