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Speaking of interesting conferences in New York, on Monday, February 1st, from 1:00--5:00 pm, LexisNexis is hosting a "Business of Law" Symposium at the New York Hilton, Sixth Avenue @ 53rd Street, home of the annual LegalTech confab, which this flies under the flag of.

Why do I mention it?

Because I'm giving the keynote, called Economic & Strategic Perspectives on the Current Environment, and I'll also be moderating the three subsequent hour-long panels, on:

• Knowledge Management:  How technology can drive competitive differentiation.
  
  
• New Structures for the New World?:  Addressing what components of the conventional law firm business model might need to change, including:
  • Associate career paths
  • Alternative fee and billing models
  • Revenue and profitability models
  • Lateral recruitment, and improving the batting average, and
  • Law student recruiting--taking on the NALP menace
    
    
• Future Strategies:  If growth for growth's sake is no longer the universal solvent we once perceived it to be, what new strategies are plausible, effective, and needed in the marketplace? 

If I may say so, we've also recruited some top-drawer talent for the panels, including Harry Trueheart, Chairman of Nixon Peabody, Bill Bachman, Chief Operating Officer of Bingham McCutchen, Sally King, Regional Chief Operating Officer of Clifford Change, Aric Press of The American Lawyer, David Lat of Above the Law, Oz Benamram, Chief Knowledge Officer at White & Case,and Saul Rosenberg, Director, Knowledge Operations, McKinsey & Company--as well as many talented others.

Bonus for attendees:  Audience members will be given wireless polling devices allowing you to vote anonymously and see the results displayed in charts at the front screen in real time.    Accordingly, each session will feature several questions for the audience designed to enlighten, or perhaps uncover latent inconsistencies in attitudes.

There's no special charge for the event:  More info here. 

Hope to see you there!

Ever wonder where the Times Square New Year's Eve balls go when they're retired?

No?

Well, then, putting that aside straightaway, we're here to enlighten you.

The New York Times has now revealed that they end up about 50 feet underground, in a subbasement of 1 Times Square, the building from whose summit they once descended.  There have been a total of 8 balls, at least by the somewhat improvisatory enumeration of Jeffrey Straus, CEO of the firm that produces the New Year's Eve celebration.  Unfortunately, Balls ## 1 & 2 have disappeared.  Balls ##3, 4, and 5 turn out, actually, to have been the same ball, serving from the mid-1950's to the mid-1990's, but in separate incarnations:  The original (#3), the same ball in the form of an apple, briefly during the early 1980's (#4), before reverting to its original form (3 with an asterisk), and finally #5 when it got new skin and rhinestones.

#7 was a one-of-a-kind, serving only one year at the turn of the millennium, and we are now on #8, one covered with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles bolted to 672 LED modules, and capable of producing 16-million colors.

#6, you ask?

Here it, ingloriously, is:

 

Best wishes to you and yours

in this magical holiday season

and throughout 2010.

We at Adam Smith, Esq., hope for all of you 
peace, health, prosperity, and the realization of your dreams.

The Christmas Tree at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the Medieval Sculpture Hall

The results of our Reader Survey are in and this provides a brief recap of the results...and the announcement of who won the $200 Amex gift card, just in time for last-minute holiday shopping.  

The most important aspect of the survey is not, in a way, helping us compile a profile of who you all are; it's the immensely valuable input you provided in talking about the key challenges confronting your firms in this environment, as well as some nicely phrased observations about "Adam Smith, Esq." itself.  Suffice to say you individually and collectively raised several timely and some unforeseen topic areas for us to pursue in future columns.

First, thank you to all who responded.  We're all under enormous time pressure.  That said, 237 of you completed the survey.  Our research maven characterized that as a "robust" response.

Some gleanings from the results:

• 86% of responders are from the US.  Of the remaining 14%, many precincts were heard from including Austria, Australia, Canada, China, The Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, France, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, the UK, and--no, we can't resist-- Kazakhstan.
  
  
• Among US responders, nearly 45% come from the AmLaw 50, 61% from the AmLaw  100 and nearly 75% are in the AmLaw 200.  On the other end of the spectrum, 14% come from single-office firms.
  
  
• Again among US respondents:  Nearly 10% reported being MPs, Firm Chairs or members of the firm's management or executive committee.  Partners accounted of 31% of responses, associates 39% and "C"-suite professionals nearly 6%.
  
  
• In terms of demographics, the median age of responders is 38 years, and median, annual household income is $227,000.
  
  
• The male/female split was 87%/13%.  (We'd certainly like to improve the balance of that ratio - and if you have suggestions - don't be shy.)
  

