Would Outside Investment Make BigLaw into Goldman Sachs? Ex-Partner Sees Parallels
Outside investment in law firms could remake BigLaw into institutions like Goldman Sachs, with a focus on short-term profits, highly paid partners and survival of the fittest.
Former Kirkland & Ellis partner Steven Harper considers the parallels in an article for the Am Law Daily. Already large law firms are already moving in Goldman’s direction, he writes. He foresees a “tipping point” if the United States follows the lead of Australia and the United Kingdom in allowing outside investment.
Harper points to a New York Times DealBook article about Goldman, which retained a partnership system in a corporate structure when it went public in 1999. According to Harper, “Goldman became adept at managing conflicts rather than avoiding them,” its leverage ratio is “stunning” and its partners are “famously rich.”
