Mind the plank

Law firms, as I once casually observed, are like pirate ships. Their partners sail under the Jolly Roger. And managing partners? Well, either they dig up the buried treasure or walk the plank goaded by erstwhile messmates.

The person to whom I imparted this sublime insight was Professor Laura Empson, of Cass Business School. We were trying to work out how City firms produce such fantastic profits despite many being so badly managed. The image obviously stuck so I was delighted when Laura made reference to it last week in her keynote speech at the Law Society’s management conference (along, it must be said, with other images such as Gone with the Wind and The Three Musketeers).

Now, shiver my timbers if I should present myself as a law firm management guru — that role is more than brilliantly occupied by Professor Empson. But once you realise all these “magic circle” firms are kindred spirits of The Black Pearl then the buried treasure theory of law firm management can prove to be a markedly effective way of understanding the dynamics that drive them.

Caught red-handed

For evidence of piratical tendencies, my hearties, look no further than Allen & Overy’s £5.2 million bill for work on the recent much reported BlackBerry case where the other side invoiced for a third of that figure. This prompted the judge in the case to observe: “It’s a quite staggering disparity . . . the picture summoned up by this bill of costs is one that is totally unfamiliar to anyone who has been involved in economically conducted litigation.” Obvious, really. If you want economic litigation don’t go to Blackbeard & Partners.

Dig here

Of course, to find the buried treasure you first need a map — usually badly folded and cracked after years of being studied under the influence of rum. Mind you, that was before Compass Maps used origami techniques to develop its revolutionary pop-out map that has been produced for more than 80 destinations. Unfortunately Compass is now at loggerheads with its erstwhile distributors Berlitz Publishing Group that is producing its own version using, Compass claims, the same pop-out folds and artistic elements.

Robin Fry, copyright expert at Beachcroft, which is acting for Compass, explains: “Even though people have grappled with folding maps for 3,000 years, it’s always possible to search out a new solution — and to obtain legal protection. A design can be beautiful, but it is commercial only if you’ve chosen to identify, and secure, your intellectual property.” Long John Silver would crack his crutch in agreement.

Look out

Pirates may play fast and loose but they are also punctilious about observing the pirate code. So every managing partner needs someone to advise him or her or the rest of the firm about how they should conduct themselves. That is why Norton Rose has become one of the first firms to appoint a partner, Val Davies, as in-house general counsel. Highly experienced and widely respected by the Norton Rose crew, Val will be doing pretty much the same job, she says, as any GC in a large corporate organisation. “With increasing regulation of professionals we need someone internally who can take an independent view,” says Val, who will keep her telescope firmly fixed on any rocks ahead.

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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