Paul Weiss - What an Opportunity for Two More Transformations

Nimble Paul Weiss has an excellent track record for transformation. That kicked in when current chair Brad Karp become leader in 2008. 

Disruption as Chairman's Signature

Karp discerned that the firm couldn't remain a top New York player solely as a litigation player. He built transactional practices. 

More recently he got it that global competition was intensifying in the legal sector. He expanded the firm's worldwide footprint. That included enhancing the star quality of the London office by multiple raids on rival Kirkland & Ellis. Currently London is a major profit center for Paul Weiss.

Turning Supposed Lemons into Lemonade

Now, there's the matter of the flight of nine litigation partners and six litigation associates to boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee. The latest partners to join are Martha Goodman and Amy Mauser. Most of them specialize in tech matters. Their clients have ranged from Alphabet to Apple.

Earlier litigation partner Damian Williams had gone to law firm Jenner & Block.

So? This is an opportunity for Paul Weiss to grab onto and run with two smart business goals.

Pareto Rule

One is for Paul Weiss to feed more resources into its transformation practices. That means recruiting and retaining additional stars and increasing the goodies for the current stars.

Here the Parato Rule applies. That is: 80% of revenue comes from 20% of clients/customers.

Transactional, since Paul Weiss has as clients giant financial firms, tends to be more lucrative than litigation. Sure, maintain a quality litigation presence so that the Wall Street movers and shakers who come for dealmaking services can also have their lawsuits handled. Essentially that's a model the most successful law firm in the world - Kirkland & Ellis - has honed. 

Phasing Out of Tech

The other is for Paul Weiss to phase out of tech. Its initiative in building a glittering presence in Silicon Valley has not gone as well as expected. In that office are only about 40 lawyers and there have not been many partners voted in at that location. Let Dunn Isaacson Rhee play in the tech sandbox. 

This is the era of the specialist. The Paul Weiss brand is all about finance. 

Not Distracted with Noise in Court of Public Opinion

There's that old adage in business: Stick with the knitting. That is, keep your eye on the ball. OpenAI did exactly that amid the scandals such as the ouster of the founder. If Paul Weiss can focus obsessively on the business as it manages the bad PR the current crisis will just be a footnote in the history of a law firm which makes record revenues and profits. 

In my coaching I tell clients experiencing setbacks what every coach does: It's not what happens to you. It's how you handle it.

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