An independent consulting firm, AdvanceLaw, working with numerous general counsel of major companies, recently completed and published the results of trailblazing studies that warrant our full attention. These studies concluded that law firms that are based outside major money centers perform as well as or better than the top firms in New York across a range of legal engagements, outranking the most prestigious and expensive firms by being more solutions-focused, client-service oriented, efficient and effective, and by offering superior value. Clients that default to the best-branded and most expensive firms may be basing their decisions on reputations those firms earned 15 or 20 years ago rather than today. 

The authors and participating GCs attributed these findings to the following factors. Top partners at the most profitable firms now provide less personal attention to client matters, deploying teams of less experienced associates instead to do much of the work, and driving sky-high profits from this leverage to the top. The most profitable firms place far less importance and priority on clients or engagements that firms outside the money centers highly prize; and superbly talented lawyers now often prefer to practice in firms that provide a better balance of what they seek as professionals. I discuss these studies at greater length in my article, “Clients and Lawyers Have Choices.”

For good reason, these findings are leading general counsel to rethink who they hire as outside counsel even when facing the top-branded New York firms across the courtroom or conference table. We are quite confident that we can demonstrate the validity of these findings in the experience we provide to our clients and the professionals who work here. — Gary L. Sasso, President and CEO