"The Law Firm Can't Kiss You Goodnight," Observes Silicon Valley Guru

There seems to be something rotten in BigLaw.  So, I've parachuted in Silicon Valley guru Marsha Keeffer to look at this old-line institution and suggest how it can be transformed. 

Keeffer is the Executive Director of Rubicon Consulting, a strategy firm that helps high-tech firms find and win markets.  Earlier she had worked advising law students and lawyers.

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JG:  What's wrong with BigLaw?

MK:  A more useful question is: Does BigLaw realize that it won't survive unless it changes just about everything it does and how it does it?

JG:  Come on, the institution is too encrusted with its traditions. For instance, I can't foresee law firms moving away from their own pedigree branding and recruiting only those with pedigree credentials.  That would be like the Pope converting to the Church of England. 

MK:  Pedigrees are for dogs.  I have been around the work world for decades.  I know that people can do anything they want to do.  If law firms and lawyers get it that they will have to perform exactly according to the specs set by prospects and clients, they will change.  And that might make the profession not only more profitable but a happier, more innovative and service-oriented one.

When I was working in San Francisco doing resumes for lawyers as well as law students and providing career guidance, not one liked practicing law - at least not the way they had to practice it in traditional firms.  They loved law.  But once they experienced the reality of how the business of law operates as associates or summer interns, they started fantasizing about an exit strategy.

You know the usual suspects:  The politics, billable hours, old-line vertical leadership models.

In Silicon Valley, that dark side of human nature gets under control fast.  That's because we know that results come from people. Without the people there won't be results.  Yes, I can envision a day where there is a big law firm with not one person in it.

JG:  So, how can the firms and the people change?

MK: Where to start?

Probably the branding.  The branding of most of BigLaw seems to be losing any connection with performance.  Some prospects and clients might be still impressed by the old-line credentials of good schools, awards achieved, articles published in law journals, and the big case won. 

But the pressures in business are forcing more shoppers for legal services to not pay any attention to all that. 

Good schools frequently breed arrogance and that can cause non-responsiveness. 

Awards are something that media game-changer Roger Ailes has no use for and soon enough the legal world won't either. Who cares if you were lawyer of the year.  Tell me what you can do for me now.

By time articles appear in law journals they are dated - yeah, think blog. 

And a case won today doesn't mean the prospect's case will also be won or settled appropriately.   

The brand has to be dynamic, just like the Internet.  It will be a snapshot of what the firm and its work force are achieving right now.

JG:  What else will have to change?

MK: The way people are treated.  Early in my career in The Valley I learned there are two parts to work.  One is doing tasks in a way that allows the organization to compete, earn healthy profits, and grow.  The other is having your emotional needs met. 

The firm can never kiss you goodnight.  But it can create an environment in which you are able to feel good about yourself, at least good enough to find the right person to do that kissing.  I always tell a new team member about that scene in "Michael Clayton."  It shows Tilda Swinton alone in her home, laying out her clothes for the big meeting as she practices saying her messaging points.  Total emptiness.  And so unnecessary.  Eventually, both parts suffer: The quality of the tasks and the quality of the human heart. 

JG: What else?

MK: The insularity.  This isn't only in law.  It permeates most of professional services, including your field of communications.

Our team knows it has to consume information, insights, and trends outside their discipline.  That might mean for an engineer to read "Henry V" and for a public relations type to take a coding course.  Do enough of that and lawyers will be making those intuitive creative leaps that the great thinkers and artists have over the centuries. Think out of the box may mean think out of your field.

JG:  This kind of shift in model isn't an easy one.

MK:  Why not?  Look at Rupert Murdoch.  He's having no trouble gutting THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.  What he has that any human being can have is courage and confidence.  Along the way to doing all the right things to get the right grades, the right internships and the right jobs in the right firms, courage and confidence can go underground.  But they can and do re-emerge soon enough.

JG: This is a lot to digest. Can we plan to parachute you in again for more?

MK: I'm holding onto that invitation.

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About Marsha Keeffer:

A lifetime resident of Silicon Valley, Marsha Keeffer started her career as a waitress, then went on to retail.  After an MBA she founded MKeeffer Consulting, LLC where she provided public relations services to BEA Systems, Brio Software, Hewlett-Packard, and Rubicon Consulting.  The latter asked her to come abroad full-time.  At Rubicon Consulting, where she is Executive Director, she helps high-tech companies find and win markets.

You can contact Marsha Keeffer at Marsha@rubiconconsulting.com.