Few leaders embody the fusion of strategy, technology and humanity quite like Derek Silva, Senior Practice Director for Law & Advisory Services at P&C Global. From his early days in Goldman Sachs’ M&A division to steering global law firm transformations across three continents, Silva has built a reputation for marrying analytical precision with wit and empathy. Known for his thoughtful curiosity and sharp humor, he guides elite firms through digital reinvention, mergers and talent strategy – helping them evolve into agile, data-driven organizations equipped for the age of AI. For Silva, transformation isn’t an abstract goal – it’s the daily craft of turning clarity into competitive advantage.
Silva’s perspective bridges the worlds of finance, consulting and law – but what stands out most is his optimism. “The legal industry has never been more alive with possibility,” he reflects. “Technology, talent and global collaboration are rewriting the playbook, and that’s exhilarating.”
Whether advising a Global 100 firm on AI governance or helping a mid-market practice modernize its model, Silva approaches each challenge with the same curiosity that defines his career. For him, the future of law isn’t just about adaptation – it’s about reinvention, one bold decision at a time.
Lawdragon: Your journey has spanned elite finance and consulting roles – from starting in M&A at Goldman Sachs to directing teams at Deloitte and Rothschild & Co – before you took the helm of P&C Global’s worldwide law firm practice. What initially led you to focus on the business side of law firms, and how did those early experiences prepare you to guide top firms through transformation today?
Derek Silva: My early years in investment banking and consulting gave me a front-row seat to how professional services firms – including law firms – create and lose value. At Goldman Sachs, I was fascinated by the mechanics of deal-making: how capital, leadership and timing converge to drive transformation. But what struck me most was that the advisory firms around those deals – law firms, consultancies, accounting practices – were often applying world-class intellect to client problems while neglecting their own business fundamentals.
That realization shaped my career. I wanted to help law firms operate with the same strategic clarity and rigor they bring to their clients. My background in finance taught me to see law firms as businesses first: with balance sheets, clients as markets, and partners as investors. Now, at P&C Global, we apply that perspective every day – helping firms modernize, diversify and compete globally without losing their soul.
LD: Law firm clients trust you to optimize their business mix. What shifts in practice area priorities are you seeing among leading firms?
DS: The practice mix conversation has changed dramatically. Over the last year, we’ve seen major global firms double down on data privacy, AI law, cybersecurity and digital assets, often at the expense of slower-growth practices like real estate or traditional tax advisory.
One Global 100 firm we recently advised shifted nearly 20 percent of its attorney headcount into technology-adjacent practices – a move that’s already driving double-digit revenue growth. But the real challenge isn’t picking the “next big thing” – it’s managing balance. Legacy practices still fund innovation, so the transition has to be intentional, not reactionary.
Our approach is to model different business mix scenarios with predictive analytics – assessing profitability, client demand and partner mobility. It’s part art, part science. The best-performing firms are those that manage to expand the frontier rather than abandon the foundation.
Technology is no longer a back-office function in law firms – it’s a front-line differentiator.
LD: Armed with executive certificates in Digital Transformation and Innovation from Wharton, you focus on introducing novel technologies to elite firms. How are emerging tech trends – from artificial intelligence to advanced analytics – changing the way law firms operate and compete?
DS: Technology is no longer a back-office function in law firms – it’s a front-line differentiator. AI and advanced analytics are transforming everything from matter triage to pricing strategy and client communication. At P&C Global, we’ve helped several top firms implement proprietary AI-driven analytics platforms that predict workload peaks, automate document drafting and even model client satisfaction drivers. One top-10 U.S. plaintiffs’ firm reduced non-billable hours by nearly 40 percent within the first six months of a transformation program we led.
My advice to managing partners is simple: Don’t pursue technology for its own sake. Start with the business outcomes you want – speed, precision, resilience – and then align technology to those objectives. Transformation is a verb, not a purchase.
LD: Cyber threats have risen sharply in recent years, even as firms adopt more technology. How do you incorporate cybersecurity and data privacy into the transformation projects you lead?
DS: We design digital transformations with cybersecurity as a spine, not an appendix. Law firms are guardians of their clients’ most sensitive information – and adversaries know it.
