Who’s Coming for Your Clients? March 4, 2009

When the first few BigLaw firms started laying people off last fall, the job market was flooded with resumes.  Attorneys were moving to in-house, switching firms, doing anything to hold onto their jobs.  Well, it seems like there ain’t no more BigLaw jobs left.  Firms that used to wine and dine law school students for the summer (while paying them $3K a week) are now not only limiting the number of summer spots they have, but they’re asking this years graduates to defer their start dates for months (or even up to a year).  Many of my friends, who are still in school down at William & Mary, are having a hard time finding a job.

With “more resumes” being no longer being a viable option, the National Law Journal is recommending that those highly skilled attorneys who are being laid off start their own firms.  Good news for the commercial real estate market… bad news for you. 

There’s a finite number of clients out there and in this economy, most of them are choosing to compete on price.  What are you doing to demonstrate your value?  The above article suggests that the way to lure clients away from BigLaw firms is price – the firm did it at $600/hr., so I’ll do it at $300/hr.  Seems no one over at the National Law Journal has figured out that you can also price your services at flat rates and then ask prospective clients to compare that price against what the last deposition a BigLaw firm sent 2 partners, 5 associates, and a paralegal to cost them.