On the up side, “We are getting great candidates as a result of the economy,” he said, “people we didn’t see before.”
Technology
The question was raised as to whether technology investments by law firms have begun to pay off. The answers were mixed.
“We’ve seen a lot of cost savings,” said Mark Hinderks. “We spent a lot of money on technology, and now we are seeing results on the revenue and expense side because of it.”
“The biggest advantage for lawyers and technology is the speed it allows us to find things,” said Russ Jones. The speed, however, has created higher expectations for an instant response. Despite the added pressure on the attorney, “It has been good for the clients to be able to do things faster, since we bill by time.”
One more advantage to improved technology, as Ed Spalty observed, is that the ease of communication “lets us compete with the coasts.”
Doug Reagan believes that the accessibility of information and the fact that so much of it is now free has the potential to cause a fundamental shift in the way law firms operate. “I think we are going to find that the younger lawyers coming along are going to have to deal with a very changed environment,” said Reagan, “but that will be in 10 years, and I will be retired.”
Russ Jones, however, was confident that creative lawyers would figure out how to do the same deals they have been doing, even if in different ways. “We are all creative,” he noted, “and we will see the things that demand our services and fill those niches.”
George Wolf envisions a “virtual law firm” where clients mix and match from different firms on big cases, and the technology makes that simple and practical.
Law firms have also begun to embrace the telepresence revolution. “Al- most every day we have some sort of video conference,” said Larry Frazen. It is not unusual for his Bryan Cave to have a link up with one of the other offices or clients that have video conference facilities: “Clients expect that now.” Lathrop & Gage does the same. “We have a video screen in our office in New York,” said Joel Voran, “and that saves a lot of travel.”
As Russ Jones noted, Web sites have become important marketing tools. “Any time we talk to a client, they’ve been to our Web site and know what we’ve said about ourselves,” said Jones.
“We all have to fight hard not to let technology distance us from our clients,” cautioned Joe Heirsteiner. His firm plans to teach associates to deal with people face-to-face v online. “It is laughable in one sense,” he noted, “but in another sense it is absolutely necessary.”
“One of the biggest things we are teaching our lawyers now is to pick up the phone, go meet with the [client], get in front of them,” said Jennifer Shafer.
“You have to get out and meet the people,” agreed Scott Kreamer. “Web sites only get you so far.”
“Lately, I feel we have spent so much time managing the change we are dealing with, we have gotten away from the practice,” affirmed George Wolf.
Midwestern Edge
George Wolf asked his colleagues whether, given the corporate world’s revived interest in economy, Kansas City firms were able to profit from their Midwestern location.
Doug Reagan certainly thinks Kan-sas City offers a value proposition that national clients should be made aware of. “We think, in this current economic environment, this is a discussion that Midwest law firms with Midwestern structures and Midwestern rates should be very willing to have,” said Reagan.
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