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type of information would provide comparisons with the competition in each of the areas. When this is
done, it will become clear that the MDO members can offer far more services then the Big 5.
Because top professional service firms must provide both local as well as global services, they have no
choice but to be part of an MDO or MDP. While the Big 5 are adapting their strategies to both localization
and globalization, the larger issue is whether their structures are suited for optimum performance when
new technology makes a decentralized operation much more efficient and cost effective.
[2]---Core Competencies and Quality
The American Bar Association’s Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice in its final report added
competency as one of the core values of the legal profession.14 While the other core values may be what
distinguish a profession from a job,15 competence of professionals is what clients seek, perhaps above all.
The Big 5’s MDP strategy developed because complex transactions require assembling and managing
teams of competent professionals to assist the client. As competencies converged or began to overlap
this raised the unspoken issue that is the heart of the multidisciplinary practice debate: Who manages the
team when many issues are involved in the transaction? It is the “managed’ who must make decisions on
the importance of each of the services being provided to achieve the desired result. This is where the
power lies and what may be really at stake in the MDP debate.
The Big 5, using their multiple services, would like to manage the entire transaction. Managing the
transaction means higher fees than simply being part of the team Perhaps this is why the Big 5 places so
much emphasis on management and marketing 16
Law firms and other professionals may be extremely competent in their limited areas of expertise.
However, the skills that are required to reach and implement a conclusion are more managerial then
professional. Since multidisciplinary partnerships are prohibited in most of the principal jurisdictions, the
very real question for the legal profession is: How are lawyers going to develop these managerial skills
that the client considers to be the most important element of the transaction? For the time being, law
firms, because of ethical restraints or lack of skills, are unlikely to be the ones chosen to manage the
transaction. This means that the Big 5 have the capacity to control the transactions regardless of the other
services that may be required to complete it.
Again, the MDO can assist all of its members in developing new management skills by sharing information.
This can be done at meetings and in publications. Members can meet individually to form sub-groups.
These new skills will make each of the members more competitive as well as more competent to provide
and manage complex services for their clients.
[3)----Cost Effectiveness through Technology
More than one third of the cost for legal services is overhead including rent, support, equipment and
marketing. Technology in recent years has reduced the staff support costs and generally improved
productivity.17 The Internet, because it is accessible from many location, will even make more change in
14 American Bar Association, Final Report to the House of Delegates, July 2000.
15 The other core values were independence; maintain confidences and loyalty by avoiding the conflicts of interest.
16 Arthur Andersen has numerous training facilities where new recruits as well as lateral hires are trained in the business of management.
http://www.arthurandersen.com/website.nsf/content/CareersTraining?OpenDocument.
17 For overhead comparisons, see the Altman-Weil Annual Law Firm Survey results.
done, it will become clear that the MDO members can offer far more services then the Big 5.
Because top professional service firms must provide both local as well as global services, they have no
choice but to be part of an MDO or MDP. While the Big 5 are adapting their strategies to both localization
and globalization, the larger issue is whether their structures are suited for optimum performance when
new technology makes a decentralized operation much more efficient and cost effective.
[2]---Core Competencies and Quality
The American Bar Association’s Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice in its final report added
competency as one of the core values of the legal profession.14 While the other core values may be what
distinguish a profession from a job,15 competence of professionals is what clients seek, perhaps above all.
The Big 5’s MDP strategy developed because complex transactions require assembling and managing
teams of competent professionals to assist the client. As competencies converged or began to overlap
this raised the unspoken issue that is the heart of the multidisciplinary practice debate: Who manages the
team when many issues are involved in the transaction? It is the “managed’ who must make decisions on
the importance of each of the services being provided to achieve the desired result. This is where the
power lies and what may be really at stake in the MDP debate.
The Big 5, using their multiple services, would like to manage the entire transaction. Managing the
transaction means higher fees than simply being part of the team Perhaps this is why the Big 5 places so
much emphasis on management and marketing 16
Law firms and other professionals may be extremely competent in their limited areas of expertise.
However, the skills that are required to reach and implement a conclusion are more managerial then
professional. Since multidisciplinary partnerships are prohibited in most of the principal jurisdictions, the
very real question for the legal profession is: How are lawyers going to develop these managerial skills
that the client considers to be the most important element of the transaction? For the time being, law
firms, because of ethical restraints or lack of skills, are unlikely to be the ones chosen to manage the
transaction. This means that the Big 5 have the capacity to control the transactions regardless of the other
services that may be required to complete it.
Again, the MDO can assist all of its members in developing new management skills by sharing information.
This can be done at meetings and in publications. Members can meet individually to form sub-groups.
These new skills will make each of the members more competitive as well as more competent to provide
and manage complex services for their clients.
[3)----Cost Effectiveness through Technology
More than one third of the cost for legal services is overhead including rent, support, equipment and
marketing. Technology in recent years has reduced the staff support costs and generally improved
productivity.17 The Internet, because it is accessible from many location, will even make more change in
14 American Bar Association, Final Report to the House of Delegates, July 2000.
15 The other core values were independence; maintain confidences and loyalty by avoiding the conflicts of interest.
16 Arthur Andersen has numerous training facilities where new recruits as well as lateral hires are trained in the business of management.
http://www.arthurandersen.com/website.nsf/content/CareersTraining?OpenDocument.
17 For overhead comparisons, see the Altman-Weil Annual Law Firm Survey results.
