I’ve been bombarded with news articles and LinkedIn posts about private equity’s latest attempt at clawing its way into law firms, which includes some Biglaw targets. Apparently my firm is getting constant pitch calls about this. We’re textbook midlaw.
The proposed structure of these investments to skirt professional responsibility rules is kind of interesting. For the unaware, they basically spin out all the back office functions into a new entity that then charges the law firm (that now only houses lawyers) a management fee.
What I can’t figure out is what the hell the value proposition for the firm is supposed to be? Your PE buyer is going to, what, shove a bunch of professional management into your back office and say “You need to raise rates. You’re welcome. Money please!”? What am I missing here? Has anyone in here gotten a peak under the hood of what these PE firms are actually offering up outside the corpo speak available online?
I work for/across from PE all the time. The last thing I want is those ass holes taking over our profession. Call me an alarmist, but this is way more of an existential threat than AI.
Edit: I have my answer and it’s what I expected. There is no value proposition to the firm. Boomers get to scrape out millions they otherwise are not entitled to at the expense of the next generation. Very on brand for them.