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Leaders in Legal Business
Future: Law Firm and Multidisciplinary Stephen McGarry1
Networks
Founder Lex Mundi & WSG
Law firm networks have come into their own as models for globalization in the legal profession. However,
they have not evolved enough to fully discover the inherent, hidden value that they can offer their members and
the members’ clients. They have not been fully recognized as the most viable alternative for global legal
representation. This status is still held by international firms and the Big 4, all of which continue to expand in
many countries across the world.
Law firm networks can learn from the accounting networks, which are years ahead on the evolutionary
scale. However, because the profession and business ecosystem for legal networks is different from that of the
accounting networks, legal networks face three challenges: (1) participation, (2) marketing, and (3) bridging
different interests and cultures.
Joining a network works differently for law firms, which are not as leveraged as accounting firms.
Participation will differ depending on the size of the member firms. For example, the ratio of associates to partners
in the United States is 16 to 25 or 0.64. Therefore, a firm with 50 lawyers would have 17 associates and 33 partners.
As a firm grows, the ratio increases so that firms of more than 150 lawyers have a ratio of two associates per
partner, or 50 partners and 100 associates.2 What this means is that a medium size law firm will be better able to
communicate with everyone in their firm about their network membership. Thus, with partners paying for dues
and other expenses, more than 50 percent of the firm will be aware of the partners’ memberships.
In the larger firms of more than 150 attorneys, as the relative number of partners decreases and the number
of associates increases, the difficulty of increasing awareness of the network compounds. Partners and associates
are not as aware of network membership because they do not engage in network activities. Also, where
participation is delegated to specific individuals, membership may be only a small line item on the budget. A
network that recognizes that associates will be the partners of the future should provide the opportunity for
associates to participate. A successful network must then evaluate the idea of involving more attorneys when
creating its programs to ensure an increase in awareness and, thereby engagement.
Legal networks have not been able to establish a brand or identity. Many lawyers only know that their
firm belongs to “a network” but do not recognize the name when asked. For example, there are 77 networks that
are based in Europe, but outside of the network itself, no one is familiar with them. The lack of a brand is illustrated
by the amount of press that legal networks receive when there is an event affecting the network that should be
news. For example, large networks like Lex Mundi, World Services Group, TerraLex, and others have very large
European memberships. Interestingly, a search at The Lawyer magazine3 revealed only 14 references to Lex
Mundi over eight years, even though it has 21,000 attorneys. The same search for Allen Overy, a small firm in
comparison to Lex Mundi, produced 400 references in one year.
The ultimate success of law firm networks is and will be determined by how they can position themselves,
not against each other, but from the perspective of clients. Today, legal networks are in competition with the
largest law firms that have upward of 30 or more offices. These firms see themselves as branded networks of
independent firms. However, the second-class status of legal networks will not change unless the leading
established networks actually think of themselves as huge organizations with hundreds of offices and cumulative
1 Stephen McGarry, B.A., M.A., J.D., and LL.M. (Taxation), founded World Services Group (WSG), a multidisciplinary network, in 2002. As president
he grew it to 150 firms that have 21,000 professionals in 600 offices in more than 100 countries. In 1989 McGarry founded Lex Mundi, the world’s largest
law firm network. As president he grew it to 160 law firms that today have 21,000 attorneys in 600 offices in 100-plus countries. These two networks
represent 2 percent of all the lawyers on earth. In 1995 he founded HG.org, one of the first legal websites. Today, it is among the world’s largest sites with
more than five million pages and 900,000 users each month who download almost two million pages. McGarry is admitted by exam to the bars of Minnesota,
Texas, and Louisiana. In 2002 American Lawyer Media (ALM) published McGarry’s treatise on Multidisciplinary Practices. McGarry has authored
numerous articles on associations and international business transactions.
2 The average ratio of associates to partners in law firms nationwide is 0.64 (i.e., 64 associates for every 100 partners). The ratio of all lawyers (including
non-equity partners, associates, staff lawyers, and others) to equity partners is 1.32 and rises to 2.01 in firms with more than 150 lawyers.
