Mergers take patience and tolerance. The following is my
experience in law firm mergers and I hope it helps you understand
where I hope we are headed at KWM.
When I began practicing law in 1991, lawyers still aspired to
join a law firm for life. The partners were like our parents,
mentoring us and bringing us along as lawyers, imbuing both good
and bad habits that they themselves had learned over the years.
Oddly though, I do not long for the familial atmosphere of my
original firm. Those days of practice, while comfortable, were not
innovative. A lot of bad habits were passed down to junior
partners. Not many partners were looking to be creative or change
how the system worked. They had nice cars and kids in college and
bills to pay so the status quo was safe.
