The collapse of major law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf has changed a lot of things. At the top of the list is how the legal sector strategically plans and manages growth.
The current issue of THE ECONOMIST reports that British law firms have adopted "gradualism" in expansion. Instead of aiming at growing fast and borrowing lots of money to do that, they are cautious in entering or increasing their presence in the emerging markets of Asia, the Middle East, and Brazil.
That is probably a very good idea. Competition is fierce in locations such as China. Therefore, they have to get a feel for how cheaply they will be billing their services.
Gradualism might also become a model for social media companies in the U.S. Post Facebook's disappointing IPO, investors have become wary of firms expanding very quickly and promising much but producing puny or no revenue. Here is what I wrote about that for the financial information company Motley Fool.
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