3 THE LAWYER MAGAZINE, www.thelawyer.com (last visited May 5, 2015).
145
Future: Law Firm and Multidisciplinary Stephen McGarry1
Networks
Founder Lex Mundi & WSG
Law firm networks have come into their own as models for globalization in the legal profession. However,
they have not evolved enough to fully discover the inherent, hidden value that they can offer their members and
the members’ clients. They have not been fully recognized as the most viable alternative for global legal
representation. This status is still held by international firms and the Big 4, all of which continue to expand in
many countries across the world.
Law firm networks can learn from the accounting networks, which are years ahead on the evolutionary
scale. However, because the profession and business ecosystem for legal networks is different from that of the
accounting networks, legal networks face three challenges: (1) participation, (2) marketing, and (3) bridging
different interests and cultures.
Joining a network works differently for law firms, which are not as leveraged as accounting firms.
Participation will differ depending on the size of the member firms. For example, the ratio of associates to partners
in the United States is 16 to 25 or 0.64. Therefore, a firm with 50 lawyers would have 17 associates and 33 partners.
As a firm grows, the ratio increases so that firms of more than 150 lawyers have a ratio of two associates per
partner, or 50 partners and 100 associates.2 What this means is that a medium size law firm will be better able to
communicate with everyone in their firm about their network membership. Thus, with partners paying for dues
and other expenses, more than 50 percent of the firm will be aware of the partners’ memberships.
In the larger firms of more than 150 attorneys, as the relative number of partners decreases and the number
of associates increases, the difficulty of increasing awareness of the network compounds. Partners and associates
are not as aware of network membership because they do not engage in network activities. Also, where
participation is delegated to specific individuals, membership may be only a small line item on the budget. A
network that recognizes that associates will be the partners of the future should provide the opportunity for
associates to participate. A successful network must then evaluate the idea of involving more attorneys when
creating its programs to ensure an increase in awareness and, thereby engagement.
Legal networks have not been able to establish a brand or identity. Many lawyers only know that their
firm belongs to “a network” but do not recognize the name when asked. For example, there are 77 networks that
are based in Europe, but outside of the network itself, no one is familiar with them. The lack of a brand is illustrated
by the amount of press that legal networks receive when there is an event affecting the network that should be
news. For example, large networks like Lex Mundi, World Services Group, TerraLex, and others have very large
European memberships. Interestingly, a search at The Lawyer magazine3 revealed only 14 references to Lex
Mundi over eight years, even though it has 21,000 attorneys. The same search for Allen Overy, a small firm in
comparison to Lex Mundi, produced 400 references in one year.
The ultimate success of law firm networks is and will be determined by how they can position themselves,
not against each other, but from the perspective of clients. Today, legal networks are in competition with the
largest law firms that have upward of 30 or more offices. These firms see themselves as branded networks of
independent firms. However, the second-class status of legal networks will not change unless the leading
established networks actually think of themselves as huge organizations with hundreds of offices and cumulative
1 Stephen McGarry, B.A., M.A., J.D., and LL.M. (Taxation), founded World Services Group (WSG), a multidisciplinary network, in 2002. As president
he grew it to 150 firms that have 21,000 professionals in 600 offices in more than 100 countries. In 1989 McGarry founded Lex Mundi, the world’s largest
law firm network. As president he grew it to 160 law firms that today have 21,000 attorneys in 600 offices in 100-plus countries. These two networks
represent 2 percent of all the lawyers on earth. In 1995 he founded HG.org, one of the first legal websites. Today, it is among the world’s largest sites with
more than five million pages and 900,000 users each month who download almost two million pages. McGarry is admitted by exam to the bars of Minnesota,
Texas, and Louisiana. In 2002 American Lawyer Media (ALM) published McGarry’s treatise on Multidisciplinary Practices. McGarry has authored
numerous articles on associations and international business transactions.
2 The average ratio of associates to partners in law firms nationwide is 0.64 (i.e., 64 associates for every 100 partners). The ratio of all lawyers (including
non-equity partners, associates, staff lawyers, and others) to equity partners is 1.32 and rises to 2.01 in firms with more than 150 lawyers.
3 THE LAWYER MAGAZINE, www.thelawyer.com (last visited May 5, 2015).
145
