More Ways than One to Practice Law

In the Myers-Briggs view of the world, lawyers tend to prefer thinking more conceptually than specifically. Perhaps that’s one explanation for all the recent chatter about the need to “change business models” among the law practice management groupies.

I think that’s all great. What’s not so hot is that these conversations seem almost always to assume that EVERY law practice will change to the SAME new model.

Au contraire! The big news on the law practice biz front is going to be differentiation. And not just in a marketing sense. Tomorrow’s successful lawyers will find themselves in myriad organizations patterned after myriad models. Think about it! Arent we already seeing it happen?

Take a look at the January/February 2010 issue of Law Practice Magazine for a primer. There’s Steve Taylor talking about the law firms who have have already talked their talk and walked their walk on over to the wild side. Anne Lee Gibson on creating a competitive advantage. Jordan Furlong takes a characteristically sharp look at the “Five Forces Transforming the Legal Services Marketplace.” And. . . >cough<. . . .I have a few things to say about new business models for the practice of law (Figuring out Your Place in the Race) as well as how to do the hard work it will take to get there (Iconoclast 101: A Break-the-Mold Primer for the Bold).