• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Nevada Business Magazine

The Decision Maker's Magazine

Subscribe Now!

  • Subscriptions
    • Print
    • Mobile App
    • Email
    • Nevada News & PR Wire
  • Features
    • New This Month
    • View Issues
    • Cover Stories
    • Feature Stories
    • Industry Focus
    • Building Nevada
    • Special Reports
    • Press Release Wire
    • Nevada Industries
  • Departments
    • A Matter of Opinion
    • Around the State
    • Business Indicators
    • Commentary
    • Commercial RE Report
    • Crossfire
    • Expert Advice
    • Face to Face
    • Free Market Watch
    • Inside Politics
    • Power of Attorney
    • Profit & Loss
    • Speaking for Nevada
    • Tech.knowledge.me
    • The Last Word
    • Vital Signs
  • Planning Calendar
  • Advertising
    • Advertising Info
    • Advertising Staff
    • Submission Requirements
    • Online Advertising
  • Events
    • NBM Events
  • About
    • About the Magazine
    • Contact the Staff
  • Connect
    • Business Directory
    • Press Release Wire
    • Business Calendar
    • Submit Listing
    • Post Press Release
    • Add Your Event
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
You are here: Home / Features / Industry Focus / Industry Focus: Attorneys

Industry Focus: Attorneys

February 1, 2015 By Nevada Business Mag 3 Comments

Attorneys throughout the state recently met at the Las Vegas offices of City National Bank to discuss the trends and challenges facing their industry.
Left to Right: Connie Brennan, Nevada Business Magazine ; Nile Leatham, Kolesar & Leatham ; John Frankovich, McDonald Carano Wilson LLP ; Mark Ricciardi, Fisher & Phillips LLP; Patrick Byrne, Snell & Wilmer LLP ; J. Bruce Alverson, Alverson Taylor Mortensen & Sanders ; Christopher Kaempfer, Kaempfer Crowell ; Alan Freer, Solomon Dwiggins & Freer, Ltd.; Bruce Ford, City National Bank ; Gerald Gordon, Gordon Silver ; Samuel Schwartz, Schwartz Flansburg PLLC ; Ellen Schulhofer, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

As Nevada’s economy sees improvements in a variety of industries, law firms continue to evolve in order to prepare for the future and better serve their clients. Recently, a group of Nevada attorneys met at the Las Vegas offices of City National Bank to discuss the trends and challenges facing their industry.

Connie Brennan, publisher and CEO of Nevada Business Magazine, served as moderator for the event. These monthly roundtables are designed to bring together leaders to discuss issues relevant to their industries. Following is a condensed version of the roundtable discussion.

What is the greatest challenge facing Law Firms?

Mark Ricciardi: The biggest challenge for the industry is trying to grow and train talent. Young lawyers have always been the backbone of our firms. The partners supervise the work the associates grind out and associates learn as they go. However, clients now are becoming much more careful about who works on their cases. We’ve had a couple of clients who have said they will not pay for an associate with less than five years of experience to work on their cases. So how do we get these people trained?

Gerald Gordon: We’ve seen a downturn in legal work nationwide, it doesn’t make a difference what size firm you are. The challenge we have is trying to predict workloads and how much work is going to be coming in in the future.

Nile Leatham: The issues that are going to be the greatest challenges are the number of lawyers that we have and where they’re practicing. We’ve seen the applications in law schools diminish dramatically as a result of an overabundance of lawyers throughout the country.

How has technology affected the legal practice?

Patrick Byrne: Keeping up with technology, incorporating technology and the impact of technology is a challenge. Consumers now have access to information at their fingertips they’d have to go see a lawyer for before. You can read a Nevada statute by searching that statute on the Internet. It’s a whole new world out there and we’re dealing with a whole new lawyer, too.

Christopher Kaempfer: The client expectations have changed so incredibly. It used to be, we’d send a letter and they would get it two or three days later. When the fax came out, that was a big deal. Now, a client sends you an email at nine o’clock in the morning, if you haven’t gotten back to them by 11 o’clock at the latest you’ll get another email or phone call saying they haven’t heard from you. It doesn’t matter where you are or how many clients you have, the expectation of an immediate response is there.

