Four Factors that Could Change Law Practice

Law Practice Management

Posted Dec 1, 2008, 08:25 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The large law firm model is feeling stress—partly from its own practice of hiring more lawyers while promoting fewer into equity partnerships. As more associates decline to devote their careers to increasingly risky chances of partnership, will law practice have to change?

Maybe. The American Lawyer lists four factors that could change law practice, but notes its past predictions have not always panned out. The changing law firm model that spurs less loyalty among associates is one of the factors cited by the magazine. The others are:

• Nonlawyer investment. Nonlawyers will soon be allowed to invest in law firms in England. Elsewhere, nonlawyers may fund experiments that threaten established ways of law practice and law firm regulations.

• Corporate clients are increasingly dissatisfied with high hourly billing rates and big associate salaries. The concerns prompted the Association of Corporate Counsel to launch its "Value Challenge," an initiative to spur alternative billing by companies’ outside law firms.

• Technology will allow routine matters to be handled more quickly and at a lower cost.

Many of the factors suggest a possible change in the way legal work is performed, according to the American Lawyer. “It's not that the work would go away, just that it would be handled differently,” the article says. “New organizations would develop that could handle the routine searching, filing, and drafting; the change scenarios imagine technology swooping in to provide these methods. …

“With much of the fat pared away, real specialists, the law firms and lawyers with reputations as high-cost providers worth the higher cost, could be even more successful than they are today.”

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Posted by B. McLeod - 1 month, 1 week, 2 hours, 24 minutes ago

When there is no loyalty among the partners, why should anyone be surprised to find decreasing loyalty among the SOC8s?

If anything, the SOC8s, who will be the first cut adrift in any crisis, should be even more attuned to mercenary considerations and looking out for number one.
Posted by anon - 1 month, 6 days, 23 hours, 28 minutes ago

Wrong on the tech part.

EDD, ESI and even routine tasks can become a disaster with IT becoming more problematic.

Supply and demand, a PITA for coming skilled IT market.
Posted by Ronnie - 1 month, 6 days, 21 hours, 57 minutes ago

I think technology for routine tasks is a godsend that drastically reduces the time it takes to draft common motions and pleadings. We’ve recently automated our common pleadings and things that used to take 45 minutes are now down to 15, with much higher accuracy. Certainly, I still have to proofread what leaves my office, but I’m not nearly as concerned about the embarrassing gaffes that I’ve seen before. That said, I do agree with anon’s point about EDD and ESI.
Posted by End of Big Law - 1 month, 6 days, 25 minutes ago

Big Law and their high hourly rates are not in the shareholders best interest except in cases where it is necessary.

Smaller boutique law firms of under 50 lawyers are the way to go to save cost and time. Usually, the service is 100 times better as well.

Why should I pay a partner and 3 associates to draft me a contract for 10 grand when I can have one 5th year at a smaller firm do it for 2.

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