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Last year, we discussed what the impact of the executive orders would be on the firms that settled with the government. Now that a year has passed, Steve and his colleague David Ris provide some observations. Among the areas covered:

• How much turnover has there been at the settling firms, as well as those firms that challenged the government.
• Why some firms have seen significant departures, while others have not.
• The impact on associate retention.
• The impact on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

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In this episode, I interview Deborah Farone, former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at both Cravath and Debevoise, on her new book "Breaking Ground: How Successful Women Lawyers Build Thriving Practices." Among the topics:

• How Deborah is helping marketing professionals and law firms in her current consulting firm, Farone Advisors.
• The wide scope of her interviews for her book, including women rainmakers across the globe.
• Why the book is a great primer for everyone looking to expand their practices.
• Why women often fall victim to the "Imposter Syndrome".
• How artificial intelligence is revolutionizing law firm marketing and business development.

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In this episode of Steve's Rules, Chuck Curtis of CLCurtis31 Consulting and I discuss a myriad of issues relating to partner recruiting and integration. Chuck had a 25-year career working in high-level recruiting positions in law firms such as Pillsbury Winthrop and Latham & Watkins before starting his own consulting firm three years ago. Among the topics covered:

• The range of consulting services provided by Chuck to law firms, individual partners, and even legal recruiters.
• Determining early in the recruiting process whether there is a realistic compensation fit.
• The gap between originations and portability.
• The continued dominance in partner recruiting at the top 25 firms.

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In this episode, I am joined by Law Firm Strategist Wendy Bernero, co-founder of Yate Collaborative, and a veteran of senior marketing and business development roles at many premier law firms. We discussed:

• The background and scope of Yate Collaborative.
• The evolution of legal marketing and business development over the past 30 years.
• Advice to legal professionals on how to position themselves for leadership positions in law firms.
• Our work for the College of Law Practice Management, including our joint editorship of the organization's newsletter, which summarizes major developments pertaining to the practice of law.

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In the latest episode, I have a wide-ranging discussion with Susan Lambreth of LawVision, who is the nations leading authority on Practice Management in Law Firms. Among the topics we discuss are:

• What are most firms looking for when they retain her services
• Her various roundtables and what types of professionals are included in each.
• The importance of her certification programs.
• The evolution of practice management in the past 20 years.
• A summary of the various practice management models.
• Different structures encompassing practice management, legal project management, pricing, and other related disciplines.
• The emerging trend of Practice Group Directors transitioning to law firm COOs.

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In this episode, Steve interviews Jonathan Greenblatt, Co-Founder and Chair of Legal Innovators, which is changing
the game when it comes to the recruitment of junior and mid
level talent in the legal industry. Among the topics addressed are:

• Why the current system of recruiting and training junior associates is flawed;
• Legal Innovators' process for selecting law graduates;
• Why the firm's training program is superior to that of most law firms;
• The firm's record of transitioning its attorneys to full-time employment at client firms;
• The firm's separate Performance Coaching program;
• The firm's relatively new track featuring JAG Corps attorneys;
• How the current disruption affecting government lawyer is impacting Legal Innovators

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In this episode of Steve's Rules, Steve has a conversation with Tim Corcoran of the Corcoran Consultant Group, a leading consultant on law firm compensation. Among the topics discussed were:

• The primary issues that are leading firms to retain your services?
• The most frequent flaws in law firm compensation systems
• Balancing the contributions of rainmakers and key subject matter experts.
• How firms handle compensation of laterals, particularly in situations that those attorneys are not bringing all of their originated business to their new firms.
• How firms should design bonus programs for laterals

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The Trump Administration’s executive orders aimed at various law firms has resulted in the most significant issue that the country’s leading law firms have faced in recent memory. Some pundits in the mainstream media have even predicted the demise of the firms that settled with the Administration. In this episode of Steve’s Rules, Steve and his McCormick Group colleague Dave Ris provide some insights on the impact of these orders and the law firm responses, with a particular focus on lateral partner hiring. Subscribe

Key topics covered in this episode:

• Immediate impact on law school, associate and partner recruiting.
• Which litigators might be affected
• How corporate clients might react
• Impact on the DC offices of the Wall Street and other elite firms that have settled
• Possible chasm between “transactional” and “litigation” firms
• How this may impact Government Relations practices in DC

*Discussed in the podcast is Microsoft’s decision to drop one of the settling firms in shareholder litigation in Delaware. https://www.reuters.com/business/microsoft-swaps-law-firms-shareholder-case-hiring-trump-adversary-2025-05-01/

*In the conclusion, Steve attributed a Bette Davis quote to the movie “It Happened One Night.” In reality, it was from “All About Eve.”

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