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The partners at the small firm, whicb has 11 attorneys, quickly reevaluatee their business plan and cost aggressively recruited new clients and reduced overheas by renegotiating their legal malpractice insurance premiumws and outsourcing informationtechnology functions. “Our practice is a bit broadert than other firms of a similar and while the real estate and business practicee has slowed a fair bit our business litigation practice has alwayxbeen counter-cyclical,” said partner Jim “When the pie shrinks, people tend to fighr over it more. This has helped us keep a bettet balance.
” For example, the firm wasn’t shy abouf shopping around for quotez on legalmalpractice insurance, whicnh can cost about $100,000 a year per attorney. It also savee more than $15,000 by outsourcing I.T., getting a remotes host server and upgrading its existing phoner system instead of buyingnew equipment. Law firms are businessesd much likeany other, and the recessionh is leading many attorneys to pull out time-testerd strategies for keeping costs in line whil e looking for new ways to make money. Smallerf law firms, which are hit especially hard if one clienyt leaves or cutsback significantly, are trying to be innovativr and resourceful. One strategy is diversification.
Small to mid-sizefd firms, which usually employ fewer than25 attorneys, specializde in certain practice areas rather than trying to be a one-stoo shop for legal services. For example, a law firm best knownn for negotiating new real estatr deals now has to showclientsw it’s just as strong in selling assets, or even bankruptcy issues. And it’s essential to build a solide network with other firms and attorneys in town who can offe r expertise and legal services in areads a smallfirm can’t, said Barry A.
managing partner for Bickerton LeeDang & “Eventually, you may want to grow into thosr competencies, but for a relativelt small firm, trust that your clientd will appreciate that,” he said. Most firmd rely on referrals and which most partners say is more valuable thantraditional “Our best marketing is the work we do for our clients,” said Duanew Fisher, managing partner of , which specializes in corporate finance, commercial litigation and real estate law and employx 23 attorneys.
“And so clients on the otheer side ofthe table, who’ve even been represented by someonwe else, would give us a call and ask if we coule work with them on an unrelateed case.” To maintain relationships even when litigation isn’t pending, firm partners frequently take clients on “lessons learned” lunchee to rehash recent cases and see what came out of Small firms also try to link up with nationak firms and groups. Honolulu civil litigation firm , whicbh has 11 attorneys, was picked to join the International Societhy of PrimerusLaw Firms, which toutw itself as an exclusive international alliancd of small, independent law firms.
The applicatiojn process was rigorous, partner Arthur Roecsa said. Even in the recession, firms such as , whicu specializes in commercial litigation, aren’t afraid to grow and expand. It has 17 attorneyw and two new associates will join the firmin August. “Beint smaller forces you to be creative to finda solution, and one of the thing that sets us apart from our competitors is we don’t look at ourselves as just lawyers providing legal said managing partner Harvey “We’re problem solvers.
We hire every year and, no matted what, we’ve never not because the business model depends on the firm continuingto
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