Legal Commentary

Take the Plunge II--It's about time

By Patrick J. Lamb

Well, to be precise, it’s not about time.  That’s why it’s time to take the plunge. 

There are some lawyers out there—you know who you are—sitting in your large comfortable offices wondering what will happen to your firms as this economic cataclysm continues.  You know your firms are pursuing the wrong business model.  You know your clients need the flexibility afforded by fee arrangements your firms will not countenance.  Yet you continue to sit.

Inertia is a powerful force.  You know the old maxim from high school physics: an object in motion tends to remain in motion while an object at rest tends to remain at rest.  You sit there at rest.  But there is a gnawing doubt in your mind making you wonder whether this is the best approach to your future and for your clients.   It isn’t.  The profession is going through a revolution.  Those who see the future and take appropriate action will thrive.  Those who sit by and wait will die.

The assumption buried in the belief that you can wait until it is obvious that you must jump or die is that there will be an opportunity to jump at the point you convince yourself to stand up and move out.  That assumption is ill-founded.  The opportunity exists now, but it will only exist for a while.   When the market does its next somersault, the opportunities simply may not be there for you.  They will be for your clients, however, and your inaction will force your clients to decide between you and economic rationality.  Are you sure they’ll choose you?  The data suggest they’ll choose savings over relationships.

So, my advice to you?  Take the plunge.  The water’s better than fine.  And there’s still room to swim.

[ My apologies to my partner Nicole for shamelessly trading on the theme of her inaugural “glog” post, but it worked so well in this context that I couldn’t resist.]
 

Full post as published by In Search of Perfect Client Service on January 30, 2009 (boomark / email).