Gordon: It’s the inability to think. You don’t have enough time to sit back and just think about something and work it through your mind because they expect an immediate response. The biggest problem I have with young associates is simply saying to them stop, sit in your office and think about it. Don’t send that email immediately.

Alan Freer: Clients don’t want you to think, they want you to react. Just because the client expects you to get back to them doesn’t mean you’re best serving the client by immediately responding without thinking.

Has the improving economy helped the legal industry?

Leatham: We’re in a buyer’s market as far as legal services are concerned. We’re all in the same market, we have different niches, but we’re competing with each other and firms in other cities. The supply and demand issue is going to continue for the foreseeable future, even with the reduction in number of law students being admitted. It’s going to continue to put pressure on the cost of legal services.

Ellen Schulhofer: There is increased competition in the market. We’re feeling pressure from smaller firms because they have more flexibility and can take work away from us. There’s also pressure from companies that are sending out commodity work overseas or to other organizations across the country.

Ricciardi: The most uncomfortable thing that happens is when you have a long-term good client who puts out a request for proposals (RFP), which you have to participate in to keep the client you so well served for 20 or 30 years. Everyone who wants to work will come in and bid ridiculously low rates. You have to hope that your client has some sense that you have institutional knowledge because you’ve been working with them for such a long time and there’s some middle ground.

John Frankovich: Client loyalty doesn’t exist. This is a result and product of the recession. When these businesses got hit, they took a long look at where the costs were and it’s easy for them to cut back on legal fees. They’ve gotten used to not paying legal fees and a lot of companies now have in-house counsel. Companies that have gone through the recession have found out they can do without some of these things and not just legal fees, but also personnel.

Schulhofer: We see 30 or 40-year clients with billing guidelines that are designed to nitpick things in their policies. If you say you’re transmitting something they’ll say that’s a secretarial task and they won’t pay for it. Things like that are now built into the systems. You have rate pressures, and they want certainty, which is why they’re asking for caps or estimates and budgets. They don’t want to pay for young lawyers who are being trained on their dime. There’s a confluence of pressures. I thought it was only that way because of the recession but now as we’re coming out of the recession, we’re seeing more of it.

Bruce Ford: The problems that are mentioned here are in other industries, too. Every industry has similar complaints, which is interesting.

Samuel Schwartz: Consumer clients look at it, in the lowest level, as a fixed fee. They call the first people they can find on the Internet, ask what they charge and the person who quotes them the lowest number is who they go with.

Freer: Another unintended consequence of the recession and the retraction of the legal market is the ability to have qualified attorneys handle specialized issues. Before the recession, a lot of firms were referring cases out for specialized law practice and now everyone is trying to hang on to what comes in the door. That affects the client and the quality of legal work goes down.

J. Bruce Alverson: What makes a difference, too, is the ability to maintain personal relationships with your clients. You must maintain that relationship and go beyond that particular person and build relationships. When that person is going to retire, that relationship is gone. Don’t underestimate the personal relationships, because those can cure a lot of the issues we’ve discussed here.

How have the standards for making partner in a firm changed?

Ricciardi: It depends on the culture and the model. We want our lawyers who are going to become partners to have aptitude and results in business development. In most institutional firms over the years, if you just billed a lot of hours, worked really hard and did high quality work, you could get named partner. That just doesn’t work anymore. There has to be a business development aspect and it’s much harder to become a partner now.

Is there a gender gap in management within the legal industry?

Gordon: The essence of law firms is still originations, so in the end you have to have partners who originate business because that’s what you survive on and without it, you’re done.

Schulhofer: On the flip side, it used to be that’s all we were striving to be and there are a lot of younger lawyers coming up in the system who do not want to be partners. They don’t want that pressure. They want to be service partners or they want nine-to-five jobs.

