Coming soon · Book Profile
Managing the Modern Law Firm
An edited collection of theoretically grounded, empirically rigorous academic research that bridges the gap between scholars and practitioners to illuminate the challenges of managing large, global, and increasingly competitive modern law firms.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Managing the Modern Law Firm brings together leading scholars of organizations, markets, and the legal profession alongside the managing partners of the world's largest law firms to address a pivotal moment in the evolution of legal practice. As corporate law firms have exploded in size, globalized to follow their clients, and faced unprecedented competition, the traditional partnership model has been stretched and strained. This book does not offer simplistic 'how to' solutions; instead it provides subtle, systematic analysis of the core challenges every law firm manager confronts: sustaining the partnership ethos, managing diversity, developing new practices, pricing legal services, valuing the firm, understanding competitors, and preserving professional ethics. It offers lawyers—thrust into management roles with little training—the rare opportunity to reflect, providing conceptual frameworks derived from rigorous research that help them retain the best of traditional ways of organizing while developing more effective methods of managing scale and complexity.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A lawyer or professional business manager thrust into a management role in a modern law firm, who wants to lead their firm successfully through unprecedented change while preserving what is valuable about legal practice.
- The problem
- The competitive landscape has changed irrevocably—firms are larger, more global, more competitive—and traditional models of law firm management no longer work, yet very little relevant guidance exists. Lawyers feel uncomfortable and ill-equipped as managers because their identity is bound up with being valued as experts, not administrators, and they fear either creeping corporatism or being left behind.
- The plan
- Take time to reflect—step back and examine your implicit models of management.
- Learn the key academic concepts and conceptual frameworks the book provides.
- Apply these frameworks to your own firm: understand your partnership ethos, people, expertise, clients, income, capital, competitors, and ethics.
- Learn from the experiences of professionals in other sectors and lawyers in other markets.
- Deliberately use structures, systems, and socialization to sustain what is valuable while adopting more effective management methods.
- The payoff
- You retain the best of traditional partnership while developing effective methods of managing scale and complexity. · You attract and retain the very best lawyers through genuine diversity and a supportive environment. · You develop successful new practices, price your services wisely, and build sustainable value.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- Stumbling on Happiness · Daniel Gilbert
Explains the science behind why people are poor predictors of their own future happiness, a key concept the book applies to lawyer career choices.
- The Paradox of Choice: Why Less Is More · Barry Schwartz
Discusses how an overabundance of options can lead to anxiety and dissatisfaction, which the book applies to the daunting array of career paths facing law students.
- Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness · Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
The book uses its concept of 'choice architecture' to suggest how law firms could structure work-life balance options to be more appealing and effective.
- The Tipping Point · Malcolm Gladwell
Cited for the 'Rule of 150,' which argues that organizations (like law firms) lose cohesiveness and become less satisfying workplaces once they grow beyond 150 members.
- Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives · Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler
Referenced to support the argument that peer groups and social networks have a powerful influence on individual happiness, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right law school and firm culture.
- Wherever You Go, There You Are · Jon Kabat-Zinn
A foundational, accessible text on mindfulness by the creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which heavily influences the book's approach.
- Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain · Sharon Begley
Explores the science of neuroplasticity and how meditation can physically change the brain, providing evidence for the claims made in the book about meditation's transformative power.
- Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind · Kristin Neff
Offers a deeper exploration of self-compassion, a core practice in the book that is identified as being particularly challenging yet crucial for lawyers.
- A Mindful Nation · Tim Ryan
Written by a U.S. Congressman, this book makes the case for mindfulness in various sectors of society, including high-stress professions, reinforcing the book's relevance.
- Daring Greatly · Brené Brown
Explores the importance of vulnerability, a theme the book connects to heartfulness and argues is essential for lawyers to engage with for authentic connection and well-being.