One of the reasons law firms are so slow to react to market forces is their cumbersome, committee-driven approach. But the best-managed law firms are partnerships only in name, and experts insist it's inevitable that we'll see more centralized decision making in law firms.

“I think you will see an acceleration of the professionalization of law firm management,” says Bruce MacEwen, who runs the law firm economics blog Adam Smith, Esq. “These are big enterprises. The notion that you can have somebody with no business background running a law firm in their spare time is irrational.”

Ohio-based Roetzel & Andress has long had a clearly hierarchical org chart. Chairman and CEO Tim Ochsenhirt makes all executive decisions and

constitutes the firm's entire compensation committee. Garrulous and straight spoken, Ochsenhirt eschews attitude and ego, and is not averse to telling a lawyer, “I don't think you're any more important than your dog or cat does.”

A crisis in the firm more than 20 years ago led to the dramatic management solution, but it has worked well ever since.

“Lots of firms would like to have a system like this,” Ochsenhirt says. “Deep down they know it's a good idea. But if you're not facing crisis, you won't get around to it. The main reason is trust–trust is a little on the thin side. Our system requires a lot of trust. It's a very difficult step for most firms to take.”

One of the reasons law firms are so slow to react to market forces is their cumbersome, committee-driven approach. But the best-managed law firms are partnerships only in name, and experts insist it's inevitable that we'll see more centralized decision making in law firms.

“I think you will see an acceleration of the professionalization of law firm management,” says Bruce MacEwen, who runs the law firm economics blog Adam Smith, Esq. “These are big enterprises. The notion that you can have somebody with no business background running a law firm in their spare time is irrational.”

Ohio-based Roetzel & Andress has long had a clearly hierarchical org chart. Chairman and CEO Tim Ochsenhirt makes all executive decisions and

constitutes the firm's entire compensation committee. Garrulous and straight spoken, Ochsenhirt eschews attitude and ego, and is not averse to telling a lawyer, “I don't think you're any more important than your dog or cat does.”

A crisis in the firm more than 20 years ago led to the dramatic management solution, but it has worked well ever since.

“Lots of firms would like to have a system like this,” Ochsenhirt says. “Deep down they know it's a good idea. But if you're not facing crisis, you won't get around to it. The main reason is trust–trust is a little on the thin side. Our system requires a lot of trust. It's a very difficult step for most firms to take.”