Ed Wesemann

The Truth About Law Firm Associate Business Development

Here is a brief presentation I give associates when they ask what they should do to prepare themselves for partnership.

Thinking Long Term

Coming off the “batten down the hatches” response to the recession, a common concern among law firm leaders is how to create in their organizations, and particularly among their partners, a greater long term perspective. But, while many leaders characterize their short term perspective as a natural reaction to economic adversity and being focused on [...]

Trust Everyone… but Always Cut the Cards

If there is a key to alternative billing, it is not in the technical aspects of estimating costs or managing work process. The real challenge is developing a trust relationship between lawyers and their clients that permits a change in the basis on which legal services are purchased. However, the only way to create the [...]

Making the Statue of Liberty Disappear

One of the interesting features of managing large professional partnerships in the United States is that, apart from the tax code, there are no standards for financial reporting. This flexibility can be a powerful tool for law firm managing partners and I suspect 2009 was a banner year for the careful management of financial statistics [...]

Think Globally, Act Regionally

Over 20 years ago, Steven Brill, creator of the American Lawyer, predicted that among the most successful law firms in the future would be what he referred to as “Super-regionals.” However, as the legal industry evolved over the past couple of decades, many growth oriented law firms managed to hopscotch over regionalism to become national [...]

Skinny Dipping: The Anatomy of Law Firm Demise

Warren Buffet once said, “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.” A rough economy tends to reveal those companies and firms that have been trying to “swim naked” and are now getting caught by the receding tide. When you consider the most recent large-scale law firm collapses: Wolf [...]