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Power of Attorney: The Rise of the Giant Law Firms
Power of Attorney The Rise of the Giant Law Firms Author:Mark Stevens Power of Attorney provides a revealing glimpse into the highly secret world of the nation's giant law firms. Soaring in the space of a decade from modest-sized practices (150 to 200 lawyers) to professional behemoths (500 to 900 lawyers), the legal biggies have become, quietly and behind the scenes, among the most powerful institutions in Americ... more »a.
Power of Attorney escorts the reader into this rarefied world, where partners counsel the rich and the mighty - from Europe's royalty to America's Fortune 500 - and earn salaries of more than $1 million a year [ed note - that was a lot of pay in 1987] for their efforts. It profiles the managing partners, chronicling their rise to power, how they struggle to maintain it, and how they are viewed by their partner and peers.
Power of Attorney divides the mega-law firms into two camps - those that have scratched their way to the pinnacle, employing a controversial arsenal of marketing tactics; and, at the other extreme, the Brahmins who have inherited a rich load of blue-chip clients whose fees have long served as virtual annuities to expand the firms and enrich the partners. The controversy boils down to a crucial distinction, pitting against each other (often in the same firm) those partners who see themselves as lawyers who happen to be in business and those who regard themselves as businessmen who happen to be practicing law.
With anecdotes, interviews, and investigative research, Power of Attorney takes the first inside, no-holds-barred look at the giant law firms that are reshaping the profession and the business community at large.« less