Brave "Old" Model for law firms

The September 13, 2007 issue of Lawyers Weekly, from Australia, has an interesting article by Hugh Davies and David Meale entitled "Brave new model," suggesting that since law firms can now incorporate this may lead to a "tipping point" of new business models.

The article suggests moving away from billable hours, equity partnership, and balancing rewards for contribution and retention. In other words, a more corporate model.

The reason this is an "Old" model, rather than a "Brave new model," is because we have been advocating our new practice equation of Profitability = Intellectual Capital x Effectiveness x Value Price ever since I wrote The Firm of the Future, published in 2003, and my prior books dating back to 1998.

Nevertheless, this is advanced thinking, once again coming from down under. Time will tell if any of the firms have the vision and courage to enter the Brave New World—also known as the knowledge economy, a concept Peter Drucker wrote about in 1959. Hardly new. Hardly brave.