"Big Law Firm Model Is Broken"

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What's more, it only works for lawyers who already have business - i.e., the ones less likely to be laid off from their firms in the the first place. Laid-off in-house lawyers, public service lawyers and even those few remaining old fashioned firm "service lawyers", not to mention most junior associates, will not be able to survive under this system.
The problem isn't the inefficiency of law firms. The problem is that the American economy has mispriced everything at all strata due to the effects of easy money.

putra of IN 5:25AM June 29, 2009

I think virtual law firms are a huge benefit to small businesses and entrepreneurs who couldn't afford the outrageous rates of the traditional law firms. This is especially so since virtual law firms like Rimon Law Group (www.rimonlaw.com) and Virtual Law Partners also ensure that only partner-level attorneys with many years of experience from top law firms do the work - instead of first-year associates directly out of law school that are often made to cut their teeth on small company work.

Erik Cohen of CA 5:03PM March 12, 2009

Companies/individuals need to be careful about engaging virtual law firms. "Protections" / remedies for professional malpractice offered clients by state bar regulators may be be difficult to obtain if client's can't prove which state's bar regulations / statutes apply. For a grim view of the bone yard see:http://www.evilesq.com

Evil Esquire of CA 8:39PM March 10, 2009

Agreed, but educational costs are paramount, if you don't decrease those costs but instead decrease labor costs, people won't go to law school (what incentive would they have?) and our supply of callow laywers would contract. That is what you don't want if your goal is to reduce overall labor costs. Hourly rates for more experienced lawyers are higher and without the option of having associates or junior associates work on cases (a cheaper alternative offered by firms), proper transactional representation would remain out of reach for all but the elite companies, creating a chasm I don't think we want in the corporate legal world.

Rijal of MI 5:36PM March 10, 2009

Is the traditional law firm model broken? The partners at "alternative" places like Virtual Law Partners better not hope so. Their business model is one based on a parasitic relationship to "Big Law." I went to a presentation given by a partner from Virtual Law Partners and she plainly stated that they do not hire attorneys without significant experience and a significant book of business. She said that junior associates were basically useless (-wait, let me finish my argument before you start nodding your head-) and that Big Law was the place every young attorney should go to gain experience before thinking of doing something different like joining Virtual. In fact, she said that Big Law provided a great "community service" to other firms in the form of training junior associates. In other words, smaller and alternative firms like Virtual are free riders.
If Big Law is history, then the business model at alternative forms are not sustainable either. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. Last I checked, law schools are not minting lawyers with instant 5+ years of substantive experience (e.g. arguing real motions before a real judge, etc.) and are not minting new lawyers who have a built-in book of $2M+ in portable business. Senior and experienced attorneys are not immortal; they will eventually retire. Some are even past their prime, believe it or not. Until non-Big Law firms start coming up with solutions to identify, hire, and train high quality junior associates, their ship will eventually sink along with Big Law's "broken" business model.

Smith of CA 1:48PM March 10, 2009

The problem isn't the inefficiency of law firms. The problem is that the American economy has mispriced everything at all strata due to the effects of easy money.
Houses need to be cheaper. But everything else needs to be cheaper, too, including labor rates.
Baby lawyers don't need to cost 160k/year. They only cost so much because all of the inputs to producing and maintaining baby lawyers are also overpriced: including educational costs, taxes, and rents.
Prices are starting to adjust now that the easy money is working its way out of the system.

Thisson of NY 11:30AM March 10, 2009

Punctuation goes INSIDE the "quotes."
Ever pick up the NY Times and see this kind of "stuff".
NO.

bushtheidiot of CA 11:13AM March 10, 2009

As trends go, this is a pretty terrible one, exacerbating the previous mass movement toward "contract attorneys".
What's more, it only works for lawyers who already have business - i.e., the ones less likely to be laid off from their firms in the the first place. Laid-off in-house lawyers, public service lawyers and even those few remaining old fashioned firm "service lawyers", not to mention most junior associates, will not be able to survive under this system.
Yes, BigLaw is broken, but if this is the new world order that replaces it... I'm sure someone more literary and less shell-shocked than I am can come up with an appropriate allusion to the Apocalypse or the Götterdämmerung or something.

Lisa of NY 10:33AM March 10, 2009