Legal Mosaic Essays on Legal Delivery

<strong>Legal</strong> <strong>Mosaic</strong>: <strong>Essays</strong> on <strong>Legal</strong> Delivery
Lawyers, Law Firms,
and a Sophisticated Buyer
“What’s your biggest professional challenge?” I asked. There was a
momentary silence. Then my friend, who runs the global legal portfolio
of a Fortune 50 company, responded, “I wish I could hire certain lawyers
without having to retain their firms.”
That answer says a great deal. True, one buyer a market does not make.
But my friend isn’t just any buyer of legal services. He is a savvy,
thoughtful legal consumer, a former law firm litigator turned in-house
attorney who oversees his company’s legal matters across about 150
countries and multiple business units. He also has one of the largest
legal budgets on the planet.
“I don’t mind paying the senior lawyer his or her rate,” he continued,
“but I don’t like the cost that comes with it.” The cost, of course, refers
to the supporting lawyers and their sky-high rates necessary to prop
up profit-per-partner and the traditional law firm partnership structure.
This begs the question: if lawyers-not law firms-are the key, what is the
future of law firms as we know them?
It’s The Lawyer, Not the Law Firm
“So you hire certain lawyers for their judgment and expertise,” I said,
“and you would prefer to have the support work going elsewhere? I
guess that means that in your estimation the supporting law firm cast
and infrastructure do not drive the same value as your go-to lawyer?
“Right, I don’t hire law firms except in rare instances where I need one
of a handful of them who have distinct brands. And we both know there
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