The Business of Law – Marketing and Business for Enterprising Attorneys

Sometimes smaller is better, that might be the lesson of recent developments in the business of law.

For years, the conventional wisdom was that the way to build a legal business and inoculate yourself form the ups and downs of the economy was to have more attorneys with a wide range of specialties scattered over the broadest possible geographical footprint.

But as we watch developments in our industry there is some evidence to suggest that just there are real advantages to being smaller.  To begin with the big firm model is to charge high prices to big prominent clients on complex matters.  That model presents several problems. Let me explain.

At big firms, pricing is based on a billable hour. Hours are billed on a sliding scale from the junior associates to the most senior partners.  That model has been vilified by business clients for years because it creates an incentive to have their legal work done by junior associates and then reviewed only briefly by senior partners.  The result is that the work often takes longer and there are real questions about the risk of error.  In addition, there are concerns that junior associates take more time to do basic work that would take more experienced attorneys less time.  The result, whether you pay $1,000 for the most senior partner, or $500 for the junior associate right out of school doesn’t really matter all that much, because it’s going to take the associate twice as long to do the work.  I’ve talked about the shortcomings of the billable hour before here.

Beyond the billable hour, the big firm infrastructure can often stifle business.   To begin with clients may not want to pay “big firm” rates, making marketing difficult, but beyond that as a practical matter, if a client is small, or is in need of minor legal assistance, the administrative costs of taking on a particular piece of business may not be justified. Think of how hard it can be to get a qualified carpenter to fix a minor repair on your house; many of the best qualified workmen only take “the big jobs”.  Want to replace your roof, or put on an addition, and they’re happy to help, but what if you just want to replace a squeaky door, or replace a piece of crown molding?

Finally, the big firm model does not allow the attorney to build lasting long-term relationships with the client.  Sure the senior partner and the general counsel of the client may have a social relationship, but the bulk of the legal work is done by overworked, multi-tasking, distracted associates focused on delivering their 2500 plus hours per year to qualify for their bonus, or in a down economy simply keep their job.  The incentive is to bill as many hours for as many clients as possible.  Simply put outputs rather than outcomes are the goal, and the firm’s objectives could not be more unaligned with the clients.

I recently came across an article in the Silicon Valley Business Journal three lawyers who left big firms to hang out their own shingle.  According to the article: “At the new firm, all are finding it easier to retain clients and capture others.”

But the article points something else out as well and that is that the lawyers who left the big firms were all confident in their marketing skills and their ability to attract clients, and that’s really the catch.

There’s no question that the smaller firm business model allows for a more client-centric focus, a closer relationship with the clients and their businesses, and even a more lucrative law practice where less revenue is devoted to bloated overhead, but that model only works if you can get clients.

That’s where Sokolove Law can help.  In the personal injury space, we have helped hundreds of firms market themselves and attract new clients, and we’ve overseen thousands of cases where clients were compensated for their injuries without paying the big firm rates.  We’re successful because we know how to market legal services to people who have been injured (after all we are the largest marketer of legal services in the country) and because our co-counsel firms are some of the best, most qualified attorneys within their areas of expertise.

So if you’re a small to medium-sized firm looking to perfect your marketing,please get in touch with me , maybe we can help.