Ken Crutchfield, founder of Spring Forward Consulting, asks the question many law firm leaders are asking in a guest column for LawSites: after Weil, who else is exposed? His answer centers on profit per equity partner. A firm that lags its peers on PPEP gives rivals an opening to poach. He also flags two new pulls on talent: AI-native law firms and managed service organizations that can take private capital.
For in-house lawyers this matters twice. Your outside counsel panel may shift under you, and a busier lateral market tends to send more Big Law lawyers looking at in-house roles. Our managing outside counsel guide covers what to watch with your firms, and we have followed the Weil wind-down vote from the start. Thinking of making the jump yourself? See today’s in-house counsel jobs.
“Law firm partnerships have an inherent vulnerability that corporations don’t because of ABA rules on client portability. Those rules let partners leave a firm for a better deal, taking clients with them. Low PPEP creates opportunities for other firms to poach.”
Read: Ken Crutchfield: Is BigLaw Too Big To Fail? Are Other Firms Vulnerable After the Weil Wind-Down? at LawSites