What was the overall impact of the dot-com boom and bust on the firm?
Certainly, you hired a lot of people and the subsequent drop-off in business now leaves you with too many consultants and not enough assignments. A: It has stress-tested some of our processes. I would say that it has also created the conditions where you can actually improve these processes. In times of change and adversity, the stronger institutions get stronger. And I’m absolutely confident that we will emerge from this period…much, much stronger. Q: Has there been any sign of a pickup in your business yet? A: Yes. But it’s slow…. I can’t resist the temptation to say I actually don’t follow [the numbers] that closely. It’s not whether our numbers are right. That’s not the mindset. Financially, we’re in good shape. There’s zero debt. We’re meeting all our obligations and all the expectations of compensation and we still have surplus. Q: But your partners will not be making the kind of money they did in 1999 and 2000, right? A: Yes. The question is whether 1999 was unnaturally high
