There are tough challenges facing law firms today. Among them pricing pressure, and the debate about alternative fees, succession planning and associate development, as well as the alignment of interests and incentives with clients to name a few. Suite101 asked Mark Usellis, Chief Marketing Officer for Davis Wright Tremaine about his thoughts on the state of U.S. Law firms and legal marketing strategies in this new economic reality.
The Impact of Economy on U.S. Law Firms
Suite101 asked Usellis about his thoughts on the current state of the law firm industry. Usellis points out that over the past 20 years, law firms have fallen behind client expectations regarding pricing, service and innovation. Concurrently, market conditions are strengthening client’s leverage. Specifically, law firms are burdened with “high fixed costs, an extremely perishable product and excess capacity in many of the areas in which they provide service," says Usellis.
The factors and the urge to cut costs in the current economic climate law firms are under tremendous pressure to cut costs and make concessions to their clients. According to Usellis, in order to respond to these changes effectively, law firms need to fundamentally rethink their business models to build more variability into their cost structures.