Perhaps I just don't read the right stuff, or enough of it, but it seems to me we are not getting a strong diet of solid analysis on the current rumblings and bumblings in the credit markets. Where is Dr. Friedman when you need him?
I enjoyed reading Bruce MacEwen's post (in turn reviewing two other articles) on the possible fall-out for law firms in the current "uncertain" market. His advice, of course, is that firms need to be as diversified as possible, combined with some strategic thinking. In short, "kindly refrain from knee-jerk reactions." I couldn't agree more.
The trouble is that we seem to have entered an era without an economic guru or beloved "grand-dad" to help us interpret just what is going on. After Greenspan's retirement, we seem to be adrift in uncertainty. Perhaps the invisible hand has gotten just a tad more inscrutable.
Be that as it may, as "Uncle Milton" would say: "there is no long term." Thus, we must sit squarely on the fence-post between planning for future growth and taking advantage of present opportunities.
It seems to me that we might be better off strategizing how to create new service "products" for our skittish clients, than worrying about whether we should downsize in the midst of the greatest labor shortage in the legal industry we have seen in ages.
My own advice is the same today as it always is: Keep a watch on your billables, keep an open eye to opportunities ripe for exploitation, and keep moving.
