Joseph B. Altonji Co-Founding Principal
Mobile: (847) 867-2220
Joseph Altonji is a founding Principal of LawVision and has spent over 30 years consulting to law firms and their leaders both in the United States and internationally. Prior to launching LawVision, Joe spent 22 years with Hildebrandt Baker Robbins, and its predecessor firm, Hildebrandt International, as a strategist and senior Managing Director. He was a senior member and Co-Chair of Hildebrandt Baker Robbins Law Firm Strategy and Structure practice, and Chair of the Hildebrandt Baker Robbins Law Vision Coordinating Committee, which was responsible for systematically rethinking the business of law.
Joe has been a leader in advancing law firm strategic and management development, and a strong advocate of fundamental business model change in response to significant change in the economic conditions of the industry. He has consulted with hundreds of law firms on improving their strategic focus and business management on both a firm and practice level. Joe concentrates his practice on helping firms clearly define and subsequently achieve their strategic objectives, including alignment of firm governance, management and compensation systems with firm strategy, mergers and other areas. In addition, he advises firms in crisis situations, helping them reestablish economic and practice stability, and long-term strategic integrity. He is a frequent author and speaker on topics related to law firm strategy, governance, compensation and economic performance.
Dedicated to ensuring he is always future-ready, Joe is a recent graduate of Northwestern Kellogg School of Management AI Applications for Growth.
Publications
- LawVision Blogs
- "Make Profitability Management Part Of Your Law Firm Culture" Law360 (May 2021)
- "Is it Law Firm Business as Usual or Time to Take Risks?" Bloomberg Law (March 2021)
- Book: "Guidance for Law Firm Leaders: The Legal Profession in a COVID-19 World," contributing author, LawVision (June 2020)
- COVID-19 Recovery Playbook, 4-Part Series in The American Lawyer (April 2020)
- "It's Three Weeks into Decade Two. Do You Know Whwere Your Firm Is?" The National Law Review (Oct 2018)
- "Becoming a Trusted Advisor in the Age of Distruption," The American Lawyer (Sept 2018)
- "April Showers Bring ??" The National Law Review (April 2018)
- "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil," The National Law Review (Feb 2018)
- "Time to Turn the Wheel Again? Or Will This Year be Different?" The National Law Review (Feb 2018)
- "Client Satisfaction is Dead," Mondaq (March 2017)
- "Facing the Inevitable:Succession Management is Today's Leadership Challenge," The National Law Review (Oct 2017)
- “Competing in the Future –The Need for New Thinking on Law Firm Strategic Advantages” with Mike Short, The Independent Business Law Firm (Dec 2016)
- “Competing in the Future –The Need for New Thinking on Law Firm Strategic Advantages” with Michael Short, Managing Partner Series, Thomson Reuters (March 2015)
- "Winners and Losers: A Special Report" with Michael Short
Speaking Engagements
- Florida Association of Managing Partners, Presenter (Feb 2017)
- The 3rd Annual Midwest Legal Executive Forum: A Regional Summit on the Business of Law, Moderator for "The Company We Keep: New Responses to Partner Compensation & Origination Challenges in the Firm" (Nov 2015)
- The 2nd Annual West Coast Legal Executive Forum, Moderator for "The Company We Keep: New Responses to Lawyer Compensation & Origination Challenges in the Firm" (March 2015)