Tuesday, December 08, 2009
My Live Tweets from Future of Legal Industry Panel

As I mentioned I would do, I live tweeted last week's LexisNexis-sponsored panel, "Evolution or Revolution? The Future of the Law Firm Business Model." Republished below are my tweets from that event. (Note: Read them from the bottom up.) I also wrote a recap of the panel today at Legal Blog Watch.

The panelists were:
And now, on to the tweets. Remember, read from the bottom up.
  1. That is the end of the Lexis Nexis panel. 8:21 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  2.  Sabatino: I'm member of bd of dirs of ACC. This is step, but not a panacea. 8:21 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  3. Baer of Qwest: A good first step to gather more data and make us more intelligent consumers 8:20 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  4. Question from audience about new rating service of Assn of Corp Counsel. Is this valuable? 8:20 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  5. Cunniff: Careers will be more customized 8:19 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  6. Sabatino: Law firms are transparent and built on model of trust 8:19 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  7. Henderson: Smaller firms will make more money 8:19 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  8. Helfer: firms are more entreprenurial 8:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  9. Walsh: Core law firm model has changed 8:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  10. Kalis: Law firms are bigger 8:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  11. Baer: Law firms are smaller 8:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  12. In 2015, what's different? 8:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  13. Martin Cunniff of Howrey: You have to create incentives within th efirm to put time and money in training. 8:17 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  14. Kalis: K&L Gates morphed into a diamond strucutre some time ago, requires more lateral hiring. 8:16 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  15. Kalis: I went to law school at age 30, that little bit of extra experience made a world of difference 8:15 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  16. Kalis: Education of lawyers is like a shared-custody situation among schools, firms and legal depts 8:14 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  17. Kalis: The training of young lawyers is a continuum from schools to firms and on. We are effectively sharing in that training. 8:13 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  18. Kalis: Law schools are too hard on themselves. No MBA program compares to the process of puting out a law review. 8:12 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  19. Kalis of K&L Gates: We do train associates in work environments and give them real-world experience. 8:11 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  20. Walsh: Why has it taken so long to begin to provide law students with better training in skills they need. 8:10 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  21. Henderson: We've got them for three years in law school, and all we teach them is law. Opportuity to emphasize skills in legal education. 8:09 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  22. Walsh: technology can help associates get up to speed more quickly, but not only answer. 8:08 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  23. Walsh: that training has to occur within the law firm. Question is to have a biz model that supports that. 8:08 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  24. Michael Walsh of LexisNexis: Customers want to see better trained lawyers. they don't want to spend on associate training. 8:07 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  25. Helfer: I'm indifferent to whether they learned skills at law school or at a firm. 8:06 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  26. Helfer, GC at Citigroup: We never hire inhouse who don't have at least 4-5 yrs of experience, we're hiring for expertise 8:06 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  27. Sabatino of Schering-Plough: How do you get law schools to make sure grads have those other skill sets? 8:05 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  28. Henderson: The market does not reward interpersonal skills in law students, it rewards LSAT scores. 8:03 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  29. Henderson: Law firms look for people with interpersonal skills, as long as they went to Harvard or Yale 8:03 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  30. Henderson of Indiana law school: Law firms hire on the basis of the people who we admit. 8:03 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  31. Cunniff: Clients are looking to have someone make a problem go away, not can u come up with a cert petitiion issue to change the law 8:02 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  32. Martin Cunniff of Howrey: Clients are often concerned with soft skills -- teamwork, etc -- and assume legal competency. 8:01 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  33. Kalis: If it is work worthy of lawyers, someone in the legal department has to own the hiring decision. 8:00 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  34. Baer: But much of spend is on commodotized work, not bespoke work that requires that judgment. 7:59 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  35. Baer of Qwest: I wldn't let procurement near our function. the only way to evalue firms is thru exercise of judgement. 7:59 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  36. Helfer of Citigroup: I agree. At end of day, the GC is responsible for the legal services, so we're going to choose the lawyers we use. 7:58 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  37. Kalis: Insinuation of procurement function undermines the role of the GC and causes erosion of trust. 7:57 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  38. Kalis: I hear u talk about measuring value, to me it's a question of judgment by the GC of which firms are adding value. 7:56 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  39. Kalis: Same people who buy toilet paper shldn't be procuring law firms. 7:55 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  40. Kalis of K&L Gages: Insinuation of procurement function into procurement of law firms ruins ability to develop trust. 7:55 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  41. Henderson, Indiana law prof: I try to communicate to my students, if you can get someone's trust, you'll make a living for a lifetime 7:54 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  42. Helfer: Need to understand that wil sometimes pay vastly more under an alt fee, but that's fine with me, depending on the value 7:53 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  43. Helfer: Alt fees require a lot of trust betw law firm and client; that trust is built over time, so creates a huge barrier to entry 7:52 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  44. Helfer GC at Citigroup: Data on value is hard to get. Data on results can be obtained. 7:51 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  45. Baer: We know value when we see it -- the obscenity approach. 7:50 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  46. Baer GC at Qwest: Alternative fees not a panacea. They've been a train wreck for us. Issue is how you truly measure value. 7:50 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  47. Walsh of LexisNexis: this can't be driven by one side or the other; firms and clients must collaborate and have a dialogue. 7:50 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  48. Sabatino: To achieve true synergy, need to create a better model for clients and firms to work together 7:48 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  49. Sabatino, former GC of Schering-Plough: We have met the enemy and it is us. Inhouse counsel have been horrible about promoting alt. fees 7:47 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  50. Kalis: the client community's increasing openness now to alternative fees will cause more firms to go in that direction. 7:46 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  51. Kalis: but when we tried to take that model to other clients, we were opposed. Corp law depts are now opening to alt. fee arrangements 7:45 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  52. Kalis: 30% of our revenues this year will be alternative fee generated. But we made more money on our alternative fee agreements. 