The potential “death of big law firms” has resurfaced as a hot topic, led by a recent article in the New Republic provocatively claiming that in the next decade only 10 percent of the top 250 law firms would exist at the same operating levels they enjoy today.
As you might expect, author Noam Scheiber said he was widely praised by those outside the profession and widely criticized by legal industry trades and others in the media who argued he was overhyping the plight of big law.
Scheiber took to the Internet with a point-by-point rebuttal soon after the piece was published. The article, the criticism and his response to the cynics are fascinating reads for anyone in the professional services sphere, not just attorneys. I encourage you to review them all.
New data from one of the cities highlighted by Scheiber seem to support many of his claims. According to an article published just last week in Crain’s Chicago Business, “The number of attorneys — 5,468 — at the top 25 firms on Crain’s latest list of Chicago’s largest was off about 15 percent from totals at a slightly different mix of law firms on the 2008 list. Law firms are reacting to a squeeze on revenue and also to pressure from clients — namely big corporate ones — to cut costs. When they do hire attorneys, law firms prefer proven performers with books of business.”
As a response, law firms have stopped considering younger associates or recent graduates for positions (another headache and potential market correction for the legal profession) and instead focused on attracting top talent that will help justify the fees they charge to their clients.
“True talent is being identified — and paid for,” legal recruiter Kay Hoppe said of law firms’ emphasis on gathering and analyzing big data to bring in veterans with proven records. “At the end of the day, profitability will be strengthened by it.”
I applaud this strategy. It makes perfect sense that high-paying, sophisticated businesses would want the best possible attorneys working with them. Gone are the days when companies will look the other way as firms charge $800 an hour for work done mostly by an associate and just peripherally touched by a senior partner.
While it’s obviously beneficial for a firm to have more high performing cars in the garage, so to speak, why not open them up and get the most mileage possible out of your new attorneys by positioning them as thought leaders to a whole new range of clients and prospects?
In a profession where price is being driven down (and hard), the best way lawyers can demonstrate the value of their fee structure is by using the media to share their expertise on issues with key target audiences.
Thought leadership marketing, as we like to call it, offers third party validation you can’t get from a simple new hire press release or advertisement.
It’s one thing for everyone in your own professional services sector bubble to know how talented your people are, but that won’t drive business. Your competitors won’t be telling their clients and prospects how great your team is, so you need credible representation in and advocacy from what I’ll call “outside counsel” – in this case, the media.
Thought leadership marketing success depends on the proper positioning of your attorneys to newspapers, magazines, trade publications and on television as contributors, authors, expert sources and speakers.
Data about the significance of the legal issues we position to the media as hot topics are important, but the people who can answer the questions this information raises are more crucial.
That’s where WordWrite’s strategic thinking and relationships with the media are best positioned to help a law firm – or any professional service organization – develop thought leadership marketing capital that will grow its business.
You make the right hires. We’ll make sure the right audiences know how great they are.
Download our whitepaper to learn more about the power of storytelling in business communication.
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications. He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
