Suggestions on how to hire a lawyer, along with common mistakes made by clients.
On a regular basis, we meet with our clients to examine how we can provide the best legal services and value-add to their bottom line or most efficiently satisfy their objectives. In the process of hiring a new law firm, we recommend that clients compare us to our competitors and consider the following:
1. Hire the Lawyer, Not the Law Firm.
A majority of our larger, institutional clients joined our community after leaving a firm who marketed from one vantage point, but delivered an entirely different product. Larger firms will present to clients on the idea of a particular level of depth, training, and experience, only to substitute a less experienced attorney who may never have actually met the client. This concept is known as “leverage,” in the legal field. The experienced lawyers are rewarded financially for locating the legal assignments and not actually working on the cases. The work is primarily done by the less experienced lawyer working his way up the ladder.
The answer? Meet your lawyer. Talk to her. Ask who else will be working on the file. Most importantly, read your bill. If you see another attorney billing on your file, you may need to discuss who is providing the representation on the file. Warning signs include lawyers who do not return phone calls, or who always seem to be unavailable when you call. Recognize, too, that your lawyer may not always need to call you, and may be saving you money by having someone else respond to you. Either way, it is important for you to define your expectations with the attorney.
2. Larger Law Firms are Dinosaurs.
Most large law firms – firms with more than 40 lawyers – suffer from a loss of a majority of their attorneys within a short legal career. According to a survey conducted in 2007 by the National Association of Law Placement, 37 Percent of associates leave large firms within the first three years, and 77 percent resign within five years. As the average length of a lawsuit is just short of 2.5 years from demand to settlement, the majority of legal clients can expect to lose a significant portion of their legal talent during the lifespan of any particular lawsuit. Even for lawsuits that may exist for short periods of time, large organizations for their clients to endure frequent and costly transitions arising from the movement of legal assignments between associates moving in, and out, and over.
The opposite situation exists when you hire a smaller firm, who may lack the necessary experience, or who may market itself as being able to handle every conceivable area of practice. You need to know whether the law firm has the depth to be able to handle the case regardless of the direction it takes itself. Litigation is a lot like military operations; nothing ever turns out as planned. Make sure if you are using a smaller firm that they have the flexibility and strength to handle all contingencies.
3. When hiring a small, one or two lawyer law firm, approach with caution.
Most family law or criminal defense clients believe they only need one attorney, which is usually correct. The problem, though, is that attorneys who operate small, solo or so law firms subject their clients to their schedules and resources. Oftentimes, when the case actually starts getting heated, your attorney is forced to seek the assistance of other law firms, who may not be aware of the day-to-day occurrences on your case.
The most common problem with smaller operations, too, is that they oversell their ability to represent most matters. If you find a law firm that has 2 attorneys, but claims to practice in 17 different areas, they are likely engaging the client, but referring the client to other attorneys. This is permitted by the Florida Bar, and often causes confusion with individual clients.
Our business model has always been that to succeed in this business, you must set the pace and be on the offense. We currently employ 10 attorneys, who work daily together on our clients’ business. By keeping this depth, at no additional cost to our clients, we are able to present a defense that focuses entirely upon the needs of the client, and less upon our individual availability. We also have found that a depth of representation also allows us to resolve matters quicker than most, given our ability to test our opponents commitment to the process.
4. It’s the Technology, Counselor.
The technology available to law firms is limitless, yet most legal organizations are notoriously light on new hardware and software innovations. Frankly, lawyers in most firms, although well compensated, are cheap when it comes to technology. The available methods designed to streamline processes and enhance client-attorney interface are limited only by the creativity of the service provider. Nonetheless, these opportunities require a firm that’s motivated to make the necessary capital investment and integration of these components into their day to day practice.
With the necessary technology at our disposal and our team approach, we work with each client to create a unique professional relationship tailored to the specific objectives of our clients. We believe technology plays a crucial role in this. We were recently utilized by a national company to use our work flow and document management system as a template for all of their regional law firms. Our efficiency makes our lives as lawyers easier, and reflect savings to our clients. For us, that’s just good business.
