Tournament of Lawyers: The Transformation of the Big Law Firm

TLDR

The book traces the rise of the nation's top law firms, diagnosing their business health and noting that success stems from blending experienced partners with junior lawyers driven by a promotion race, making it essential to understanding big law firm business. The authors aim to question and answer key issues that will transform how big‑law practice is perceived. The study finds that the very factors driving large law firms’ rapid growth may ultimately lead to their undoing.

Abstract

Tournament of Lawyers traces in detail rise of one hundred of nation's top firms in order to diagnose health of business of American law. and Palay demonstrate that much of large firm's organizational success stems from its ability to blend talents of experienced partners with those of energetic junior lawyers driven by a powerful incentive-the race to win the promotion-to-partner tournament. This calmly reasoned study reveals, however, that very causes of spiraling growth of large law firm may lead to its undoing. Galanter and Palay pose questions and offer some answers which are certain to change way big firm practice is regarded. To describe their work as challenging is something of an understatement: they at times delight, stimulate, frustrate and even depress reader, but they never disappoint. Tournament of Lawyers is essential to understanding of business of big law firms.-Jean and Colin Fergus, New York Law Journal