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Chapter 1 - Introduction to Leaders in Leaders in Legal Business
Legal Business 1
Stephen J. McGarry
Founder Lex Mundi, WSG & HG.org
Is law a profession, a business, or both? For decades, every law school, bar association, and law society
has posed this proverbial question.2 The fact is that today, the profession of law annually generates more than
$700 billion dollars in revenue. There are several million people employed in the legal profession, and hundreds
of thousands support it through products and services.3 Essentially, the business of law is to manage the profession:
the revenue, the people, and the processes required to achieve outcomes that benefit clients.
The legal profession exists because of the need for advice about the law as well as the relationships defined
by the law. Attorneys earn their living through their respective clients who enter daily into legal relationships. The
use of lawyers varies from country to country. Aside from criminal cases, hiring an attorney is generally optional.
Because representation by a lawyer may not be necessary, there is usually no specific requirement that a consumer
or a business use a lawyer; the lawyer must add value. For example, a contract between two parties is still a
contract regardless of who the parties are. Therefore, a lawyer adds value for the client when he or she can
demonstrate the ability and has the resources to achieve the client’s desired objectives.
The business of law ranges from providing ideas to supplying equipment in order to make the practice of
law more effective and efficient. There are individuals and companies for which law is purely a business. They
support the business of law through the services and products they provide. Their activity is commonly referred
to as “law practice management.”4 Leaders in Legal Business is an overview of these businesses and the thousands
of people who manage, develop, and influence the business — which is law.
This book focuses on the leaders and influencers in each segment of legal business: law firms,
publications, consultants, law firm networks, associations, legal process outsourcing, and those companies
providing other products and services. Every business organization has its own leading individuals along with
companies they lead. They are more than intermediaries providing the conduit for ideas; they develop ideas and
then implement them. Taken as a whole, these leaders are the global influencers changing the direction of legal
business. They are an integral part of the business foundation on which the legal profession rests.
This book is aimed at those who are the forefront of business ideas. These professionals and their firms
are daily shaping the future of not only the business of law, but also, ultimately, the legal profession. Their
activities touch thousands in their own firms, tens of thousands of their clients, and ultimately, the millions of
lawyers practicing the profession of law. As a group of leaders and influencers, they define and shape the future
of legal business
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.
Editor: Jennifer Kain Kilgore is an associate attorney with the Boston-area law firm of Brown & Knight, LLC and concentrates her practice in the areas
of estate planning, probate, business planning, and real estate. She is also the principal of Writmore, LLC, providing editorial, research, and writing services.
She was the managing editor of the New England Journal of International & Comparative Law and was published in Volume 18.1. Ms. Kilgore has worked
with the Massachusetts Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston, and the Boston
Municipal Court. She served as attorney-editor for the popular financial news website Benzinga.com and was also the editorial assistant for two award-
winning regional magazines, Berkshire Living and Berkshire Business Quarterly. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. Ms. Kilgore graduated from
Ohio University (B.S., Journalism, cum laude, 2005) and the New England School of Law (J.D., 2012).
2 See Champ S. Andrews, The Law: A Business or a Profession? (June 1908), 107 YALE L. J. 602 (JUNE 1908); Jeremy M. Miller, Is Law a Business or a
Profession – And Does it Really Matter? 107 LOS ANGELES D. J. (1994).
3 Mari Sako, Make-or-Buy Decisions in Legal Services: A Strategic Perspective, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (2010),
http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/tile_image/sako-make-or-buy-in-legal-services.pdf.
4 Law practice management is the study and practice of business administration in the legal context, including such topics as workload and staff
management, financial management, office management, and marketing, including legal advertising.
1
Legal Business 1
Stephen J. McGarry
Founder Lex Mundi, WSG & HG.org
Is law a profession, a business, or both? For decades, every law school, bar association, and law society
has posed this proverbial question.2 The fact is that today, the profession of law annually generates more than
$700 billion dollars in revenue. There are several million people employed in the legal profession, and hundreds
of thousands support it through products and services.3 Essentially, the business of law is to manage the profession:
the revenue, the people, and the processes required to achieve outcomes that benefit clients.
The legal profession exists because of the need for advice about the law as well as the relationships defined
by the law. Attorneys earn their living through their respective clients who enter daily into legal relationships. The
use of lawyers varies from country to country. Aside from criminal cases, hiring an attorney is generally optional.
Because representation by a lawyer may not be necessary, there is usually no specific requirement that a consumer
or a business use a lawyer; the lawyer must add value. For example, a contract between two parties is still a
contract regardless of who the parties are. Therefore, a lawyer adds value for the client when he or she can
demonstrate the ability and has the resources to achieve the client’s desired objectives.
The business of law ranges from providing ideas to supplying equipment in order to make the practice of
law more effective and efficient. There are individuals and companies for which law is purely a business. They
support the business of law through the services and products they provide. Their activity is commonly referred
to as “law practice management.”4 Leaders in Legal Business is an overview of these businesses and the thousands
of people who manage, develop, and influence the business — which is law.
This book focuses on the leaders and influencers in each segment of legal business: law firms,
publications, consultants, law firm networks, associations, legal process outsourcing, and those companies
providing other products and services. Every business organization has its own leading individuals along with
companies they lead. They are more than intermediaries providing the conduit for ideas; they develop ideas and
then implement them. Taken as a whole, these leaders are the global influencers changing the direction of legal
business. They are an integral part of the business foundation on which the legal profession rests.
This book is aimed at those who are the forefront of business ideas. These professionals and their firms
are daily shaping the future of not only the business of law, but also, ultimately, the legal profession. Their
activities touch thousands in their own firms, tens of thousands of their clients, and ultimately, the millions of
lawyers practicing the profession of law. As a group of leaders and influencers, they define and shape the future
of legal business
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.
Editor: Jennifer Kain Kilgore is an associate attorney with the Boston-area law firm of Brown & Knight, LLC and concentrates her practice in the areas
of estate planning, probate, business planning, and real estate. She is also the principal of Writmore, LLC, providing editorial, research, and writing services.
She was the managing editor of the New England Journal of International & Comparative Law and was published in Volume 18.1. Ms. Kilgore has worked
with the Massachusetts Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston, and the Boston
Municipal Court. She served as attorney-editor for the popular financial news website Benzinga.com and was also the editorial assistant for two award-
winning regional magazines, Berkshire Living and Berkshire Business Quarterly. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. Ms. Kilgore graduated from
Ohio University (B.S., Journalism, cum laude, 2005) and the New England School of Law (J.D., 2012).
2 See Champ S. Andrews, The Law: A Business or a Profession? (June 1908), 107 YALE L. J. 602 (JUNE 1908); Jeremy M. Miller, Is Law a Business or a
Profession – And Does it Really Matter? 107 LOS ANGELES D. J. (1994).
3 Mari Sako, Make-or-Buy Decisions in Legal Services: A Strategic Perspective, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (2010),
http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/tile_image/sako-make-or-buy-in-legal-services.pdf.
4 Law practice management is the study and practice of business administration in the legal context, including such topics as workload and staff
management, financial management, office management, and marketing, including legal advertising.
1