While we're at it, here are a few other "facts" about the site.  In the year ending November 30, Adam Smith, Esq.  generated over 4.5 million page views, or on average over 375,000 per month.  This is a 16% increase over the previous 12 months.  For perspective, newspaper readership declined 10% in just the six months ending September 30.  To say this is gratifying would be our own understatement of the year.  And you, dear readers, have made this possible.  We humbly thank you.

This survey is enormously important to us at Adam Smith, Esq.  Not only do the results provide a clearer picture of the issues you are dealing with, it also offers insights applicable to the legal industry, at large. 

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Here is more detailed information about you.

Note that all these charts "read" clockwise from noon.

The breakdown of your roles at work.  What's interesting here is the upward skew, towards partners vs. associates and towards members of senior management of firms among partners.

What types of firms you are in. Clearly readers of Adam Smith, Esq. tend to come from larger firms.

Next, the breakdown by practice area.  One amusing detail in this chart is that none of you is retired (or willing to admit it):

You are a youngish crowd:

Finally--on the topic of the survey--those of you who responded may recall that we asked you what is "the most pressing/frustrating strategic, financial, or business issue facing me/my firm."

Here is a highly selective sampling of your responses:

• The firm's identity. It's foundational and is showing itself through attorney pay, international expansion and information to partners and associates.
• Not being intentional in thinking about change.
• Preservation of shared values, culture and cohesiveness in the face of relentless expansion and consolidation
• I think you nailed it your recent blog (on laterals) regarding lack of strategy. Law firm partners running a multi million dollar business need to think like executives, not like a frat house brothers. Furthermore, there is oftentimes (probably way too often) a general disdain of creativity, passion, excellence, and ability to question from firm managers. What seems to be solely valued is billings --not even collections! While the "Great Reset" is happening all around, law firms are still not getting how they themselves need to morph/reset into something new, agile, flexible, creative, and compensate accordingly. I sincerely doubt that we will replicate the past with regard to the business of law firms, even if the economy does "come back."
• Lack of a meaningful strategic plan.
• Integrating multiple divergent practices into a coherent international enterprise. Converting from a loose confederations of lawyers who don't actually like each other very much into a multinational.
• Surviving a shift to the new reality when we don't seem ready to do it; getting parterns to be more forward thinking and innovative; moving fast enough to respond to market opportunities

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And, now the winner of the $200 Amex gift card...drum roll, please.

We are delighted to report that the winner is a corporate associate in the New York office of an AmLaw 50 firm.  We phoned our winner to give him the news and congratulate him, and ask if he could permit us to identify him here on "Adam Smith, Esq."   (We should note that we called around 6:30 on a Friday evening and he picked up his own phone on the first ring.) 

He replied, most professionally, that he'd have to check and get back to us.  In about five minutes, he phoned back to report that the marketing people would prefer we not identify him.  No reason given.

What follows is done without his knowledge or permission and can only come as news to him.

We don't believe that "no reason" is a good reason, and so we choose to take issue with the good folks in marketing and suggest that you look up a certain associate who's University of Washington BA in Accounting and Economics, a licensed CPA, and a Columbia Law JD/Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, where he was also a member of the Columbia Business Law Review.

A worthy winner, we surmise.  Marketing support or no marketing support.

Again, thank you for your time and especially the care and thought evident in your responses.

 

Your last chance to take the Readers' Survey is this weekend. 

As of Sunday night, it will close and we will conduct the random drawing for the $200 gift card from among those who have completed the survey and entered the contest.

Fair warning!

Nearly 2,000 of you already subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, which we've been publishing for over 3-1/2 years, since the spring of 2006. 

To those of you who do subscribe, what follows will be repetitive since you've already seen it in this month's issue of the newsletter, which arrived in your inboxes earlier today. 

But for those of you who haven't yet subscribed, we wanted to offer you the opportunity.  Please read on.

We've been alerting you for some time to the fact that the newsletter would move to a paid model, and the day has arrived.

Why are we doing this?

• We've been publishing the monthly newsletter for over 2-1/2 years, starting in the spring of 2006, and hitherto it has always been free, as, of course, has the main Adam Smith, Esq. website and online publication itself.
  
  
• The rates are modest--even more so for firm-wide subscriptions.  An entire firm can subscribe for the equivalent of between 10 and 50 individual subscriptions, depending on the size of your firm.  This way, the newsletter will abe available to all your personnel at all your locations.
  
  
• Based on what we believe to be the unique coverage of our industry that Adam Smith, Esq. provides--importantly including, as you know, articles and other content we publish in the newsletter that are not available anywhere else--we need the resources that only paid subscribers can provide to be able to continue providing the same high level of content and discourse you have come to expect from us.
  
