Lawyers, Guns and Money

Lawyers, Guns and Money

By Jack McDonough

The cry for help by Warren Zevon to "send lawyers, guns and money" was intended to help him.

Today the cry is from the lawyers... and it goes like this... "send clients, time and money.

Maybe the legal industry should consider asking Warren to re-write his song especially for them. A song that will help lawyers obtain new quality clients who can pay their bills while giving lawyers more time.

The ultra-ultra competitive legal industry is awash in all kind of headaches which make the day-to-day life of practicing law not much fun.

Finding new quality clients is almost a full-time job. There are so many legal specialties flooded with other lawyers offering the same specialty that the public is taking the Wal-Mart approach and buying from the lowest-cost provider.

Unfortunately this pattern just makes things worse, as lawyers feel the pressure to compete on price...so they lower their fees, which causes their competitors to do the same.

Ultimately this produces a downward spiral for legal fees which benefits the public (maybe) but hurts law practices.

Today's legal client has the same problems as yesterday's legal client had but... they want more-for- less and they don't even want to pay for it.

These new clients are well informed, they're internet savvy, they ask for discounts and they shop for lawyers like they shop for a new TV.

When they finally make a decision to retain a lawyer...they start acting like they are the only client the lawyer has. They expect their new lawyer to take their endless phone calls, get their case filed or settled overnight, balk at retainers and slow pay or no pay on future invoices.

But wait there is more...because many lawyers feel forced into taking these new clients at low fees, they often find themselves working on cases which won't make them any money.

Once a lawyer gets to this point...it's not good for the client or the lawyer. The lawyer realizes that they can't put anymore time into a case, as the client is not going to pay more...so they want to end the case as soon as possible and get it off their desk.

The client is still thinking (hoping) for the best possible outcome (typically very unreasonable) and the lawyer is trying to do the minimum amount of work to get through the case. The lawyer feels bad about the case as it's become a financial train wreck. The client may also feel bad...once they see the outcome.

Lawyers are working harder and making less. The hourly rates they quote are often not realized and if they are it's because of a huge amount of personal effort being expended each hour. Something most lawyers can't keep up for long.

Warren it's time to re-write the song "send clients, time and money", as it has hit the fan.

Jack McDonough is a speaker, author and consultant to attorneys who desire to make more money while working less hours. Jack is President of Wealthy Professionals, LLC. www.wealthyprofessionals.com