Comments on: Richard Susskind & The End of Lawyers: What It Means for Solos

By: David Tenant

David Tenant — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:02:00 +0000

There are a number of sites today that capitalise on specialist services. Justanswer is one of them, for freelancers Guru is another. The latter doesn’t relate to legal services, but the principle is the same.

Since most people search online nowadays. Any business (legal or otherwise) needs to have some kind of web credibility and it needs to be niche targeted.

There are many productivity boosting services available today, Google enterpise is a perfect example of progress. Documents can be shared and collaboration is simple and e-mail is hosted with SLA’s. I can remember not too long ago sending several e-mails back and forth, waiting for responses. But now I can edit documents in an instant and quickly move onto the next thing.

I agree with Susan Cartiers post ‘Anything antiquated gets replaced.’

By: L. Stewart

L. Stewart — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:22:38 +0000

Thank you too, Allison. Your insights are also thoughtful. Most of us could probably use some training in how to convey the value that we offer to our clients.

By: L. Stewart

L. Stewart — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:22:00 +0000

Thank you too, Allison. Your insights are also thoughtful. Most of us could probably use some training in how to convey the value that we offer to our clients.

By: Toby Brown

Toby Brown — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:19:41 +0000

Ernie’s story is a great one – illustrating a major client frustration. Beyond talk of billing rates and cost reduction, clients want their lawyers to be efficient. Ernie is. I feel Susskind’s book strikes at the core of this issue. Embracing change both in technology and practice means providing more value for less money (a.k.a. being efficient). Clients even struggle to comprehend this problem, however their needs will drive them to this discussion.
Thanks for the forum Carolyn. And thanks for the story Ernie.

By: Toby Brown

Toby Brown — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:19:00 +0000

By: Alex Korotkin

Alex Korotkin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:55:37 +0000

Through the use of technology, solos will become even more competitive with big law firms. In some areas, such as family law, bankruptcy, and some others, they will almost always beat larger firms on both service and price. The combination of personal service and up-to-date technology, at a reasonable price, can’t be beat.

By: Alex Korotkin

Alex Korotkin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:55:00 +0000

By: Allison Shields

Allison Shields — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:35:07 +0000

I think what many people miss when they read this is Susskind’s characterization of the solos or very small firms that he believes will be in trouble. He calls them, “very small firms whose work is not highly specialized — those with a handful of partners or even sole practitoners who are general practitioners.”
Carolyn, you hit on that when you said, ” Likewise, those solos who provide the kinds of irreplaceable expert niche services are also thriving in the downturn, by providing services in high demand, but at lower costs than their big firm competitors can provide.”
I wrote about Susskind’s book in the Lawyer Meltdown newsletter earlier this year at: http://tinyurl.com/bxojxc.
It behooves us as a profession to look critically at the services we provide and the value that we provide for our clients. How much of what we do on a given day must actually be performed by lawyers and how much could be systematized or outsourced? How much of your day is spent on actual legal analysis that requires law school training? How can we, as Carolyn says, diversify, find innovative ways to provide services to clients in a way that makes sense to them, with a fee structure that clients can understand and afford?
Part of the consideration is that whatever we as lawyers think isn’t necessarily important – if clients don’t see your legal training and legal services as uniquely valuable, they are going to see legal services as a commodity, and I think we’ve all seen that increase over the past number of years. It’s up to lawyers to articulate their value in a convincing way, and to demonstrate that value with their clients.
The lawyers that can be flexible, use technology and continue to innovate and stay ahead of the curve are the ones that will survive. Fortunately for solos and small firm lawyers, these changes are easier to achieve than they are in larger firms with more entrenched bureaucracies.
Kudos to Ernie, Carolyn and other solos who have embraced technology in order to provide better, faster, more efficient and more effective service to their clients.

By: Allison Shields

Allison Shields — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:35:00 +0000

By: Carolyn Elefant

Carolyn Elefant — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:06:10 +0000

I hope that my post was clear – it is the dinosaur solos whom Susskind predicts will become extinct. Like the commenters, I believe that for solos using technology, this will be our finest hour.
Ernie’s comment made me laugh because I think that all of us solos who practice in biglaw space could share a similar tale.