Byrne: There are a lot of people who don’t want the partnership track. As a result, you’re seeing people out there who are willing to take less for more flexibility. You have to get creative and see if there are staff positions where they’re not on the partnership track. When you bring somebody in at the $100,000 or more salary, the expectation is it’s coming with the partnership track. Well, that’s the most expensive labor you can hire. Maybe you can hire a staff lawyer who is happy to work and get paid on an hourly basis. You don’t run the risk as much of losing money on them because you pay them as they bill it out.

Alverson: As a managing partner, one of the major challenges is to evaluate people, whether it’s your partners or associates, and don’t try to put a round peg in a square hole. If someone is very good at writing briefs, don’t make them go on a plane for a meeting if they’re tongue-tied. If someone gets up in court and stumbles all over themselves, there are plenty of other things they can do. Some people are not great researchers or brief writers, but you turn them loose in court and they’re fabulous.

Schwartz: There are some lawyer training and expectations that aren’t great. I try to have that conversation with the young lawyers in my office to discuss what they’re really good at and tailor their expectations to make them effective for the office. Some lawyers are never going to bring in new business but they would make great managing partners and administrators. Others just want to bring in business and don’t want to do administration.

Frankovich: When we’re going through the recruiting and hiring process, over the last 10 years, we have found the women almost without exception to be more qualified, more motivated and more interested and with a better educational background than the men.

Kaempfer: I find that I get a lot of calls from in-house counsel of major companies from women and they prefer, I believe, to speak to a woman. I want them to know that women in our firm play a very important role and are just as important, if not more important, than any male partner.

Byrne: Corporations have worked a lot faster in instituting the changes necessary to promote and encourage women, and law firms have not. It’s been 50 percent women and 50 percent men in law schools for 15 years or so. If you look at the last 15 years worth of data, women are not progressing at the same level as men within private law firms. Real change hasn’t happened and it needs to happen. It’s a real challenge and that’s why a lot of women end up in corporations.

Freer: A lot of the women I deal with are managing partners, but they’re managing partners of boutique law firms. They left big law to build their own practice. You may not see many women managing partners at this table, but they are out there running their own firms and they’re doing a great job.

Frankovich: Three of the top five producers in our law firm are women and none of them have an interest in being involved with management. They want to do what they do well, which is practice law in their particular area. They recognize if they get into management it’s going to impact their ability to do that.

Will there be more consolidations of law firms moving forward?

Gordon: There may be picking up of boutique firms, but not consolidations. Most of the national firms that came into the state are gone. Las Vegas is not perceived as being a good market by most national firms. They see us as over-saturated with significant regional firms. There are no corporations here to pick up. The corporations here are all gaming and they all have in-house. It’s all transactional work here except for maybe some very specific areas.

What is the outlook of the legal industry?

Schwartz: Nevada was number six for growth in 2014 so people are coming back. Even though transactions are down, as people come back transactions go up. Boutiques will get a little bigger and you’ll see more of what’s an anomaly in this town – a 10 to 15 lawyer firm.

Frankovich: In Northern Nevada, the growth is going to be very different. It’s going to be very technologically based. Tesla is just the tip of the iceberg, and now it’s exploded as far as people looking. Northern Nevada is predicted to have 50,000 new jobs in the next five years, and all of them are high tech. That is going to be an interesting evolution on whether or not the big law firms want to have a presence.

Filed Under: Industry Focus Tagged With: Alan Freer, Alverson Taylor Mortensen & Sanders, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Bruce Ford, Christopher Kaempfer, City National Bank, Connie Brennan, Ellen Schulhofer, Gerald Gordon, Gordon Silver, J. Bruce Alverson, John Frankovich, Kaempfer Crowell, Kolesar & Leatham, Las Vegas business, Las Vegas lawyers, Mark Ricciardi, McDonald Carano Wilson LLP, Nevada business, Nevada Business Magazine, Nevada lawyers, Nile Leatham, Patrick Byrne, Reno business, Reno lawyers, Samuel Schwartz, Schwartz Flansburg PLLC, Snell & Wilmer LLP, Solomon Dwiggins & Freer

