When I moved to Boston to begin a judicial clerkship, Jimmy Carter was still President. A little over a year later, when I entered private practice, Reagan defeated Carter's bid for reelection, and the world seemed destined to change. As a law clerk, I got to watch some great lawyers try cases. As a young lawyer in private practice, I was privileged to learn from some of the titans of the Boston bar. Back then, it was all about the lawyering. The billing seemed incidental, at least to a young lawyer like me, and clients were only beginning to expect to receive more information about their legal expenses than the one-line bills that began and ended: "For legal services rendered . . . ."
Today a good lawyer is expected to be a good manager as well. Not only must we possess superlative skills in the courtroom, but we must know how to staff a case, how to prepare a budget estimate, and how to make sure that the actual cost is more or less in line with the budgeted expense. The skills required for these tasks are increasingly refined, to the point where the lawyer who does not pay close attention to the metrics of the practice risks alienating her clients. Some lawyers study the disciplines devoted to such practices, such as "lean six sigma," while others of us just apply common sense and basic spreadsheet skills in an effort to meet our clients' expectations. And some make no focused effort at all.
The point is, it is not enough just to be a good lawyer any more, or even to attempt to be a good manager, without close attention to every element of the cost (or, perhaps more accurately, the price) of the services being billed to the client. It's not just about discounting hourly rates, but has more to do with how a team is assembled, how tasks are assigned to the team members, how duplication of effort is avoided, and how the legal expense is being monitored.
It's also about communication. At the most basic level, lawyers are duty-bound to communicate with their clients. (I once heard a law student ask a lawyer who had been criticized for not communicating a settlement offer to his clients how he could explain this apparent lapse. He responded that his clients were always foremost in his mind. Unless he was telepathic, this answer was entirely unsatisfactory.) At a more pragmatic level, the attorney-client relationship, like any relationship, is built on trust, and trust depends on honest communication.
The practice of law in today's complex world, then, is multi-disciplinary. It requires developing sound legal skills, effective management skills, and strong interpersonal skills. Only the first of these sets of skills is taught in law school. Lawyers must continuously challenge themselves to master the others.
Today a good lawyer is expected to be a good manager as well. Not only must we possess superlative skills in the courtroom, but we must know how to staff a case, how to prepare a budget estimate, and how to make sure that the actual cost is more or less in line with the budgeted expense. The skills required for these tasks are increasingly refined, to the point where the lawyer who does not pay close attention to the metrics of the practice risks alienating her clients. Some lawyers study the disciplines devoted to such practices, such as "lean six sigma," while others of us just apply common sense and basic spreadsheet skills in an effort to meet our clients' expectations. And some make no focused effort at all.
The point is, it is not enough just to be a good lawyer any more, or even to attempt to be a good manager, without close attention to every element of the cost (or, perhaps more accurately, the price) of the services being billed to the client. It's not just about discounting hourly rates, but has more to do with how a team is assembled, how tasks are assigned to the team members, how duplication of effort is avoided, and how the legal expense is being monitored.
It's also about communication. At the most basic level, lawyers are duty-bound to communicate with their clients. (I once heard a law student ask a lawyer who had been criticized for not communicating a settlement offer to his clients how he could explain this apparent lapse. He responded that his clients were always foremost in his mind. Unless he was telepathic, this answer was entirely unsatisfactory.) At a more pragmatic level, the attorney-client relationship, like any relationship, is built on trust, and trust depends on honest communication.
The practice of law in today's complex world, then, is multi-disciplinary. It requires developing sound legal skills, effective management skills, and strong interpersonal skills. Only the first of these sets of skills is taught in law school. Lawyers must continuously challenge themselves to master the others.
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