A Perfect Storm for Plaintiff's Lawyers
During the Fall Retreat for the Southern Trial Lawyers, we talked about the ATLA name change, the image and perception of trial lawyer’s and the future of the profession. It was a fascinating conversation, but one thing emerged. Two forces are changing the the world we live in. The changes are going to be dramatic.
Force one is the extended pressure the corporate world has exerted to deny compensation to people they have injured. This is commonly known as tort reform. The corporate world has alwyas wanted to limit their liability, but it has really picked up steam in the past few years. And don’t think that it’s over or that they will be happy with their successes. In South Carolina, after tort ‘reform’ was pushed through, the very next year they tried to gut the workers compensation system based on false information and lies. We survived this year without changes, but the fight isn’t over.
Force two is advertising. Typically when lawyers think of advertising, it’s the ‘schlock’ lawyers, the ‘One call that’s all’ or the ‘Got a wreck? Get a check’, or the ‘strong arm’ or ‘heavy hitter’ lawyers that they think of advertising. In Florida, there’s a firm that has spent more than $6.5 million in advertising. From what I hear, the advertising is classy and tasteful. The firm has 85 lawyers working for them and a high percentage of the lawyers are board certified. They go to trial and do a good job. This firm started in Tampa (I think) and has now spread to the entire state of Florida. They have now moved into the Atlanta market and doing heavy advertising there.
What does that mean for you? It means it’s only a matter of time before this firm (or someone else with the same business plan) moves into your town. I now know how a well run mom and pop shop felt when Wal-Mart moved into their town.
Our world is changing and it’s changing fast. What is the proper response to take? It depends on the size of your firm, the focus of your practice, how many years of practicing law you have left, the size of your market and your goals. There’s no easy answer. However, I can easily say the ‘golden years’ of plaintiff practie are over and it will take some careful navigation to avoid the rocky shoals ahead.
Just curious, who was the firm?