  
• We also intend to add additional features and contributors to enhance the newsletters' value to you.  The plain reality is that those investments will require resources.
  
  

Subscriptions are annual and are available for:

• Law firms, which entitle everyone in the entire firm--partners, associates, paralegals, staff, etc.--access to the newsletter.  (Pricing depends on overall firm size.)
  
  
• Individuals
  
  
• Media companies
  
  
• Other organizations and corporations, and
  
  
• Educational institutions

Please go here to sign up.

 

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Here's an overview of what's in this month's newsletter:

What's On Your Minds	What people are talking about
Recap of Key Articles	Covering why laterals' motivation for moving may be different now than before the Great Reset What laterals ought to know about firms before joining (think "Offering Memorandum") A discussion of Reed Smith's (related?) decisions to dial back 1st year associate salaries and hourly requirements and to require its non-equity partners to pony up a capital contribution The first and second installments in our "Law Firm Business Models" survey, covering (a) Regional Firms; and (b)  Boutiques.
The Newsletter-Only Article	An extended discussion of differences of opinion about the future of alternative fees, based on a soon-to-be published book surveying the AmLaw 100.  Can you say "people disagree"?
Quotes of the Month	Milton Friedman
Profile of an Individual	The unfairly obscure British economist A. C. Pigou, who analyzed when government intervention in markets to correct "externalities" was and was not justified.

 

I would like to believe the content of the newsletter has demonstrated its value to you and your colleagues over the two and a half years we've been publishing it, and I strongly urge you to keep your subscription coming by signing up now.

Please let me know if you have any comments, observations, or questions.

We very much look forward to welcoming you--make that, continuing to welcome you--to the Adam Smith, Esq. newsletter.

Final reminder!  This will be the last week you can take our Reader's Survey.

Why should you take it?

• You can enter for a chance to win a $200 gift card.
• It takes less than 3 minutes--if you dawdle.
• You can provide us with indispensable insight into what you want to hear more about, what's on your minds, what the most pressing strategic issues are confronting your firm.
• Besides, voting is your civic duty.

Again, it takes very little time and you'll have the chance at the end not only to enter the random drawing for the $200 gift card, but to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.

Preparing for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the Upper West Side.

Time is running out to take our Adam Smth, Esq. Readers' Survey.

Why should you take it?

• You can enter for a chance to win a $200 VISA gift card.
• It takes less than 3 minutes--if you take your time.
• You can provide us with indispensable insight into what you want to hear more about, what's on your minds, what the most pressing strategic issues are confronting your firm.
• Besides, voting is your civic duty.

Again, it takes very little time and you'll have the chance at the end not only to enter the random drawing for the $200 gift card, but to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.

Take the Survey!

Thanks.

Very quick interim "flash" report on the Reader Survey.

To begin with, in the very few days since we launched it, well over 100 of you have taken the time to respond.  Nice going, readers!  We thank you very much for this clear demonstration of how engaged you are with Adam Smith, Esq.  I have had a chance to skim some of the open-ended comments very quickly and they are without exception thoughtful, nuanced, well informed, and exceedingly helpful.

I wanted to provide just two quick snapshots of who you are telling us you are, if for no other reason than I find it fascinating and I hope you might find it of at least passing interest as well.

First, in terms of your positions, here's the breakdown:

In case this is hard to read (it is), the chart reads clockwise starting from about 4:00 o'clock with the "Managing Partner/Firm Chair/CEO" slice (light orange, between the grey above and the blue below).  The large purple slice running from about 4pm to 7pm is "partner" (20%) and the still larger orange slice from about 7pm to about 10 pm is "associate" (29%).  Other notable constituencies include executives and staff at law firms (13% total, the bright green and dull gold slices from 10 pm to 12) and in-house counsel (the baby blue slice at high noon, 6%).

Next is what type of firm you are in.  Here's the chart, then the recap:

The largest slice, orange, running from 4pm to nearly 9pm, is "AmLaw 50" (39%).  Second most popular (dark blue, from 9pm to 10 pm) is AmLaw 51--100 (13%), and then AmLaw 101--200 (purple, from 10pm to 11pm, 9%).  The other two substantial cohorts are "One Office," gold, from 1pm to 2pm (17%) and "Non-US" (bright blue, from 2pm to 4pm, 13%).

Again, thanks to all of you who have already participated;  For those of you who have not, click here to take the Survey! 

And remember you have the option at the end of signing up to be entered in the random drawing for a $200 VISA gift card.  Don't say Adam Smith, Esq. never did anything for you....