Beaton Capital » Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com Bigger. Better. Both? Mon, 13 May 2013 06:33:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 The Charmed Circle of BigLaw firms in the USA http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/04/the-charmed-circle-of-biglaw-firms-in-the-usa/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/04/the-charmed-circle-of-biglaw-firms-in-the-usa/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:02:42 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=2528 We reviewed London’s Magic Circle of BigLaw firms in a post last month; this month we take a close look at the Charmed Circle law firms in the USA. Members of both circles are elite, some would say stratospheric, law firms. It has been nearly a decade since The Economist examined the different strategies adopted [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/04/the-charmed-circle-of-biglaw-firms-in-the-usa/feed/ 0 Beaton450 says hello, goodbye and congratulations for 2012 http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/03/beaton450-says-hello-goodbye-and-congratulations-for-2012/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/03/beaton450-says-hello-goodbye-and-congratulations-for-2012/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:15:59 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=2462 The second instalment of Beaton Capital’s league table of the world’s largest 450 professional services firms is made up of 41 accounting & advisory firms, 165 consulting engineering firms, 208 law firms and 37 management consulting firms. The 2012 Beaton450 firms generated US$521 billion through 4 million professional staff operating from nearly 44,000 offices. The [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/03/beaton450-says-hello-goodbye-and-congratulations-for-2012/feed/ 0 The privileges of Magic Circle membership http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/03/magic-circle-membership-privileges/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/03/magic-circle-membership-privileges/#comments Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:15:13 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=2449 “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” Winston Churchill The legal reporters who invented the term ‘Magic Circle’ have received no recompense for the enormous economic benefits these two words bestow on its five members. Descriptors like the ‘Big Four’ in accountancy, ‘MBB’ in strategy consulting, ‘German luxury cars’ in automotive [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/03/magic-circle-membership-privileges/feed/ 0 Without diversification, how will law firms survive? http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/01/without-diversification-how-will-law-firms-survive/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/01/without-diversification-how-will-law-firms-survive/#comments Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:10:58 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=2077 “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change” Attributed to Charles Darwin Beaton’s cross-professions analysis reveals the Big 4 accounting firms have outgrown their legal counterparts, the Big 6 in Australia in the last 10 years. [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2013/01/without-diversification-how-will-law-firms-survive/feed/ 0 Law firms jockeying for position in the Asian Century http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/11/law-firms-jockeying-for-position-in-the-asian-century/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/11/law-firms-jockeying-for-position-in-the-asian-century/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2012 23:59:11 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=1744 “Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War Asia the battlefield… The Australian government recently released its white paper on Australia in the [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/11/law-firms-jockeying-for-position-in-the-asian-century/feed/ 0 An obituary for the term ‘Big 6’ law firms in Australia http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/11/an-obituary-to-the-term-big-6-law-firms-in-australia/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/11/an-obituary-to-the-term-big-6-law-firms-in-australia/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2012 22:05:28 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=1510 “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards” Steve Jobs, commencement speech at Stanford University. This year the Big 6 Australian law firms generated a combined $2.7 billion in a $23.8 billion industry, accounting for 57% of the Australian legal market served by the largest 20 firms. Over the [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/11/an-obituary-to-the-term-big-6-law-firms-in-australia/feed/ 0 Are the Big 4 built to last? http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/10/are-the-big-4-built-to-last/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/10/are-the-big-4-built-to-last/#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:29:28 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=1424 “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change” Charles Darwin 2002 marked the end of the Big 5 era as Arthur Andersen was “Enron-ed”; and the start of the Big 4 era for PwC, Ernst & [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/10/are-the-big-4-built-to-last/feed/ 0 Top 20 Australian law firms, Part 2: Comparison with the ASX100 http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/09/top-20-australian-law-firms-part-2-comparison-with-the-asx100/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/09/top-20-australian-law-firms-part-2-comparison-with-the-asx100/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:44:17 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=1354 In Part 2 of our analysis of the 20 largest law firms in Australia, we look at these firms’ year-on-year revenue growth compared with the ASX 100 index. Part 1 showed that globalisation of the Top 20 Australian law firms has reached a tipping point with a greater proportion of revenue in ‘foreign’ than in [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/09/top-20-australian-law-firms-part-2-comparison-with-the-asx100/feed/ 0 Top 20 Australian law firms, Part 1: Australian legal industry reaches the globalisation tipping point http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/09/the-australian-legal-industry-reaches-the-globalisation-tipping-point/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/09/the-australian-legal-industry-reaches-the-globalisation-tipping-point/#comments Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:56:55 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=1267 “The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Fifty years ago Baker & McKenzie was the only foreign law firm with a presence Down Under. Today there are [...]

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]]> http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/09/the-australian-legal-industry-reaches-the-globalisation-tipping-point/feed/ 0 Disruptive business models in law: Have we seen this before? http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/07/disruptive-business-models-in-law-have-we-seen-this-before/ http://www.beatoncapital.com/2012/07/disruptive-business-models-in-law-have-we-seen-this-before/#comments Tue, 10 Jul 2012 04:56:51 +0000 Eric Chin http://www.beatoncapital.com/?p=1113 In 1994 Peter Drucker wrote “Some theories of the business are so powerful that they last for a long time. But eventually every one becomes obsolete”. How true this may prove to be about large firms is becoming a hot topic amongst leading commentators on the legal profession in many parts of the world. Theory [...]

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