China Law Blog - China Law: Go Big Or Go Home. Better Yet, Go Boutique. - Comments

Boris Badenuf

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

Like tell me something we didn't know. Of course, boutique firms are thriving right now in Asia as well as everywhere else. For so many legal matters, they are both cheaper and better and now that this is catching on, the sky is the limit for firms like ours (mine is a boutique real estate firm).

Matthew

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

Dan,

This is certainly a growing trend. The reality is that in more developed legal jurisdictions mid-tier and boutique firms will generally off more value for money. There is little, if any, difference in quality between lawyers in mid-tiers to those in big-tier firms despite what the latter think.

Asia, and China too, is starting to see the development of the specialist firm (and good quality mid-tiers). To be honest, unless your legal needs are highly sophisticated (big ticket transactions) it makes no real sense to use a big tier.

I also agree with your comments in the article regarding fixed fees. We provide fixed fees where possible and it is genuinely appreciated by our clients.

Chris

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

Having been gouged rather badly for bread and butter legal advice by the China arm of our global law firm (advice that simply confirmed our Chinese accountancy firms recommendation on HR and service agreements), I agree that boutique law firms with more reasonable rates and a higher level of genuine expertise are a much better option in most circumstances.

Mike McSweeney

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

Great to hear another boutique's "view" on this economy and its impact on revenue for a small firm. We are a "boutique-global" firm ourselves (management consulting) and we have been experiencing the same over the last 2 years.

ptz

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

What you say here is so true, but there are those of us who have known it for years and did not need this recession to convince us. I switched to boutique law firms a few years ago after getting a massive bill from a massive law firm on a matter I told them quite clearly was of relatively little importance. I have had enough and that is exactly what is happening elsewhere.

Mary Scott

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

Dan, the reason firms like yours are thriving is because BigLaw has become so bloated and so expensive that they only make sense for gigantic companies on gigantic matters.

hehe

Dan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:38:09 -0800

Even truer now than when you wrote this. The top big firms will continue to thrive, but those that got big just to get big and to satisfy their own internal desires will continue to falter. Mark my words.