Comments on: Breaking the big firm http://www.law21.ca/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Comments+on+Articles+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law21.ca%2F2009%2F09%2F21%2Fbreaking-the-big-firm%2F%23comment-&seed_title=Breaking+the+big+firm Dispatches from a legal profession on the brink Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:47:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Minneapolis, MN Employment Law Attorney | More on law firm economics | TJ Conley Law http://www.law21.ca/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Comments+on+Articles+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law21.ca%2F2009%2F09%2F21%2Fbreaking-the-big-firm%2F%23comment-1144&seed_title=Breaking+the+big+firm/comment-page-1/#comment-1144 Minneapolis, MN Employment Law Attorney | More on law firm economics | TJ Conley Law Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:32:38 +0000 http://www.law21.ca/?p=1055#comment-1144 [...] here.  Money quote:  [...] [...] here.  Money quote:  [...]

]]> By: Carolyn Elefant http://www.law21.ca/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Comments+on+Articles+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law21.ca%2F2009%2F09%2F21%2Fbreaking-the-big-firm%2F%23comment-1142&seed_title=Breaking+the+big+firm/comment-page-1/#comment-1142 Carolyn Elefant Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:30:55 +0000 http://www.law21.ca/?p=1055#comment-1142 While the profession celebrates flat fees (as do I), let's not kid ourselves about which segment of the profession will shoulder the transition costs to this new business model: the young associates who spent years at big-law doing grunt work under the leveraged billable hour model and never acquired any real experience. Flat fees are a win-win for lawyers and clients when the lawyer can do the work efficiently either (a) due to experience or (b) through leveraging technology or (c) through both. Many young lawyers, particularly in the area of litigation, never had an opportunity to acquire these skills and will now find themselves displaced in this new era. What is even more outrageous is that the "grinder" partners who don't carry their weight in generating business will, in the short run, benefit from this new model. Firms should have required grinders to build their own books or business or step aside to let younger lawyers through the ranks. Now, under a flat fee regime, grinders will be rewarded because they can do the work generated by rainmakers. The question for biglaw is how to provide training for the next generation. Flat fees are a great step forward, but at the same time, firms had better devise a way to help new lawyers get experience (and maybe that means that new lawyers work for close to nothing or maybe it means that big law does start hiring more solos and self-training lawyers) so that in future generations, there'll be enough competent lawyers available to handle flat fee work. While the profession celebrates flat fees (as do I), let’s not kid ourselves about which segment of the profession will shoulder the transition costs to this new business model: the young associates who spent years at big-law doing grunt work under the leveraged billable hour model and never acquired any real experience. Flat fees are a win-win for lawyers and clients when the lawyer can do the work efficiently either (a) due to experience or (b) through leveraging technology or (c) through both. Many young lawyers, particularly in the area of litigation, never had an opportunity to acquire these skills and will now find themselves displaced in this new era. What is even more outrageous is that the “grinder” partners who don’t carry their weight in generating business will, in the short run, benefit from this new model. Firms should have required grinders to build their own books or business or step aside to let younger lawyers through the ranks. Now, under a flat fee regime, grinders will be rewarded because they can do the work generated by rainmakers.

The question for biglaw is how to provide training for the next generation. Flat fees are a great step forward, but at the same time, firms had better devise a way to help new lawyers get experience (and maybe that means that new lawyers work for close to nothing or maybe it means that big law does start hiring more solos and self-training lawyers) so that in future generations, there’ll be enough competent lawyers available to handle flat fee work.

]]> By: Susan Cartier Liebel http://www.law21.ca/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Comments+on+Articles+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law21.ca%2F2009%2F09%2F21%2Fbreaking-the-big-firm%2F%23comment-1141&seed_title=Breaking+the+big+firm/comment-page-1/#comment-1141 Susan Cartier Liebel Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:49:29 +0000 http://www.law21.ca/?p=1055#comment-1141 Powerful as always! Why is it people (biglaw) can't see the forest for the trees? We live in such a 'short term' world when we plan for the future. The future isn't a year or the 'flavor of the month.' It is a decade or two. It is long range thinkers, those who gather the global facts who can be said to 'have a crystal ball'. It's not lack of intelligence, it's lack of true fact-gathering and incredible short-sightedness. But then, that leaves opportunities for those, like forward-thinking solos, to succeed. Powerful as always! Why is it people (biglaw) can’t see the forest for the trees? We live in such a ’short term’ world when we plan for the future. The future isn’t a year or the ‘flavor of the month.’ It is a decade or two. It is long range thinkers, those who gather the global facts who can be said to ‘have a crystal ball’. It’s not lack of intelligence, it’s lack of true fact-gathering and incredible short-sightedness.

But then, that leaves opportunities for those, like forward-thinking solos, to succeed.

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