The great thing about recessions is that they create change – and the deeper the recession, the more fundamental that change is likely to be.
And nowhere is that truer than in the legal market. Jane Hanner Allen, who founded a virtual law firm 10 years ago, was quoted recently on www.law.comas saying : “The financial pressure is creating a boiling point for change.”
Allen is, of course, right but the change can manifest itself in a number of different ways. Creative – or perhaps disillusioned or down-sized lawyers – have for some time been developing and indeed promoting the concept of the virtual law firm whereby individuals work independently, normally from home, under some sort of umbrella organisation, offering clients a level of service with a hugely lower cost base. The ‘Big Firm without the Ivory Tower’.
Such a model works well for certain types of law being provided to certain types of clients – and there can be no denying the cost savings available to clients. But law firms, and lawyers working together in offices, do have certain (often intangible) benefits. The infrastructure; the mutual support; the second opinion; the general back up. If these can be accessed without excessive overheads, and without the distraction of office politics, they certainly have a value. The problem is that the larger the firm becomes, the more likely is the descent into the black hole of negative forces.
There is, though, a middle ground that offers, I would argue, one of the few situations in which a compromise works well for the benefit of all concerned - lawyers and clients alike. Such a compromise can be found in the small to mid-sized firm that brings together a manageable group of like-minded and committed professionals who can work closely with their clients, and yet have access to the support that a firm can provide.
And if that firm is part of a broader national or international grouping, such as MSI Global Alliance (www.msiglobal.org) , then you can get the best of both worlds, with greater access to both geographic and service range spread, whilst retaining the value of the smaller firm approach. Which is probably one of the reasons why, even in today’s difficult market conditions, applications for membership continue to come in on such a regular basis.
James Mendelssohn (jmendelssohn@msiglobal.org)
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