Beaton Research & Consulting

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Dialogue

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Kenneth A. Grady

Latest from Beaton Research & Consulting

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Classic business rule: develop the product then unleash it on customers. Modern business rule: find the skinniest expression of your product, unleash it on your customers, then lever up. Startup thinking has invaded the traditional business model. Frank Robinson, the founder of SyncDev, claims founder’s rights to the term “minimum viable product.” Even so, Steve Blank and Eric Ries popularized the term. It is a key component of Ries’ The Lean Startup and has entered everyday…
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George Meyer, producer and head writer of The Simpsons in its glory years, was once asked about his favourite line from the show’s run. He cited the closing scene from the Season 8 episode “Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment,” in which the town is celebrating the end of a brief period of Prohibition. Homer stands atop a pile of beer barrels, hoists a sudsy glass, and proposes a toast to the gathered crowd: “To alcohol!…
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Three days ago I tweeted “Poor odds: 24% of lateral partners leave firm that hired them within 3 years, nearly half within 5. Average cost of hiring a lateral is $1.7m per year trib.al/tyd7V8E Via @AmericanLawyer” In today’s Remaking News of the Week features a recent post by Adam Smith Esq, aka Bruce MacEwen, develops the theme of what can only be called ‘lateral madness’. Bruce: “Let me share with you a stunning table from…
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As befits a fine, independent mind from a leading academic institution, Richard Moorhead examines a critical issue: Trust in the integrity and ethics of professional practitioners, particularly when their firm is a leading ‘name’. The leaders of large law firms could do worse than ponder carefully the current trials of the accountancy sector. A series of reports, including the UK Competition and Markets Authority one yesterday, point to significant problems – substantive and reputational. The…
In Remaking News of the Week, Tom Rodenhauser questions the veracity of the belief that that ‘clients…will flock to the Walmart/Amazon/Google of professional services‘ – the so-called one-stop shops epitomised by the Big Four. His op-ed appeared in Consultant News on January 8, 2019 titled MSFs and Illusions of Consulting Greatness. It’s worth the two minute read. Tom argues “It’s definitely possible to be big and good in a variety of service areas. But it’s…
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Law is lagging in digital transformation by Mark Cohen adds to Dialogue’s focus on digitalisation. Last year I featured a new book by MIT’s Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner, What’s Your Digital Business Model?. I stressed its relevance to law firms and law departments; now Mark adds more to the why and how. A recent survey by KPMG confirms digital transformation is a key strategic priority for CEOs. It is also time sensitive—85% of enterprise decision makers think they…
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10 legal services marketing trends to watch this year by Heather Suttie is my choice of the many 2019 watch lists on BigLaw. It’s a compelling, commonsense synthesis. Last year turned out to be relatively good for many firms, at least financially. While it’s nice to have jingle in your jeans, a healthy financial year can result in a dangerous sense of indifference. Best to snap out of it. In 2019, financial markets are anticipated…
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Why and how to switch to value pricing was published as 15 big questions for law firms making the switch to value pricing on John’s My Perspective blog on December 6, 2018 and before that on Law Management Hub on November 21, 2018. In my interview with Law Management Hub, I explained some of the key considerations for law firms that are considering moving from time-based billing to value pricing – and the key pitfalls…
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Design thinking is essential for effective solutions is Patrick (Pat) Lamb’s first post on Dialogue. In the last 20+ years we have witnessed Pat’s NewLaw journey, most recently integrating his law firm into Elevate. Coyle began his response by reversing the question to “how is design thinking related to innovation?” I thought that was insightful, but my appreciation for his answer ended there. Coyle defined design thinking as “a process and a mindset used to…
Back in June 2017 I wrote about the views of Jon Molot, Chief Investment Officer at Burford Capital on BigLaw partnerships, their (lack of) capital structure and the deleterious effects of short-termism. At Validatum, we usually begin our Partners Pricing Masterclasses with one of the most evocative of Warren Buffet’s quotes, “The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power. If you’ve got the power to raise prices without losing business to…