Roy Storm of ALM broke the news early this week that Casey Flaherty, owner of the consulting firm Procertas and former GC of Kia along with legal pundit Jae Um will join the legal bemouth, Baker McKenzie. They will join recently added David Cambria, affectionately called the “Godfather of legal operations,” in an effort, according to the firm, to “reengineer the delivery of legal services.”
When I first heard the news, I was reminded of (and tweeted out) the question posed to Winston Churchill: “Sir, are you ready to meet your maker?” Sir Winston’s response: “Yes but is he ready to meet the likes of me?” And that’s the big question here.
Cambria, Flaherty and Um stand at the forefront of legal innovation and advocate the use of technology and innovation to radically change the practice of law, including but not limited to (as us lawyers like to say), models that reward efficiency over billable hours. But more than that, these three are well known for storming the gates of legal complacency and challenging the traditional in no uncertain terms. Its not by chance that one of Flaherty’s most well known pieces is entitled On Law Firm Marketing Bullshit.
All three have a low tolerance for bullshit.
All three are intelligent, articulate and have a low tolerance for bullshit. Believe me I’ve been called out more than once by Flaherty at least: most of the time he was right.
Baker McKenzie, on the other hand, would appear to be a first blush the epitome of big law. Well established. The largest law firm in the U.S. Its 2018 revenue was reported to be almost $3 billion. It has 78 offices in 47 countries. It has 4700 lawyers. It could very well fit the picture Richard Susskind had in mind when