Blog Center

Dec 09
Dec 02

The “Fat Middle” and the “Lean Middle”

The “Fat Middle" and the Segmentation of Corporate Legal Work “Fat Middle” is a term that has been applied by legal pundits to describe that broad range of legal tasks between “bespoke” work (“bet the company” cases, mega-mergers, major Governmental investigations, etc.) and high-volume, low value tasks (e-discovery, document review,... read more →
Nov 18

What Plaintiff Class Action Lawyers Can Teach Us

It’s easy to be critical of Plaintiff class action lawyers: They are the Oakland Raiders of the legal profession They are more successful than the Raiders, though They are “the one percent” of law (or a good part of it) Detractors call them “ambulance chasers on steroids.” They are aggressive... read more →
Nov 10

A Glossary of Legal Terms

With so much being written about the changes afoot in the legal ecosystem, it is a good time to revisit the practical definition of some key terms. Here is a sampling: Chinese Wall: a term applied to a conflict that involves lots of money and the construct by which it... read more →
Nov 03

Lawball: How Law Parallels Baseball

Life imitates baseball; that much we can stipulate. So too does law parallel baseball. And what better time to explore that parallel than after a thrilling seven game World Series Let’s Start with Farm Teams Long-time baseball fans–those who predate the designated hitter, multiple teams making the playoffs, and a... read more →
Oct 29

Rounds and Residency for Legal Graduates’ Scrubs Optional

Rounds: Learning in the round More than a century ago, Dr. William Osler introduced grand rounds to young physicians at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Osler would rotate around the Hopkins rotunda with medical students and young physicians, stopping along the way to examine patients and to discuss their cases. The objective... read more →
Oct 13

The Legal Ecosystem: A Quick Look

For many years, the legal ecosystem defied change. Law schools had more applicants than they knew what to do with; their graduates entered a welcoming job market; law firms paid ever-escalating salaries and perks to newly-minted lawyers, the most industrious of whom would go on to make partner and punch... read more →
Oct 06

7 Things Lawyers Should Know About Project Management

About 25 years ago I was having drinks with the GC of a F10 company whose business would later send my daughters through school. Over a second drink, as we peered out at the skyscrapers soaring above us–we were on the 42nd floor–he said, “So Mark, do you really think... read more →
Oct 01

Law and Paradox

Law is derived from logic and experience. It has rules to govern its application, penalties for its violation, and remedies for those aggrieved. Yet it tends to be slow, unpredictable, unnecessarily complicated at times, and selectively enforced at others. And then there are the paradoxes that make law even more... read more →
Sep 28

Trial Tips For “Alternative Providers”

For the record, I have tried many cases during my career but have not done so for several years. But some things–in my case sports statistics, rock lyrics, and trial tactics–persist in the memory. “Alternative Provider” is a term that has become common parlance in the legal world. I eschew... read more →