Goliath: Can the Small Law Firm Compete?

As our cold and rainy Seattle winter drags on, I’ve become hooked on Goliath, the new legal drama from Amazon. In this show, the highly skilled Billy Bob Thornton plays the main character – an attorney named Billy McBride.  McBride, once one of the most brilliant and celebrated trial attorneys in Southern California, now battles alcoholism and is struggling to re-establish himself. McBride’s nemesis is David Cooperman, brilliantly played by William Hurt. Cooperman is McBride’s former law partner and singularly heads up the monstrously huge and powerful law firm that they previously jointly led, Cooperman McBride. Cooperman reeks of malevolence and seems to spend his days spying on the firm’s other attorneys through surveillance cameras surreptitiously installed in their offices. Cooperman McBride has powerful clients, immense resources, and notable attorneys at its disposal, while Billy McBride practices law in his hotel room or a nearby dive bar.

My law firm looks more like Billy McBride’s firm than Cooperman McBride. Admittedly, none of us do our work out of a motel room or a dive bar. But we are also a small firm, and we practice in a novel way through our virtual set up rather than paying downtown Seattle rent with impressive views and equally impressive overhead. If you are a client, which firm would you choose to work with – Billy McBride, Attorney at Law, or Cooperman McBride? I believe the answer depends on the following factors:

• Where do you feel the most comfortable? Some clients love to go downtown, take in the views of the big Seattle law firm, and enjoy a frothy cappuccino served by the well-heeled receptionist.
• What is your budget for legal work? For every rule in regard to law firm billing, there are exceptions. But, generally speaking, the rates for attorneys in large Seattle law firms are significantly higher than in smaller firms. Someone has to pay for the view and the cappuccinos.
• What type of legal work do you need? Again, these are generalizations, and there are plenty of exceptions in the Seattle legal marketplace. But if you need, say, a business attorney who focuses her practice on security law compliance for publically-held corporations, that attorney will likely be practicing in a large law firm. If you need a business attorney to help you form and maintain a two-person LLC, you will likely find that a solo or small firm practitioner is a better fit. Or, suppose you need an estate planning attorney and your assets exceed $50 million? The attorney you need may be practicing at a large law firm; whereas, if your total assets are more modest, the smaller firm may be a better option.
• How flexible are you? For example, some of our business clients work with a number of different law firms. We may represent them on general business legal work such as entity maintenance, along with contract and commercial lease negotiation and review. And the same small business would also work with a small employment law firm, intellectual property law firm, and immigration law firm to service other legal needs. Is your business flexible enough to work that way? Or do you want all legal issues handled by one law firm?

The bottom line is that one size does not fit all in terms of the legal marketplace! My firm provides great legal product and customer service for those who need what we do, and appreciate the quirkiness and creativity behind our business model. It’s important that you carefully determine your priorities when picking the law firm that’s right for you.

Photo credit: Paul Sableman on Flickr