Our Approach

All competent law firms work hard on behalf of their clients. But hard work, by itself, is not enough. Often, it's the approach, not just the effort, that really counts. Here are some of the key guideposts that characterize our approach to the client matters that are entrusted to us.

We reject the “corporatization” of the practice of law.

The attorney-client relationship is not supposed to be a “let the buyer beware” or a “charge as much as you can get away with” relationship. Regrettably, the corporate model used by so many law firms violates these fundamentals. Based on Wall Street-style financial metrics, it pressures attorneys to produce unrealistic financial returns on a short term basis. That forces attorneys to do what attorneys are not supposed to do: financial production becomes primary; everything else is secondary; and the attorney-client relationship becomes something it was never intended to be.

From the start, our business plan focused on creating client satisfaction over the long term, as opposed to generating as much income as we can from each client each month. Our rates, as compared to the so-called “big firms,” reflect this approach. The idea was to create an ever-increasing body of continuing client relationships—satisfied, loyal clients who knew that we considered them to be our partners, not just fee producers, and on which we could depend for our professional success.

Our approach has worked: over the last two decades we have grown and prospered along with our clients, and we've been well compensated—in many forms—for the choices we've made.

We really focus on the prevention of litigation.

Lots of law firms say it. We really do it. It’s a passion. See the Preventive Law and Risk Management Services section of the website for more details.

For more than 20 years we have pioneered the field of “preventive law”—stated simply, we concentrate on stopping legal problems before they get started. Our attorneys have written nationally-published books and articles on the subject. We conduct risk management and claims avoidance seminars for companies and business groups throughout the country. We train managers, supervisors and executives at large and small companies in preventive law techniques. We conduct “legal audits” that expose potential problems before they cause harm. We regularly advise the members of national and regional trade and professional associations.

We reject the dominant trend toward sub-specialization in the law.

Whether in litigation, transactional or business and personal planning contexts, we think the rush toward lawyer sub-specialization is wrong-headed.

Many business law firms have become amalgams of individual sub-specialists who cannot see beyond the walls of their sub-specialties. This is dangerous: sub-specialists provide valuable services, but they inherently lack an understanding of the “big picture,” and while fixing problems in one area, they can unwittingly create problems in other areas.

We approach client relationships differently. We start with the belief that a lawyer cannot meet a client’s needs until the lawyer achieves an integrated understanding of the whole client, not just pieces of the client. Where permitted by the client, we therefore assign a lawyer with the broad-based ability and experience to assess the whole of the client’s issues and circumstances, and only then do we make the decision of whether, and how, to draw on our extensive network of sub-specialists, both inside and outside our firm. This, we believe, provides our clients with the best of both worlds.

We understand that law firms are service businesses.

Our attorneys understand that they are not just professionals, they are service professionals. There’s a difference.

We have grown because our clients consider us their partners. We are not deal breakers. We do not pour fuel on fires. We know the importance of proactive communication. We return calls. We keep you advised. We are amenable to sensible, alternative fee arrangements that involve risk sharing and accountability. If you need it by Wednesday, that’s when you’ll have it.

We manage overhead and costs by leveraging technology.

We make it our business to stay on the leading edge of the technologies that create efficiencies and reduce overhead.

• We use the most advanced law firm software in all aspects of our practice, from legal research to litigation management, and we use professional trainers to make certain that our attorneys know how to use the tools we give them.
• We electronically capture and catalogue our attorneys’ work product on central servers so that it’s available to all attorneys in the firm. We can tap into our knowledge bases wherever we are, even on a Blackberry or similar device. We do not reinvent wheels.

The result is that our overall cost of doing business is less, we work more quickly and efficiently, and it all gets passed on to our clients.