Sponsored Features

Sponsored Features

U.S. Bank’s Good TruckComes to Las Vegas

GC Garcia, Inc. Celebrates 25 YearsAnd Looks Back on Southern Nevada’s Changing Landscape

Las Vegas Valley Water DistrictSupports Local Fire-Fighting Efforts

Behind the ScenesWith a U.S. Bank Goals Coach

Advertise With Us

Advertise With Us. more details ►

Primary Sidebar

Daunting ChallengesMedical Education in Nevada

Industry FocusHealthcare

Time & SpaceArchitectural Design Trends

Cyber SecurityKeeping Your Business Safe

Nevada News & PR Wire

  • Reflection Bay Golf Club Expands Team with Ken Wright

  • Holland & Hart Announces Election of New Partners in 2021

  • OPD5 Extends Temporary Office Closure Due to COVID-19

  • Urology Specialists of Nevada Adds Three New Health Care Providers

  • 2021 Resolutions with M Spa — January Specials for CoolTone by CoolScuplting

  • Elizabeth Pearson Earns Certificate in Principles of Public Relations

  • INOVA Announces Winners and Exhibit in Community Artists’ Campaign

  • Brass Cap Development Closes on Three New Valley Properties

  • Desert Radiology Completes 25 Days of Do-Gooders Virtual Gifting Initiative, Donating to 25 Charities in 25 Days

  • Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS® Releases December 2020 Existing Home Sales Report

  • Vegas PBS to Host Free Virtual Screening of the Zen Speaker: Breaking the Silence

  • Long-Time Silver State Schools Credit Union Volunteer Leonard Petoske Passes Away

  • Naylor & Braster Recognized in U.S. News Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” 2021 Edition

  • Goodwill® Among Recipients of $4.2 Billion Funding by MacKenzie Scott

  • St. Jude’s Ranch for Children Begins Healing Center Project for Child Victims of Sex Trafficking with Soil Survey Donated for $1

  • Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and Donor Network West Launch Six-Day “Second Chances” Organ Donation Awareness Program for Minor Traffic Violations

  • Angela Collins Named Chief Operating Officer of Nathan Adelson Hospice; Joins NHPCO’s Quality & Standard Committee

  • NAIOP Southern Nevada Announces Newly Elected 2021 Officers and Directors

  • Immunize Nevada to Host Flu Clinic at Promise Land Community Church

  • Southern Nevada Home Prices End the Year in Record Territory

  • Dickson Commercial Group Represents Buyer of 21,781 Square Foot Medical Office Building

  • Soberlink Joins National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges With Corporate Sponsorship

  • Northern Nevada Community Leaders Named to NCET Board

  • Megan H. Hummel Appointed Partner of Lipson Neilson PC

  • Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS® Installs 2021 Officers and Celebrates Annual Awards

  • Northcap Commercial Arranges Sale of 11.33 Acres of Land for $5,377,268

  • Nathan Adelson Hospice Partners with Six Leading Non-Profit Providers

  • A Plant-Based Change of Pace: Dunkin’ Starts 2021 with the Southwest Veggie Power Breakfast Sandwich

  • Vegas Helps Nonprofit Organization Launches to Facilitate Locals Helping Locals

  • Deadline for Moving Assistance Applications Extended to Jan. 15, 2021 — Move 4 Less Owners Paying for Local Moves of Families Affected by Pandemic —

  • Livestreamed Panel Discussion Will Engage Local Mental Health Experts, Community Leaders, and the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab on the Topic of Youth Mental Health

  • Silver State Schools Credit Union Shares its 2020 Community Giving

  • Jewish Nevada Announces New Board Members and Presents Jewish Community Leader Awards During Virtual Event in January

  • Ava Rose Agency’s Food and Beverage Clients Raise a Glass to Welcome 2021 With New Year’s Specials and Promotions

  • Throw in the New Year With Dueling Axes at AREA15

  • Take (Extra) Charge of 2021: Dunkin’s New Extra Charged Coffee Delivers 20% More Caffeine

