In this week's episode, business of law reporter Patrick Smith spoke with McDermott Will & Emery chairman Ira Coleman about some of life's big questions as they relate to the legal profession.
09/19/16- Miami- Ira J. Coleman is the chair-elect of McDermott Will & Emery.
Coleman has developed a model of analyzing the progression of the industry, with the first iteration focused on apprenticeship, which offered sponsorship and support but lacked diversity and mobility. The second phase, Law 2.0, has had a laser focus on economics and talent generation relative to peers, sometimes to the exclusion of other things that aren't measured, such as the effects of keeping around a top profit-generator who couldn't survive a "No-Jerks" policy.
Coleman said some firms have perfected Law 2.0. But now the question is, do we stop here, or is there a more fulfilling model than simply paying law firm's most profitable partners top dollar? After conversations with organizational psychologists and behaviorists, Coleman has decided the pathway to Law. 3.0 starts with pondering the meaning of life and the law.
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Alaina Lancaster
Alaina Lancaster, based in San Francisco, covers disruptive trends and technologies shaping the future of law. She authors the weekly legal futurist newsletter What's Next. Contact her at [email protected]. On Twitter: @a_lancaster3