Legal Commentary

The "good old days" are not coming back

By Patrick J. Lamb

In the opening paragraph of its 2010 Client Advisory, the joint Hildebrandt-Citi advisory ominously notes:

While the year ended with some hopeful signs, we enter 2010 with little prospect of a robust recovery and with mounting evidence that the profession is entering an era in which the fundamental economics of legal practice are likely to be significantly different.

The report later notes:

we expect that the economic recovery during 2010 will be quite
gradual. While we anticipate further improvement in demand for legal services – particularly in areas like M&A and other transactional practices – that demand growth will be tempered by pricing pressures that we expect to be even more severe than in 2009.

No client is going to willing return to "the good old days."  Those old days were good for for law firms.  Not so much for clients.  And it speaks to law firms' self-centeredness when they fail to recognize the strain their freewheeling spending and pricing placed on their clients.

The report is sobering, especially if you operate in cost-plus environment.

Full post as published by In Search of Perfect Client Service on March 09, 2010 (boomark / email).