  • Non-Profit CORE Welcomes Two New Members to Board of Trustees

  • Non-Profit CORE Treats 70 Scholars and Families to a Drive-Thru Holiday Express

  • Short-Term Career Training is Key to Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery in Las Vegas in 2021

  • Paint Contractor Gives Children Unforgettable Christmas

  • Greater Nevada Credit Union Helps People Live Greater Through Greater Giving Donations

  • Nevada Association Services Pays First Quarter 2021 HOA Assessments for 5 Families Who Lost Their Homes in November Pinehaven Wildfire

  • “Hope for the Holidays” Presented by Hope for the City Wraps With Immersive Drive-Thru Food Pantry

  • Nevada Rural Housing Authority Receives Two Excellence Awards from the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies

  • Dickson Commercial Group Completes 36 Acre Land Sale in North Valleys

  • Las Vegas Real Estate Company Focuses on Neighborhoods & Communities

  • Justice Mark Gibbons to Retire from Nevada Supreme Court

  • Spencer Fane LLP Partner Ayesha Mehdi Named to American Bar Association Health Law Section Vice Chairships

  • Newly Constructed Industrial Complex Sells for $6.8 Million in Southwest Las Vegas

  • TSK Architects Promotes from Within

  • USDA Recognizes Greater Commercial Lending As #1 Business and Industry Lender in Top Commercial Lender Rankings

  • Serving our Kids Foundation Hosted Contactless Food Drive with Sponsors Clark County Medical Society Alliance, Southwest Medical, OptumCare and SOS Radio

  • Attorney Leon F. Mead II Receives Recognition for Legal Excellence for 2020 Super Lawyers® Award

  • Mendy Elliott Named Nevada Donor Network Foundation Founding Board Member

  • John Naylor Represented British Columbia Securities Commission in Landmark Decision From Nevada Supreme Court

  • Young Entrepreneur Spills Insight on Launching a Podcast

  • The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank’s High Net Worth Report Summarizes Charitable Giving Trends Impacted by TCJA

  • Application Is Now Open for the Cannabis Equity and Inclusion Community (CEICNV) NCCRFund Grant Program in Nevada

  • Adam S. Kutner, Injury Attorneys Wins “Best Accident Lawyer” in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s “Best of Las Vegas” Reader’s Poll

  • An Outpouring of Support for Las Vegas Cyclist Memorial: Lamar Advertising Donates 68 Billboards

  • Lake Las Vegas Named #1 Southern Nevada Master Plan

  • St. Vincent’s Thrift Stores Offer Unique Gifts

  • William V. Craig, M.D. Joins Nathan Adelson Hospice in Pahrump

  • Behavioral Health NV Encourages Families to Find Substance Use Help During the Holidays

  • Project Worth Encourages Problem Gamblers to Seek Change this Holiday Season

  • JB Public Relations – Boutique Public Relations & Social Media Agency Offers Free Initial PR Crisis Communications and Consultations for Small Businesses in Las Vegas During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Move 4 Less Owners Provide Moving Help for Families Being Evicted, Affected by the Pandemic — Applications DUE by Dec. 31 —

  • D’Agostino’s Trattoria Offers Holiday Gift Baskets, In-Dining Specials, and Signature Festive Drink to Ring in the Season

  • MGM Resorts Selects TuffSkin Surface Protection for Leadership Program

  • Kelly LeGrow Named Nevada Donor Network Foundation Board Member

  • BRAZEN Architecture Founder Receives AIA Nevada’s First Ever “Citizen Architect” Honor

  • ‘Weekend College’ Launches at CSN – Designed for Busy Students, Programs in Business, IT, Healthcare and More Are Available

  • Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School Breaks Ground New $3.4 million Tennis Complex

  • Goettl Air Conditioning and Plumbing Looking to Hire Call Center Representatives Throughout Las Vegas

