Hello, and welcome to the first edition of The Law Firm Disrupted. I'm Law.com reporter Roy Strom, and I'll be using this weekly email briefing to make sense of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing law firms today. Well, trying to at least. I hope I can be a source for straight talk about the fast-changing and uber-competitive market for high-end legal services and that you'll also share your stories, struggles and questions with me. For those of you innovating, managing firms, or just trying to stay relevant on the front lines of all this change, let me know what you think at [email protected].

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A Diagnosis for Big Law

Not long ago, I went to lunch with a lawyer and his wife who have become friends of mine over the years I've covered Chicago's legal market. The lawyer is nearing his 80th birthday and was recently suffering from debilitating back pain.

He had seen a number of doctors and each one seemed to be as helpful as the last. Which is to say, he was getting nowhere. As his frustration mounted, his wife took action. She told the doctor that her husband was a lawyer and, as such, he needed hard facts in order to operate. He can't make decisions amid a drumbeat of ambiguous and uncertain reports, no matter how dire.