Innovative Boutiques Offer Better Value Than Traditional Big Law

The Big Law model is becoming too big for its own good. Firms are raising rates and cutting costs, squeezing the middle to keep profits flowing to the top. Equity partnerships are becoming rarer, and fewer lawyers are willing to put in the investment for a decreasing chance at making partner.

In an era of shrinking budgets and rising complexity, smart general counsel should rethink how they engage legal services. The solution is matching the right work to the right kind of firm. Boutiques can provide a more cost-effective alternative to Big Law without compromising the quality of work.

Many of the best Big Law lawyers are leaving to form their own boutiques to meet the needs that Big Law can’t or to uphold values Big Law can’t outwardly support.

Think of legal services like health care. If your child needs emergency surgery, you’d go to the best hospital regardless of the cost. However, if your child needed stitches, that same hospital would be less than ideal, with long wait times, inflated prices, and trainees being responsible for simpler tasks. Your needs may be best served at an urgent care center rather than a research hospital, where your child would receive more proper attention.

Big Law is no different. Prestige doesn’t always mean the best value or service. It’s not one-size-fits-all.

Bigger Isn’t Better

Big Law has its place—for big budgets and big risks. It’s best suited for defending class actions, completing a fast-paced multi-jurisdictional merger, deploying big cross-functional teams quickly, and for big insurance policies to rely on for novel issues.

Big Law lawyers are often staffed on mega files that monopolize their time. If your matter isn’t urgent or sizable, it may not be a priority. This means your work will likely take longer to complete or be completed late at night, after the more urgent matters have been dealt with.

Furthermore, the work will often be delegated to an associate who is using your file as a learning opportunity; depending on the firm, it may or may not be reviewed by a more experienced lawyer. The client/lawyer relationship runs deeper than a mandate. Your lawyer should be your advocate, one who will speak to the press and policymakers on behalf of your interests.

When a firm has too many clients, especially institutional ones, lawyers aren’t free to challenge the status quo. Giving your work to Big Law only helps to entrench the same incumbent powers that your organization may be looking to challenge.

The Boutique Advantage

Lawyers play a key role in helping their clients understand the systemic and legal challenges to succeeding in the economy. Your money may be better spent with a more entrepreneurial boutique, whose interests are better aligned with yours. Innovative businesses need lawyers who share their spirit of disruption, see the systemic barriers, and aren’t afraid to name them.

At boutique firms, the lawyers who start with you stay with you. Boutiques can offer stability and continuity that Big Law often can’t. With lower turnover and fewer competing priorities, the same lawyers stay on your files and build deep institutional knowledge of your business, improving service and efficiency.

Some of the best talent is now building something different. Boutiques and remote firms are multiplying and offering top-tier advice at a fraction of the price. We’ve cut out the marble lobbies and luxury boxes, so clients pay for brains, not overhead. Boutiques are increasingly offering remote and fractional work, fixed fee models, and other more flexible mandates to better meet the needs of their clients.

Finding the right boutique may take a little more effort than a Big Law firm, but the investment will surely pay off in both savings and the quality of service you’ll get in return. Most boutiques rely on referrals and reputation rather than glossy marketing campaigns, but they’re usually only a few Google searches away. As with any lawyer, the real test is fit, and you may have to kiss a few toads before you find the right match, but Big Law has no shortage of them either.

New Legal Era

Big Law no longer holds the monopoly on the best and brightest. The lawyers leaving to build boutiques aren’t second-tier—they’re some of Big Law’s brightest stars. And they’re offering their services that can deliver better value.

If you’re still paying Big Law rates for second-tier attention, you’re not buying quality. You’re buying the brand. And that’s the biggest waste of all.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Rachel Wasserman is principal and founder of Wasserman Business Law in Toronto and an economic policy fellow at the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project and Social Capital Partners.

Write for Us: Author Guidelines