"Historically there have been too many lawyers being made equity partners." 

If you had to guess, would you surmise those words come from a major league headhunter at the top of his game?  Isn't that akin to poisoning the pond in which you fish?  Thankfully, some individuals at the top of their game choose to use the platform they've achieved as a podium for truth-telling, regardless of self-interest.  [I have always believed that is incontrovertibly in one's long-term self-interest to note even the inconvenient facts, but that's a topic for another day.]

Gareth Quarry is the headhunter in question, and he's London-based.  The occasion for the quote was an interview with Legal Week, and the occasion for the interview was his opening up his own new shop after a lengthy—and no doubt comfortable—break, having sold his previous recruiting firm for £30-million.  Quarry summarizes the changes he's seen as follows:

"He says that internationalisation — a rarity in the late 1980s — is now the norm. There are now massive UK-and US-led vehicles that are progressing through Europe and increasingly beyond, to Asia."

And the competitive battle is only intensifying:  He cites Linklaters and Allen & Overy as having gotten serious about their establishing a presence in New York, and, conversely, says that "The previous received wisdom about the US firms in London being only in it for the short term has been overturned by the financial success of those London offices."

This speaks to a theme of mine that US firms have established beach-heads in London for specific reasons, not the generic "we ought to be there," and that UK firms opening in NYC have, heretofore, been scattered in their strategic emphasis.  If Quarry is right, the US strategy in London is for real and the UK strategy in New York is getting there.  Bravo.

But there's more; he has astute observations about the criteria for ascension to equity partnership (emphasis supplied):

"A true equity partnership should be a domain reserved for partners who meet the real criteria for partnership. These include the ability to deliver the highest legal services and skills, plus the ability to project manage efficiently. A true equity partner should be able to add to every piece of the equation. But not every lawyer can tick all those boxes."

"Project management?"  Where out of left field did that come?  Well, out of common sense, or wisdom.  A trial (litigation) or a deal (corporate) is, essentially, one enormous project.  And if you don't think it needs to be managed, then it won't be.  That is to say, it will be mis-managed.

Can lawyers become more business-like?  We'll give Quarry the last word: 

"Law firms are going to have to become more 'corporatised.'   When asked to predict the legal market in the next five years, Quarry says: "There are likely to be 10 super firms which are UK- and US- parented. The next tier will be ‘super niche’ firms, which will be as good in quality as the top 10 in their niche practices."

So, the questions du jour are:  (1)  Are you "corporatised?"  and, (2)  Are you super or super-niche?