The Law Business and the Business of Law: A Crisis of Direction?

Abstract

It is a common tenet of management literature that types of organisational structure and process do make a difference to the character, effectiveness and efficiency of a business, over and above any influence of individuals’ characteristics (Handy, 1985). Much of this book has already dealt with organisational issues in the context of the in-house lawyer’s role. It is also evident from this discussion that it is important to retain notions of purpose or values¹ to understand the individual’s contribution to organisational directions. We have seen how the integrated lawyer notion has arisen as an image of effective service, of purpose, for the in-house lawyer’s role. Purpose is also an important concept in explaining how the ‘single client’ legal fiction has a degree of psychological reality, founded on the hierarchical structures of business organisations dedicated to particular aims. (Although in each case such aims, whether that of the integrated lawyer for the individual or those of profit maximisation/organisational survival for the company, are never ‘pure’ but influenced and channelled by individual, organisational and environmental factors.)