The legal profession’s most revealing experiments with outside capital may begin not with a giant merger, but with partners agreeing to take home less. Massumi + Consoli, a Los Angeles-founded transactions firm, has created ElevenHundred+, a management services company backed by private equity. Announced on September 24, the arrangement separates the people giving legal advice from the business infrastructure supporting them. It also poses an unusually direct question for mid

Most employment law problems never reach a courthouse. They begin when someone in human resources needs to revise a handbook, hire across a state line, or decide what notice an employee must sign. Those modest decisions have long provided a steady stream of advisory work for regional firms. A new product from a payroll company suggests that the first draft - and perhaps the decision about calling a lawyer - may increasingly occur elsewhere. From Law Firm Venture to Payroll Pl