The General Counsel’s Dilemma
A major lawsuit lands on your desk. Perhaps it is a complex class action suit, a high-profile matter guaranteed to generate media attention, or a claim that threatens your company’s entire business strategy. The first instinct may be to hire the biggest firm with the most widely recognized name to defend your company. It seems like wise choice.
But in bet-the-company litigation, Big Law’s bureaucratic structure, leverage-based billing model, and general risk aversion can combine to create significant liabilities. Size is not the same thing as safety. Hiring a firm that can deploy an army of lawyers may seem like it will intimidate the other side. But it doesn’t. Instead, those multiple layers of Big Law attorneys – often working without coordination, a clear direction, or an understanding of the larger litigation picture – create confusion, bloat, and an inability to focus on what matters in your case.
A trial-oriented boutique, however, offers the agility, focus, and senior-level attention required to win. When the company’s future is on the line, you don’t need an army of associates; you need a strike team of experienced, tactical litigators and trial attorneys.
The Realities of Big Firm Staffing
When you hire a major firm, you do so to obtain the cache of the firm’s name, or perhaps the services of the famous senior partner. But, in reality, most of the work will be done by teams of 3rd and 4th-year associates being supervised by a junior partner, none of whom have the trial experience or the seasoning necessary to prepare efficiently and effectively for trial. The big-name partner often swoops in only for the “big” moments.
Our firm is different. With Keller Anderle Scolnick, the team you meet in the pitch is the team sitting at counsel table. We not only have years of experience as trial lawyers, we have years of experience winning together. You aren’t paying for a junior associate’s learning curve; you are paying for a senior attorney’s judgment. Each member of the team is a specialist in his or her role. Each one brings expert skills honed through handling the most complex and difficult matters from the initial stages of litigation through jury verdict. We don’t rely on a leverage model built on an army of associates churning as many hours as possible, expecting the case will settle long before a jury is selected. Instead, our small teams are thoughtfully chosen to ensure not just efficiency, but mastery; the attorney arguing the motion or examining the witness knows the record forward and backward and knows how each element of our case is designed to build towards winning at trial.
Freedom from Conflicts
Big firms have institutional clients, including banks, insurance companies, and Fortune 500 companies. The firms are often hamstrung by conflicts of interest. Even when a potential adversary is not a current client of the firm, there’s a good chance the firm’s corporate department views them as a potential client. On top of that, many major businesses don’t want their lawyers suing other entities within their sector. Some firms even have strict policies preventing the firm from taking any case adverse to a particular industry. These sorts of soft “business conflicts” prevent many big firms from aggressively litigating on behalf of clients in business disputes. We are a dedicated litigation boutique. We can fight zealously on behalf of our clients without worrying about interfering with a corporate department’s growth opportunities.
Agility vs. Bureaucracy
Litigation is fluid. Strategies may change in an instant based on an unexpected ruling or a surprising deposition. By the time the mid-level partner at the Big Firm has briefed the senior partner on what the junior partner learned at the hearing and what it means, we’ve already pivoted, implementing the changes we need to respond to new developments.
And if your case requires an unconventional approach – whether that is an alternative fee arrangement, a coordinated PR strategy, or aggressive counter-claims – with KAS, you don’t have to wait for a firm management committee to approve the creativity and forward thinking you need to win. With the decision-makers already working on the case, we are always prepared to work with our clients to meet their needs.
The “Trial Lawyer” vs. the “Litigator”
Big Law firms often focus on “litigating” a file to death (churning hours on discovery and unnecessary motion practice). The pyramid billing model depends on this approach, and Big Firms begin with the assumption the case will settle. They assume that playing a game of attrition will help the client achieve an acceptable result.
We understand the point of discovery is to prepare for trial. When the other side knows you are actually willing (and able) to try the case, your settlement leverage skyrockets. You can’t bluff a trial record; you have to earn it.
Conclusion
Our opponents often hire Big Law firms that bring an army of attorneys into the courtroom, outnumbering us 5-to-1 at the counsel table. While they focus on billing for the largest number of depositions or burying the other side in pointless motion practice, we focus on one thing: preparing to win at trial. And our track record of winning against some of the largest firms in the country shows our lean and efficient staffing does just that.
Bring us your toughest case. We’ll get the job done.