With the prime-time television shows, "The Good Wife" and "The Deep End" it seems as if Hollywood has again become fascinated with the practice of law. But for many lawyers, the real life of law practice has changed dramatically since these shows were conceived in 2007. More than ever before, firms must view the practice of law as a business as much as they consider it a profession. Until the recession started around the end of 2007, lawyers in private practice, in-house counsel and those in the public sector entered the field with reasonable certainty regarding employment security - if not job security - and social esteem. The contraction in the number of job openings has resulted in a significant number of lawyers, from recent graduates through senior partners, going through a stressful awakening, with a large number of lawyers being shut out of work once perceived as a "given." For some, the past two years has been a wake-up call. For others, a sense of entitlement has given way to apprehension and anxiety about their future in the profession. From big law through solo practitioners, this will continue to result in a restructuring or reconfiguring of law practice in this decade. But these times of considerable change can also be times of great opportunity for focusing on positioning or repositioning, with an emphasis on practice areas that will continue to enhance the firm's expertise and provide value to clients both old and new. Law firms need to be willing and able to embrace change and not stay at status quo and stagnate - an unsustainable model for this coming decade.
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, in an October 2009 op-ed titled "The New Untouchables," noted certain lawyers who can imagine better ways of working in their practice areas, calling them the "untouchables," those who will survive because they have the imagination to conceive of smarter and more cost-effective ways to conduct their business, to maintain their clients and to attract new clientele. The column discussed layoffs at a big Washington, D.C., firm, noting that "lawyers who were used to just showing up and having work handed to them were the first to go because ... that flow of work just isn't there. But those who have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work were being retained. They are the 'untouchables.'" The point: Being an average lawyer today might not be the ticket it used to be. Besides dismissals and deferred start dates for recent law school graduates, ladder-climbing for associates is coming into question - the result of the demand for legal services changing and firms trying to adjust to meet the new, more efficient realities expected. Firms may well start looking beyond law school rank, as upward movement in the firm may begin to depend more on a lawyer's skill set, with his or her career track based on merit and proven worth to the firm. But expertise in a single practice area may not be enough to keep a lawyer thriving through the decade. Who would have thought, for example, that the area of commercial and related real estate would have struggled so mightily over the past several years?
I am reminded of reading a recent obituary in The New York Times about Brooks Thomas, a former CEO of Harper & Row, the distinguished national publishing house. Thomas, a Pennsylvania native, had been with an elite New York City law firm. He left to become general counsel and then CEO of the company. "I felt if I stayed in a law firm I'd spend my whole life knowing more and more about less and less," he was quoted as saying. When I think about the doctors in my family, of which there have been many, some became board-certified in several different specialties, in part to meet the demands, changes and needs of patients and hospitals looking ahead. I suspect that in this decade a number of lawyers will develop an expertise in practice areas outside their initial specialty and become even more valuable to their firms and clients. One of the personal and professional challenges of this decade for both big and mid-size law firms is the potential generational battle that will impact on changes being considered within firms. Between baby boomers still practicing into their 70s, Generation Xers moving up the ladder and Millenniums developing their skill sets and knowledge, the challenge of keeping all three generations of lawyers happy and thriving will be interesting indeed!
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David E. Behrend, M.ED., Director, Career Planning Services For Lawyers has been successfully counseling attorneys going through a career or employment transition for over 18 years. He provides career consultations to attorneys throughout the country, including; floundering recent law graduates; disenchanted associates; solo practitioners; and partners at 'Big Law' who have been displaced by firm restructuring and the recent recession. For the past 12 years, on referral, he has done career consultations through the ABA's National Office of Lawyer Assistance Programs- attorneys with serious issues that may preclude they from continuing in their job and/or practice of law. He has written and spoken prolifically on career development issues for lawyers going through changes. He can be reached at: http://www.lawcareercounseling.com/; Behrend42@aol.com; or 610-658-9838. 'It's Only Your Career We Counsel'
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