Leverage For Lawyers

Posted by Elizabeth Zelinka

We see it all over the news—the recession has hit; Big Law is reeling; the law firm model cannot continue unchanged; law firms are wrestling behind the scenes with an enduring level of over-capacity.  And speculation among legal industry leaders about how and when this will all improve runs rampant. Of course, there are many hopeful predictions.

But if you speak with corporate leaders (as I have), a not-so-hopeful prediction emerges.  It goes something like this:

“We in corporate America have been paying inflated legal fees for years, mainly because we were not under any particular pressure to reduce them.  There is a form of laziness and inertia that exists inside of companies, and until market forces intervene, we all tend to operate under a number of assumptions that flow out of a “business as usual” attitude.  While this recession has been painful, it has also been good for companies.  It is forcing us to make tough decisions, and if we are laying off 500 or more of our own employees, you can bet we will also scrutinize every dollar we spend on outside legal counsel.  We are embracing a new way of doing business, and by the time the economy turns around, we will have learned how to operate leaner and meaner—there will be no going back.”

So, why are we asking legal industry leaders how the future of Big Law will look?  At the end of the day, there is no need for Big Law without big business.  And it is big business that will determine the future of Big Law.  The current generation of corporate leaders has seen the light, and Big Law is in for some permanent changes—like it or not.

Elizabeth Zelinka is a Consultant and Career Strategist with Zelinka & Prince Search Partners.  She can be reached through her website at www.zpsearchpartners.com.

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