In one recent engagement with a global litigation firm, we embedded a cybersecurity overhaul within their broader digital modernization. That included AI-enabled intrusion detection, encrypted cloud storage and real-time risk dashboards. The result was not only greater protection, but also faster recovery times and improved client confidence – which, in turn, became a differentiator in business development.
The principle is straightforward: innovation without security is fragility. We build systems that are both modern and defensible.
LD: You’re a certified M&A Advisor and have led major law firm acquisitions and restructurings that boosted profits per partner by 30 percent in one case. What trends are you seeing in law firm mergers and acquisitions today?
DS: Law firm M&A has evolved from opportunistic to strategic. We’re seeing far more “tuck-in” mergers – where firms acquire niche boutiques in data, regulatory or cross-border arbitration – to add depth without overextending financially.
Cultural alignment is everything. I’ve seen deals fall apart not because of financials, but because two leadership teams had fundamentally different definitions of partnership. A successful merger requires early transparency, disciplined integration and a shared strategic narrative.
When we helped two mid-market firms merge into what is now a top-75 national firm, we started not with systems, but with values. We asked: “What kind of institution do you want to become together?” That clarity saved them years of post-merger drift and positioned them for sustained growth.
LD: Speaking of working together, leading P&C Global’s Law & Advisory practice worldwide, you manage teams across more than 15 offices. What differences do you observe between U.S. law firm clients and those in Europe or Asia?
DS: The biggest difference lies in risk appetite and decision velocity. U.S. firms tend to move fast – they’re comfortable with imperfect information and quick pivots. European firms value deliberation and consensus-building. In Asia, firms are often extraordinarily forward-looking in technology but highly relationship-driven in execution.
We adapt our approach accordingly. For example, when advising a top-tier London firm, we focused on scenario modeling and incremental change management. In Tokyo, with one of our global clients, the emphasis was on technological precision and cultural alignment. The constant across all markets is the need for trust – transformation travels only at the speed of confidence.
Transformation is a verb, not a purchase.
LD: You’re known for infusing humor and wit into your leadership. How do those traits influence the way you lead and motivate your team?
DS: Humor is my reset button – for me and everyone around me. Consulting at this level is high-stakes work, and a little levity keeps us grounded. I often tell my team, “If we can’t laugh while fixing billion-dollar problems, we’re doing it wrong.”
Rugby taught me a lot about leadership. You don’t win by being the fastest individual – you win by reading the field, trusting your teammates, and getting up after every tackle. That’s consulting in a nutshell. My leadership style is collaborative, direct and occasionally self-deprecating. When people feel safe to challenge ideas, you get better outcomes and stronger teams.
LD: The war for talent in law firms is fiercer than ever. How do you counsel firm leaders on talent strategy and leadership development?
DS: The best law firms now think like investment funds – they manage portfolios of people, not just cases. The key is differentiating between performance management and talent development.
We help firms design data-driven talent models that identify future rainmakers early, measure leadership potential, and align compensation with collaboration, not just origination. One top-20 defense firm we work with restructured its partner evaluation system around these principles – and within a year, lateral partner retention improved by 35 percent.
Attracting multidisciplinary talent – data scientists, economists, technologists – is equally crucial. The law firm of the future will look more like a hybrid between a think tank and a technology lab.
LD: How does your curiosity shape your work in scanning for the next big trend?
DS: Curiosity is the most underrated strategic skill. I spend a good part of my week reading outside the legal industry – astrophysics, behavioral economics, art theory – because innovation often comes from connecting dots others don’t see. Right now, I’m particularly excited about how AI ethics and sustainability law are converging. Firms that can advise clients on responsible innovation – how to deploy AI ethically, sustainably and profitably – will define the next decade of legal services.
Curiosity keeps you uncomfortable, and that’s a good place to be. It’s where all meaningful progress starts.
LD: What do you find most fulfilling about partnering with law firms to elevate their performance?
DS: The moment when the strategy becomes reality – when you see a client firm operating at a level even they didn’t think possible – that’s the reward.
I remember standing in the war room of a national plaintiffs’ firm after they finalized a multi-year digital transformation we’d led. Their managing partner looked at the dashboards tracking performance and said, “We finally understand our own firm.” That, to me, is success – not just profitability, but clarity.
At P&C Global, our mission is to make that clarity replicable: to help our clients see further, move faster, and build institutions that last.
