DLA Piper: Second to the B-School Party But Still to Be Applauded

The UK's The Lawyer has a weekly poll, which as typically befits such "reader candy" items is usually trivial or gossipy, but this one got my attention:

"Last week we asked: The Lawyer revealed this week the resignation of White & Case's London head on the basis that "a significant fee-earning role and managing the London office were incompatible". Should managing roles be left to non-lawyers?

"Yes 64%

"No 36%"

Unscientific, of course, but if roughly two of three already endorse the notion of a professional layer of management, mightn't an enlightened campaign to persuade the rest be in order?  Starting from the premise that rainmakers are best left to doing what they do best?   

Moreover, the qualities that make for the crème de la crème of the legal profession – extraordinary thoroughness, a focus on spotting all the issues, exhaustive research, a high degree of risk aversion, an utter inability to risk being wrong – are pretty much a short catalog of all the qualities a successful businessperson will not embody.

Alternatively, one can take the DLA Piper route and recognize that if lawyers are to manage, they could benefit from immersion in some Harvard Business School executive education.   A current article discussing just this initiative—for which DLA is sincerely to be commended—repeats the erroneous assertion that this is a first.   Actually, Reed Smith struck a similar deal with the Wharton School nearly a year ago.  While noting that law firm management is increasingly professionalized, the writer makes this odd observation:

"Management skills are not just about analysing spreadsheets. As with any business, running a law firm is about people skills first and foremost. Which means getting the best out of a highly talented workforce. That is the biggest challenge for any law firm leader, and some business schools with regular intakes of relatively aggressive, egocentric investment banker types forget that."

Pardon me?  Since when are the leaders of the AmLaw 100 shrinking violets, and since when do investment bankers have a lock on the "aggressive, egocentric" personality type?  

All in all, a confirmation of what I've been writing about now for more than awhile: 

Driven by the size and complexity of today's multinational firms, management at a senior level is more than a full-time job, and we can use all the help we can get.