Writing in Bloomberg Business of Law, Heidi Gardner - a scholar at Harvard Law School - writes of research she is conducting into the area and raises the question of whether clients with strong purchasing power might be able to negotiate prices down if several projects are being handled for it, across different disciplines, around the world. But she says: 'Our research suggests that this possibility is real, but that – on average – clients served with multipractice engagements are more profitable in the long run.'

Collaboration

Having looked at data from some law firms, she is able to say that 'data from some major international law firms shows that the profitability (in percentage terms) holds nearly steady as more practices are included in a client’s service mix'. Ms Gardner is working on a book about the legal profession - including the challenges that rainmakers face to work collaboratively. Source: Bloomberg Business of Law