A friend of mine, Carolyn Elefant, passed on a link to a comment on a post at her blog, Legal Blogwatch. The comment was an off-hand remark about how BIGLAW typically handles lots of environmental cases. You can read the comments at http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2006/08/no_attrition_in.html#comments
I have been practicing environmental law for almost twenty years – most of that at BIGLAW. I left BIGLAW in March 2004 to start my own firm. I am now a solo and absolutely loving it. All of my clients followed me from BIGLAW.
The fact of the matter is that some of the best environmental work is being done in the trenches by solos and lawyers at mid-size firms. The small to mid-size manufacturers (or small to mid-size companies in other industries) do get top notch environmental representation by solos and/or lawyers at mid-size law firms. As a specific example, I have a very good friend who is a solo and who also happens to represent a Fortune 100 company in ALL of its environmental matters across the United States. I have been in matters representing clients opposite him so I speak from personal experience when I say he provided a better service to his client as a solo than a team of lawyers from BIGLAW could have done. I have also been retained by several national companies to handle environmental matters.
There is a perception that BIGLAW does the majority of the defense work of environmental law cases. There are a number of reasons for that perception, some of them accurate and some of them based upon false assumptions. It is accurate from the view point that BIGLAW lawyers are the ones that get asked to speak at seminars and other CLE functions. From my vantage point, I believe that BIGLAW perceives the environmental practice as a “mature” practice – i.e. one that does not have a growth potential. As a result, there is not a whole lot of hiring going on for “environmental law” associates. What really happens is what BIGLAW passes off as “environmental cases” are really nothing more than toxic tort cases. While I have done my share of toxic tort cases, these are not real “environmental cases.”
BIGLAW also gets publicity for handling cases such as the GE PCB/Hudson River clean-up and the BP plant explosion in Texas City. These are the so-called “bet-the-company” type cases and the person hiring the out-side counsel does not want to be second guessed by management if the case goes south . . . “I hired the biggest, bestest BIGLAW I could find.” Such thinking does not take into account the quality of the services nor the quality of the expertise provided. I have seen my share of screw-ups by BIGLAW.
Yes, BIGLAW gets its share of cases (and most of the resulting publicity); however, I think my clients will stick with the solo that provides better quality and service (and at a rate lower than BIGLAW rates).
More later.
As always, give me a call or e-mail with any questions at walter.james@jamespllc.com
WDJiii