7:44 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  53. Kalis of K&L Gates on alternative fees: I was told in mid-90s that I need to get onto alternative fees. It became embedded in our culture 7:44 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  54. Henderson: Go back to 1948, 4% of law grads became associates in law firms, they mostly became general practitioners 7:43 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  55. Henderson: law students are concerned about pricing because they see it as tied to their potential salary 7:42 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  56. Martin Cuniff, Howrey: Companies will pay, but need to get what they're paying for. 7:41 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  57. Helfer: I'm indifferet to profitablity of firms. I care about what they charge and do for me. 7:39 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  58. Ques: Billing and value. Are law firms too profitable? Surveyed lawyers say No, corp counsel say they are. 7:39 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  59. Henderson of Indiana law: The rate of rise in law firm biz will not continue to rise at some rate. Price pressure. 7:38 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  60. Walsh: What I hear among CEOs, priority is innovation. I almost never hear that from managing partners. 7:37 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  61. Walsh: Very difficult to change core firm biz model. 7:36 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  62. Walsh of Lexis: I wld be surprised if we don't see continued growth, but firms that can adapt and innovate will come out on top 7:36 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  63. Helfer of Citigroup: 2/3 of my legal spend this year was in U.S., even though our biz is only half in U.S. 7:35 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  64. Kalis: Lots of midlevel expertise in firms will be needed, start selling to clients what they want to buy, knowledge, experience and skill s 7:34 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  65. Kalis: Morphing from pyramidcal structure to diamond shaped structure. 7:34 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  66. Kalis: But demand for 2nd year associate flying across country is not there. A trend in firms is expertise on a global model 7:33 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  67. Kalis: Cross-border biz is lawyer intensive at a rarified level of expertise. 7:33 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  68. Kalis: The prediction that the demand will be reduced is wishful thinking. Not going to happen. 7:32 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  69. Kalis: Government intrusion into private markets creates lawyer intensive enterprises. 7:32 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  70. Kalis: A lot of modest sized clients are now competing in global markets. They have requirement s for domestic legal advice re foreign law 7:31 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  71. Kalis of K&L Gates: A lot of discussion is divorced from understanding of biz model not of firms, but of clients. 7:30 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck
  72. Helfer: Fundamental question facing firms is whether we'll see a continuing increase in demand as in the past. My answer is no. 7:30 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  73. Helfer: Law firm model has been to buy wholesale and sell retail. That works fine when demand for legal services is rising. 7:29 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  74. Helfer: Law firms should develop their own biz models. Can't paint industry with a single brush. 7:28 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  75. Michael Helfer, GC, Citigroup: management at law firms has not traditionally been valued, we've had well managed firms and poorly mnged 7:28 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  76. Walsh: The factors that make the legal industry slow to change won't change soon: fractionalized leadership. 7:27 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  77. Walsh: But there has not been fundamental innovation in the law firm model. Pockets of it out there, but the core hasn't changed. 7:26 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  78. Michael Walsh, CEO LexisNexis: The industry changes very slowly, but it has changed. 7:26 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  79. Baer: We are the only industry that is proud that it does not embrace change. 7:25 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  80. Baer: Now technology can do some of the redundnat work that associates formerly did, saving millions of dollars. 7:25 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  81. Baer: Technology has to be embraced and understood by law firms and by inhouse counsel 7:24 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  82. Richard Baer, GC at Qwest: This isn't an adversarial situation between clients and firms 7:24 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  83. Henderson: The legal market is maturing. Consumers are more sophisticated. 7:23 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  84. Henderson: From an in-house perspective, the trusted advisor is now the inhouse counsel. 7:23 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  85. Bill Henderson, Indiana law prof: You have to look at how the profession changed in terms of who clients and who firms are 7:22 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  86. Ques: Is there more transparency now? 7:21 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  87. Sabatino: A built in inefficiency in way law firm, law departmetn, law schol model works 7:21 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  88. Sabatino: finally, both clients and firms recognize mutuality of interest in finding solution to problems we have. 7:21 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  89. Sabatino: shldn't be "us-them", shld be synergy between clients and firms 7:20 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck
  90. Sabatino, former GC at Schering-Plough 7:20 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  91. Ques: State of the present law firm model? 7:19 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck
  92. I really do believe that many companies that criticize law firms have performed poorly for their owners. 7:19 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck


  93. Kalis is chairman of K&L Gates 7:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  94. Law firms have, in fact, been extremely nimble in this environment, Kalis says 7:18 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  95. If we can use industry to include legal education, the one clear item that has been exposed is the rigidity of the legal education model 7:17 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  96. There are firms out there that for a long time have viewed fees as tied to value proposition, as a cafeteria choice for the client 7:16 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck
  97. Kalis: Use of term "industry" assumes monolithic community of law firms. That is fallacy. 7:15 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  98. Kalis: to talk about long term change, need to ride out the cycle 7:15 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  99. Peter Kalis, K&L Gates: Six months is not eough to talk about a trend. 7:14 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  100. Question: what's the most permanent change you've seen in last six months in law firm model 7:14 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  101. For list of panelists, see here: http://twurl.nl/5loszt 7:13 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  102. Lawyers do not feel adequatly prepared with biz skills, survey found 7:12 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  103. LexisNexis did study of law firm biz model 7:12 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  104. Panel is composed of GC, law firm partners and LexisNexis execs 7:11 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

  105. I will try to post occasional tweets from the LexisNexis event on the future of the law firm, http://twurl.nl/tdq6y4 7:10 PM Dec 3rd from TweetDeck

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 10:00 PM,

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