The Small-Firm Advantage

Lawyers at smaller firms are often better able to innovate than they think.

I came across a placard recently that I have started inserting in my PowerPoint presentations. It simply states: "I'm not always right, but I'm never in doubt."

Let me make the case why I have no doubts about the opportunity that Canadian law firms (small to mid-size) seem to be deliberating foregoing.

My points are simple.

There is a real market with a pent-up legal spend that is predisposed toward small and mid-size firms if they apply themselves. A recent survey in January entitled "Global Trends in Hiring Outside Counsel" found respondents were dissatisfied with larger law firms 19 per cent of the time. For smaller firms, the dissatisfaction rate was only six per cent.