Innovation Part 1: What it Is and What it Isn’t

03.20.19 | Susan Duncan

With so much buzz about the need for innovation in the legal profession, it can be overwhelming and also very misleading. Many misconstrue that innovation in law firms is all about technology.  It isn’t.  Some of the most fundamental innovation that is occurring has to do with how work is done, why, by whom and…

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Enhancing Your Personal Leadership Skills: Influence and Persuasion

03.06.19 | Susan Duncan

Traditionally, firm leaders used a top-down, authoritarian style. Change initiatives, strategic and operational objectives and new policies were announced using a “command and control” approach, dictating what needed to be done and by when. Decisions and outcomes often were predetermined by the managing partner or an executive committee and imposed upon others at the firm….

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Who are Law Firms Really Competing With and Why?

01.18.17 | Susan Duncan

Law firms are facing stiff competition when it comes to holding onto their clients, much less gaining market share. Given the flat growth in available legal work, law firms have been having to “steal” work from other firms to gain share. BTI Consulting’s Market Outlook and Client Service Review 2017 reports that while legal spending…

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Part 2 of 3: The Next Normal – What Talent and Skills Will Progressive Law Firms Need?

07.02.14 | Susan Duncan

In Part 1 of 3: The Next Normal – Will the Traditional Law Firm Model Survive?, we suggested that the traditional firm model will not survive in the future (or perhaps even the present for many.) The law firm or legal service organization of the future will employ numerous types of people who have various skills,…

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The Future is Here: 10 Trends and What Your Firm Should be Asking Itself

07.11.13 | Susan Duncan

Two things are clear right now. First, dramatic changes have already occurred and will continue to occur in the legal profession (actually, most are affecting all sectors of the economy.) Second, these and other new changes will be permanent, i.e., this is not a pendulum swing that will swing back. The marketplace is driving these…

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