  • Trosper Public Relations Adds to Team

  • Clinician Experience Project Recognizes Southwest Medical Physician

  • Goodwill® of Southern Nevada Names New Chief Human Resources Officer

  • Dermody Properties Leases Remaining Space at LogistiCenter℠ at Speedway in North Las Vegas

  • Rita Vaswani Named Nevada Donor Network Foundation Founding Board Member

  • Nevada State Bank Wins “Best Bank” in Las Vegas Review-Journal Poll for Fourth Straight Year

  • Community Support Needed to Help Homeless Youth for the Holidays –Donate Gifts or Host a Drive–

  • SR Construction Makes Donation to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

  • Colliers Las Vegas Broker Recognized as Broker of the Year by Prestigious Industry Society

  • Fernley Community Foundation Celebrates Progress with Polaris Grant, New Senior Center Opening

  • Vegas PBS Selects Mary Mazur as New President and General Manager

  • Silver State Schools Credit Union Receives Gold Award for “Best Credit Union” with the 2020 Best of Las Vegas Award

  • Blume Kitchen & Cocktails Plans Pop-up Dinner Featuring Chef Lanny Chin Mon., Jan 11

  • Coral Academy Awarded Gold in Four Categories for Best of Las Vegas Awards

  • NAWBO Southern Nevada Awards Henderson Councilwoman Michelle Romero With Corporate & Government Services Award

  • Nevada State College’s Early Childhood Education Center to Open Fall 2021 Within the New $61.8m School of Education Building

  • Justice Mark Gibbons Honored at Virtual Pro Bono Awards Luncheon

  • Foster Youth and Adoption Agency Mountain Circle Family Services, Inc. Celebrates 35 Years With New Name, Same Community Focus

  • Nevada REALTORS® Present Annual Awards, Including Honoring Chris Bishop as Its REALTOR® of the Year

  • Blume Kitchen & Cocktails and the Stove Host Holiday Drive-Through Experience to Distribute Meals and Essentials

  • Reno Experience District’s First Luxury Apartment Building is Now Open

  • Founders of a Boutique Design Firm Spill Insights on Building a Team and a Partnership With Intentional Leadership

  • “Angels of Las Vegas” to Hold Fundraising Gala to Benefit Children With Cancer

  • National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Form New Ad Hoc Committees to Strengthen Partnerships with Court Management and Tribal Courts

  • Nevada’s Silver State ACO Saved Medicare $48 million in 2019

  • Silver State Schools Credit Union Announces Winners for the 35th Annual Happy Times 2021 Calendar



 
Submit Your News & PR | Subscribe
Submit Your News & PR

Business Connection

Business Connection Portal

Log In Sign Up

Business Connection Portal

Log In Sign Up

Nevada Business Calendar

  • Ely Film Festival 2021
    March 12, 2021 12:00 pm

    Location: 501 E Aultman St, Ely, NV 89301, USA

    More details...
  • Ely Film Festival 2021
    March 12, 2021 12:00 pm

    Location: 501 E Aultman St, Ely, NV 89301, USA

    More details...
View Full Calendar ►

Nevada Business Directory

Featured Businesses
Find a Nevada-Based Business Submit Your Business Subscribe to the Nevada News & PR Wire

Nevada Industries

Architects & Engineers
Arts & Culture
Banking
Commercial Real Estate
Construction
Credit Unions
Economic Development
Education
Financial Management
Healthcare
Human Resources
Insurance
Law
Manufacturing
Marketing
Media
Mining
Philanthropy
Residential Real Estate
Rural Nevada
Sports
Tax Planning and Accounting
Technology
Telecom
Tourism
Transportation
Utilities

Footer

Subscriptions

  • Print Subscription
  • Mobile App
  • E-mail Subscription

Editorial

  • Features
  • Departments
  • Events

Advertising

  • Advertise
  • Submission Requirements

Connect

  • Contact
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2020, Business Link LLC dba Nevada Business Magazine and Nevada Business Journal. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
Nevada Web Design services by Nevada Central Media using Genesis Framework by StudioPress