Law Firm Culture

As my current work is within law firms, I have had a number of years to observe the peculiar culture of these entities. This really proceeds from the nature of their organization and governance. Aside from the psychology (possibly aberrant) of the practitioner him/herself, the enterprise has a number of culturtal traits, as follow in no particular order of significance:

Fascination with power – which may come from the educational system for attorneys, where they compete to ascend to law school, then are taught they have supernatural magic in their knowledge, intellectual supremacy and special status, compete again against a stiff regulatory standard through a daunting bar exam, then suffer five to eight years of servitude before they are allowed (in a law firm setting) to share in the economic benefits of the business. Of course, they would be fascinated by power.

Addiction to influence – in their interpersonal, business and legal relationships, the true magic is bending others to their point of view. Law firms are the ultimate political organization, and it’s no wonder that so many attorneys find their way into the actual business of politics.

Need for ownership – where the real power game is won…when they are invited to partner status, they get a share in the spoils and a voice in the firm. When every partner has a voice in the important decisions, however, even the smaller decisions can become trapped in the need to seek a majority view. Each partner feels they have a stake in every action the firm may take. And they are not usually reticent about sharing their point of view.

Worship of ego – let’s just admit it, shall we? There is a desperate shortage of humility among the ranks of attorneys. Frankly, it’s trained out of them early on. They are taught that they are the elite, possessors of magical knowledge. They must be right, fight for their point of view, trump the position of another attorney in order to “win” for their client or issue. Even the self-conscious attorney knows the power of a brave front. Confidence may be false, sometimes, but even false confidence can look like a big ego. Marketers, in my experience, are taught to recognize what they don’t know. Remember, every program first starts with research. Lawyers, on the other hand, refer to law books simply to confirm their own view.

Reliance on precedent and proof – the lawyer and the law firm are evidentiary beings. They look back before they look ahead. This produces an excessive reliance on “what the other firms are doing”, “what’s been working”, “how it was done the last time”, and “how we’ve always done it.” In marketing, it stifles, or at least stagnates, innovation. It also may be why strategic planning is such agony for law firms. In the law, innovation is the product of rulings and decisions that are, themselves, based on the past. So, marketing must, in many cases, adhere to the same qualifications.

Maintenance of stress – this is not a good thing. Their self-importance, the size and crucial nature of the issues, the certainty of judgement, irresistable force of court date and deadline, the the fact that clients general consult attorneys in times of sadness, trouble or strife, these all contribute the the atmosphere of stress. They might benefit from getting a little perspective, but they take it all so seriously.

Supremacy of the billable hour – the economic engine of nearly every lawyer and every firm is the unit of income represented by the billable hour. To build a business, to prosper and gain stature among the community, to have any life at all, requires economic sacrifice. How would you feel if every decision to not work for a five minute period meant you were giving up some of your earning potential forever? Whether or not the enterprise recognizes the need for their attorneys to have time away from working, or billing, the weird fact is, for law firm partners, not having work on their desk to generate billable hours is a fearful prospect.

See ya next time.