Is Small Always Better?

Stephen Albainy-Jenei of Patent Baristas takes a skeptical look at whether small is the new big for law firms with a discussion of this recent post, Small Is the New Big, at Seth Godin’s blog.  Here’s a sampling from Godin’s post:

Get Big Fast was the motto for startups, because big companies can
go public and get more access to capital and use that capital to get
even bigger. Big accounting firms were the place to go to get audited
if you were a big company, because a big accounting firm could be
trusted. Big law firms were the place to find the right lawyer, because
big law firms were a one-stop shop.

And then small happened.

Enron (big) got audited by Andersen (big) and failed (big.) The
World Trade Center was a target. TV advertising is collapsing so fast
you can hear it. American Airlines (big) is getting creamed by Jet Blue
(think small). BoingBoing (four people) has a readership growing a
hundred times faster than the New Yorker (hundreds of people).

Big computers are silly. They use lots of power and are not nearly
as efficient as properly networked Dell boxes (at least that’s the way
it works at Yahoo and Google). Big boom boxes are replaced by tiny ipod
shuffles. (Yeah, I know big-screen tvs are the big thing. Can’t be
right all the time).

I’m writing this on a laptop at a skateboard park… that added wifi
for parents. Because they wanted to. It took them a few minutes and
$50. No big meetings, corporate policies or feasibility studies. They
just did it.

Today, little companies often make more money than big companies.
Little churches grow faster than worldwide ones. Little jets are way
faster (door to door) than big ones.

And Seth adds:

A small law firm or accounting firm or ad agency is succeeding because
they’re good, not because they’re big. So smart small companies are
happy to hire them.

Not surprisingly, Stephen, who works for a 370 attorney firm doesn’t
completely buy Seth’s thesis.  Stephen notes that Seth doesn’t offer
many statistics to support his view and also argues that these days,
large firms, like small firms need to be good to succeed.  Finally,
Stephen cites what he perceives as a large firm advantage:

Often, large (and medium-sized firms) bring together a team
of attorneys with individual specialties that no small firm can match.
I am currently working with a client that in one “small” matter, has
issues involving not just patent protection but issues in taxation,
bankruptcy, interstate & international commerce, regulatory and
criminal law, all rolled into one. Fortunately, we’re able to put
together the right mix of attorneys to work through the problems and
come up with a success overall.

But here’s where Stephen is wrong:  with the Internet and technology, small firms can, through
collaboration and affiliations, match the diversity of large firms.
Right now, I’m handling an enormous and contentious civil rights matter in federal
court in a jurisdiction where I’ve never practiced.  Through my
membership in the Solosez
online listserve (which we refer to as our 1400 member law firm), I’ve
hired contract attorneys to help me through busy patches, lined up
office space in a different city for an out of town meeting related to
the case and gotten information that’s resulted in me winning three
motions so far and successfully fending off a spurious claim of
unethical conduct.  With the exception of a document intensive case
that requires lots of “bodies” to review documents,  solo and small firm affiliations can
produce alliances that can match that of any large firm.

Seth exhorts people to get small and think big.  Fellow shinglers, I think we’ve done that already.