Managing partner Grant Walsh was interviewed for Law.com and it’s sister site LegalTech News about the growth opportunities that cloud-based low-overhead firms like Culhane Meadows are experiencing as traditional brick-and-mortar law firms struggle with a worsening economy through layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts.
Here are some excerpts from the article:
With little overhead and a growing number of job applicants seeking refuge from the layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts, virtual law firms may be built to endure a worsening economy.
Virtual or dispersed law firms have caught some attention lately, given that the cloud-centric and often remote approach they regularly take towards legal work has been indefinitely foisted on more traditional brick-and-mortar firms adapting to COVID-19 pandemic. But aside from experience with remote working, are virtual firms any more resilient to a virus-inflected economy?
Nationwide shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have already started to take their toll on the legal industry, with law firms seeing layoffs, salary freezes and furloughs. Triple-teaming matters with superfluous numbers of associates is seen as another unnecessary expense, right up there with more traditional overhead such as large office spaces.
Virtual firms may be seeing an uptick in new job applications. Such is the case with Culhane Meadows, where managing partner Grant Walsh said one of the chief impediments the firm has faced with regards to growth and recruiting has eroded over the last few weeks. Stuck-at-home attorneys who may have previously been reluctant to work virtually are finding that they enjoy conducting business from their couch.
“A lot of recruiters were hesitant to propose cloud-based firms to their clients that were at traditional firms. But now all of the sudden they are coming back around and saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got clients who are specifically asking can you help me find a firm where I can do more of this work-from-home stuff,’” Walsh said.
The real test may come post-COVID-19, as clients, their legal counsel and the economy adapt to a new normal—or fall back into old habits. Clients might no longer tolerate traditional firms that are unable to replicate the flexibility of virtual law offices.
“This entire experience is probably going to even put more of a microscope on those firms that are still stuck in the old ways and not willing to adapt and accept technology as way to become more efficient,” Walsh said.
Read the entire article HERE (subscription to Law.com may be required for viewing).
About Culhane Meadows – Big Law for the New Economy®
The largest woman-owned national full-service business law firm in the U.S., Culhane Meadows fields over 70 partners in ten major markets across the country. Uniquely structured, the firm’s Disruptive Law® business model gives attorneys greater work-life flexibility while delivering outstanding, partner-level legal services to major corporations and emerging companies across industry sectors more efficiently and cost-effectively than conventional law firms. Clients enjoy exceptional and highly-efficient legal services provided exclusively by partner-level attorneys with significant experience and training from large law firms or in-house legal departments of respected corporations. U.S. News & World Report has named Culhane Meadows among the country’s “Best Law Firms” in its 2014 through 2020 rankings and many of the firm’s partners are regularly recognized in Chambers, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers and Martindale-Hubbell Peer Reviews.
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