aerospace.jpg Follow me on a journey of logic — skip a decade to 2015 when air travel may dramatically increase in speed to 30,000 km per hour or 18,000 miles per hour — imagine a trip from Moscow to New York in 50 minutes or Moscow to Sydney in one hour and six minutes. (See reference to news story at end of post) I contend that as the world continues to shrink, we will see a breed of global super lawyers who will go almost anywhere where there is a lucrative opportunity to bring unique skill and knowledge to bear on a legal problem. What will this mean for competition — especially for the global firms. One might argue that they will be best positioned to exploit the opportunity because they can move their specialists around the globe more easily. However, it may also represent a threat to the global firms because agile competitors will be able to send top guns in without having to establish expensive local offices. A third possibility (my favorite) is that we will see even greater industry specialization such that any member of that industry will hire a known dream-team law firm the bricks and mortar location of which will be irrelevant. I propose this as a serious planning issue, if not immediately, at least in the not too distant future. Competitive advantage comes from thinking ahead of the curve — not behind it. Fasten your seatbelts! (Story: Spaceflight from Moscow to New York to take less than an hour)