Law Technology

BigSolos - The Document Management Transition

By Ross

Thanks to Monica Bay and Law Technology News for running my article on how BigSolo lawyers are making the document management transition when they move from larger firms to new small practices. Here’s the link to the article (and if you’re not an LTN subscriber, it’s free for goodness sakes - SUBSCRIBE, it’s the bible! And get the digital edition to save some trees). Thanks especially to Editor-in-Chief Monica whose editing always makes my writing look better than it actually is.

The article is about how two of my BigSolo clients, John Martin and Nancy Hendrickson, both intrepid Chicago large firm partners who made the move to the small firm world in the last six months, have handled the transition to solo practice from a software and IT management perspective.

I first wrote about the BigSolo trend I observed in a Technolawyer SmallLaw column, indicating I expected the migration to accelerate. And it has, with more and more larger firm lawyers moving to start or join solo and small firm practices.

While it might seem to be an economically-driven trend, I see it more as a correction. A correction of a legal services industry way out of balance (our own version of the Wall Street insanity).

As I’ve been saying repeatedly for months: Small is now clearly the new big. In the best possible way with a move to reasonable rates, and the nimble client-service-centric flexibility that is the hallmark of small firm practice. No more committee meetings (although those with multiple personalities could silently simulate one ) to address process change, only to result in indecision and stagnation.
I expect this to be a renaissance period for several things:

• Solo and small firms generally - those who are business savvy enough to realize that the only perception that matters is the client’s perception of reality, not the lawyer’s own view (even if the lawyer’s right, it really may not matter much).
• Small firm technology - which I think, as a 25 year veteran of small practice technology, has always been more in tune with client-service-centricity and with quality of life enabling enhancement for small practices (i.e. especially stress reduction that comes from using well-selected, well-implemented practice management systems).
• Solo and small firm lawyers who represent businesses of all sizes who offer “legal business consulting” services, steering and spear-heading proactive sound business direction will become profitable heroes to their clients. The era of lawyers as reactive cleaning people, fixing messes will persist, but those lawyers may well decline in prominence (from the client’s perception perspective).

I’m not sure whether the prophetic title of Richard Susskind’s recent “The End of Lawyers” will come to pass. What I do believe is that we are seeing the death of business savvy-agnostic law practice. The era where Gordon Gekko-like “greed-driven” law practice where the needs of clients came a distant second to the practice’s pursuit of maximum material wealth are over. The era where client perception is all that matters, and lawyers who don’t acknowledge that will be obsoleted out of law practice, is here - and not a moment too soon.

And God forbid, if lawyers empathetically put the interests of their clients first, might the public even stop hating us (at least a little)?

So I hope you read my LTN article and see how much better off Nancy and John are with their new technology, new freedom to be nimble and the flexibility in life and practice their new small practices has brought them.

Oh, and if you happen to need some help making the transition to solo and small firm practice, I happen to know a good consultant who’s available to help :-)

Full post as published by Ross Ipsa Loquitur on May 07, 2009 (boomark / email).