Law-firm consultant David Maister certainly seems to know big law firms:
Listen to David Maister from his new book, "Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What’s Obvious But Not Easy," in which he writes that having a collection of great lawyers is not the same as having a great and effective organization.
Rather, he writes that firms are made up of "bands of warlords, each with his or her followers, ruling over a group of cowed citizens and acting in temporary alliance — until a better opportunity comes along."
Ouch.
Michael P. Maslanka, "GCs Should Treat Legal Fees as Execs Treat Business Issues," Texas Lawyer, March 18, 2008 (link) (emphasis and extra paragraphing added).