But today few bosses would do any kind of deal, from a takeover to a product launch, without involving their lawyers early on. As regulations and lawsuits have proliferated, so have lawyers, and law firms have acquired a new status. In the biggest deals, top lawyers now help formulate much of the strategy. Confronted with the same globalisation that is reshaping so many industries, law firms are having to think about their long-term future. Now these firms have to be managed and led like any other company.
Lawyers are a disputatious bunch by inclination.
So it is not surprising that the world's top firms disagree fiercely about the best way to thrive in an expanding international marketplace. A recent spate of cross-border mergers and alliances in Europe was greeted with indifference by most New York firms, who view such moves as too risky and, in any case, unnecessary. Rivals in London are already doing so. Linklaters is now hoping to do the same with its alliance with five European firms. Attracted by the high fees lawyers earn and the growth in cross-border business, the big five have expanded their legal arms rapidly in recent years.