Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be
That from legal management consultant, Tim Corcoran (@tcorcoran), in his piece today that law firms need to compete or perish in today’s competitive market.
The most common lament I hear in my consulting work with law firms and law departments alike is that this inexorable shift from law as a profession to a business is troubling. The increased focus on ROI and profits — whether by lawyers seeking ever-increasing compensation, or by business leaders seeking to control costs — is chipping away at the nobility of the profession and turning it into a crass commercial endeavor. Lawyers who have spent years delivering quality legal work to satisfied clients are now being forced to choose between delivering a lower-quality work product at reduced rates to maintain their lifestyles, or hold steady and deliver high quality but face significantly reduced compensation. The increased prominence of bean counters, or procurement functions, in the purchase of legal services means that cost is more important than quality.
I’m not sure what shift those lawyers are referring to. That’s the exact same discussion that took place in our law firm thirty years ago.
Law was a noble profession, it was not like other businesses. We constantly debated that.
The law as a noble profession, as we discussed it though, applied to our conducting ourselves in an ethical and professional fashion. Both in and out of the practice of law, we had a standard to uphold. We never looked at our being in a noble profession as being mutually exclusive with running a good business.
Good business meant delivering high quality legal work (as good or better than anyone in our area), charging reasonable fees that small businesses and consumers could afford, building relationships and a reputation to get new work and delivering unsurpassed service.
Heck when I started my own firm I guaranteed my service — not the result. If a client was dissatisfied with the service we provided, they could ask for a refund or reduction of any legal fees going back one year. Just tell us what you thought was fair.
Admittedly I practiced in a small city where we didn’t make millions practicing law. And being in a small town we were part of the community and got known by a lot of folks through both our legal work and our involvement in civic causes.
Being noble to me meant doing the best I could in serving clients, being ethical and professional at all times, and being a good local business person. I did’t always meet those standards, but the effort was there.
My guess is that’s what being part of a noble profession meant to most lawyers a hundred years ago and what it means to most lawyers today.
Corcoran isn’t seeing a shift from the law as a noble profession to the law as a business.
Are you under the impression that clients have heretofore been completely satisfied with your work and your rates? Do you believe that businesses hiring you in the past were primarily concerned with the expansion of the rule of law as noble societal goal rather than their own commercial interests? For those working in-house, do you recall your CEO asking you to eliminate all business risk, and take as long as you’d like and spend whatever you wish to achieve this outcome?
I’m with Corcoran that “nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.