Downturn Affects Legal Firms

New York Times, in its editorial, With the Downturn, It's Time to Rethink the Legal Profession (Ref: NYT, 1st April 2009. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/opinion/02thu4.html?_r=1&em), noted that many legal firms have closed down in the face of the economic crisis. It also noted: "Tight corporate budgets will give clients more leverage to push to pay by the project or for successful outcomes." While it is possible to imagine that an unsuccessful case will mean an unhappy client, charging by the success of the outcome is unfair for the lawyer who has spent countless hours researching and preparing for a case. Taking instruction, interviewing, drafting, liaising, confirmation, research, and further research, and finally cranking out the final copy of the documents, followed by a harrowing chase-about of service of documents, leads to a lot of work and effort being poured into every single court case.