Philosophy - The Lawyer's Consultant

“Adhocracy”: In his 1970 book Future Shock, futurist Alvin Toffler predicted that the hierarchical, static bureaucracy would become obsolete as the predominant organizational structure. Instead, the static organization would be replaced by an infinitely more flexible system that Toffler labeled “adhocracy”, reflecting his premise that business would be more effectively conducted from a changing platform composed of specialists brought together on an ad hoc basis as needed for each project.

Flexibility: For those businesses able to employ a flexible organizational model, the advantages are immediately apparent. From the standpoint of productivity, each project can be staffed by the precisely appropriate skill sets to carry out the work. Economically, a firm can focus resources strategically on projects immediately before it, reducing fixed costs of permanent staffing.

The Lawyer's Consultant®: This is where McConnell Lipton comes in. This flexible, ad hoc organizational approach, utilizing the “lawyer’s consultant”, is especially appropriate for complex, commercial and construction litigation, because each case is unique. Rather than trying to anticipate the requirements of possible future cases, a law firm can more efficiently staff each case as presented, drawing on resources available to it through pre-established relationships. Each case may be treated like a joint venture with a limited scope of work allocated among team-members brought together for that case alone. At the conclusion of the case, the firm can disassemble the team until the next matter, when a new team can be formed with personnel and skill-sets then appropriate.