But second, and for my money far more importantly, those who think the fundamental premise of the partnership model cannot support investment outnumber those who think it can by 2:1. Truth be told, I think this cohort has the better of the argument.

So, if you agree that investment is needed (90%) and that our structure can’t support it (2 out of 3), we have some serious self-examination in our future.

bruce-survey-slides.p2

The big news here is that 85% think we have to compete on legal expertise and effective business process management and design. Barely 2% think expertise alone cuts it any more, while 13% think optimized process alone will win the day. Think about that for a second: Although the absolute numbers are small, when asked choosing between expertise and process as “absolutes,” process trumps expertise by a ratio of 6:1. Imagine forecasting that result five years ago; I would not, I confess, have had the perspicacity to do so.

Whether the business process expertise should be managed by lawyers (41% of those who think expertise and process both matter) or by businesspeople (59%) means that by a ratio of 3:2 we already are at the point of accepting that businesspeople can do some things better than lawyers. Since when has anyone been able to do anything better than lawyers?

And here’s a prediction: that ratio will top 90% in three to five years. C-suite professionals should be running business operations—and getting the respect and compensation they deserve—and lawyers should be serving their clients. I ask you, folks, what on earth is so hard about this Management 101 premise?

bruce-survey-slides.p3

Breaking this down, about one-third think law firms can innovate if they so choose, over 40% think it’s not going to happen under any circumstances, and the final one-fourth think outside investors won’t touch us because our business model is so perverse.

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