Yeah, that’s the ticket.
The client seems to like your firm–and, importantly, you like the client. You want more. But suddenly the general counsel presents your firm with an intense litigation project or regulatory dispute which will consume a good senior litigator and 2 or 3 associates off-and-on for 18 to 24 months. This results in monthly bills suddenly ballooning to $40,000, $80,000 or more.
And this means all of us: the good, bad, lame, and hopelessly dishonest. Anyway, pretend for a fleeting moment (1) that you are an honest lawyer, and not a dirtbag (you guys know who you are) and (2) that you want your firm’s practice to be more than a string of one-night stands with another new client, which always winds up being your “adversary” rather than your “partner” in adding value. This idea not only works to build long-term relationships–in good times and bad times–but it can make you pretty rich (without being a dirtbag), too. And keep you out of Allenwood.
See our April 27, 2007 piece “How Much Money Has The Client Spent So Far?” See also WAC? Rule Eight: “Think Like the Client–Help Control Costs”. Catch: everyone in your firm has to buy in, and you have to teach it.