your kind of lawyer?
Evan Schaeffer at Notes from the (Legal) Underground shoots our Southwest-Airlines-as-law-firm metaphor out of the skies this morning (see yesterday’s post). He doesn’t think law firm clients would be “accepting of the warm-and-fuzzy-advocate” suggested by the successful airline’s approach to doing business. They would instead choose the air force image. I’m not at all sure that clients would prefer military-style discipline, cost-overruns, and collateral damage over a firm that gets the job done economically but enthusiastically, with morale high and customer satisfaction the first priority.
Of course, a lot depends on just what service the clients needs, and Evan might be right about many personal injury clients, who are his specialty. I went to his law firm site to see what image Schaeffer & Lamere was projecting. Instead of warrior soldier graphics, I found dignified sepia-tones and genteel images. I guess Evan lets his Mars side show while weblogging and litigating.
- On a more serious note, I checked out Evan’s Personal Injury FAQ page and made a discovery that clients should not be at all happy about — although S&L “will not take your case unless we think it has a good chance of success,” it “typically” charges a 33.3% fee, with 40% taken for “more complex kinds of cases.” The spoils of victory are indeed great for the swashbuckling esquire — and, when a standard contingency fee is used, not related to the risk incurred by the lawyers. I wish all personal injury clients got to read this or this before signing their contingency fee agreements. It may not be entertaining reading, but it is educational.
Very useful blog. Thank you.
Comment by Great blog — February 23, 2006 @ 7:06 am
Very useful blog. Thank you.
Comment by Great blog — February 23, 2006 @ 7:06 am