Rumors of Our Demise are Greatly Exaggerated

I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of the constant analysis of the law business and the portrayal that because law firms are making cuts and changing strategies, the legal system as we know it will cease to exist.

Okay, Okay: I know its not that extreme, and I realize we present an easy target for bashing and that folks - including our clients, behind our backs - may quietly cheer our collective need to tighten the belt and reassess. But that's just it: its not rocket science. The party is over. Like everyone else, lawyers, practice groups, business models and law firms or offices that were infirm to begin with but merely benefited from the rising tide that lifted all windsurfers, have failed. And, frankly, good riddance. Pruning is good. Change is good. Gin, is good. I digress.

Some firms are already hitting the "reset button" and starting to see change, while others ignored "reset" and chose to reload. (I would like to have the clout to join a Really Big Firm, open its new office in a wonderful foreign locale, and add my name to the door. "Morrison Foerster & Guest Blogger/Jones, Day and Guest Blogger proudly announce the opening of their Amsterdam office." Digressing further, did you know they have an office in Amsterdam? If he is not tending to his important legal stuff here, my guess is he is likely in Mokum sampling, er, testing legal theories and performing legal research.)

Anyhoo, we are midway through the third year of what smart people say will be a three year downturn. The lawyers and firms that survive, remain healthy and utilize the three year period to reassess the way they do business, are going to come out like gangbusters and possibly reshape the legal landscape. Word.