Are Lawyers Tag Hags

Well, maybe tag hag is not the right term.  That is a person who is obsessed with brand name clothing, but I think it gets the point across.  Certainly there are lawyers that concern themselves with wearing the right suit, the right shoes, the right shirt, and the right tie.  They cannot buy what they need at a discount store, but my analogy is broader than this.  As the next season rolls around, they go out and spend thousands on new stuff, and then think the salvation army really needs the crap they discard.

You have to be concerned with lawyers and law firms that are obsessed with the need to be in the brand name building, with brand name furnishings, to have graduates from the brand named law schools, that have the brand named legal staffs, that drive brand named cars, live in brand named communities, and operate in the old world environment of need for an office staffed and equipped like firms 20 or 30 years ago.

Should it matter to you as a client in this legal services environment?  I think it should.  First, what we are talking about is high cost overhead for no better reason than the tag hags are prideful.  Second, that overhead and old world charm is going to passed on to you as the client.

I see these lawyers drive up to Court every day.  Tag hags are fun to watch.  I do not ridicule in public.  It is my own private amusement.  The expensive uniform just back from the cleaners (extra starch in the shirts, please), the perfect car, just arriving from the big office, with the big staff.  More often than not their clients lose.  They lose not on the merits of the case, but the costs of stay in eventually gets to great to justify under any business-based decision.

These are probably lawyers that have wine at home they never touch.  It is too valuable to drink and they are too attached to the wine to ever sell it.

I am not saying you need to be a hobo, but I tend to think one of the problems with too many law schools and too many Big Law firms is that they create a culture where lawyers learn to be tag hag and where that culture prevails.

Comments

[Kevin S. Brady]

It's interesting how the legal community still clings to some of these traditions--these "tags." Yet, I am seeing (at least in the area where I live) a bit of a reverese trend to that. More and more law firms--particularly smaller ones--are eschewing the glass office towers and all of the trappings, choosing instead to locate in outlying areas where the overhead is more reasonable. Of course, smaller firms have the agility to make such moves, but this allows them to become more competitive in their billing rates. Something to consider in this slow economy. Unless your practice dictates that you be close to the courthouse and other amenities downtown, why limit yourself to that area?

[Tomasz Stasiuk]

I think you conflate being image conscious with burning through a ton of money each month/year.

As a solo attorney, I compete with older and richer firms in town. I cannot out compete them on advertising. I cannot out compete them on having a nicer office with a mountain view.

But I do strive to make a good first impression. I try to have a nice office. Check it out here http://www.flickr.com/photos/zstasiuk/2625420803/in/set-72157605904253054/

I am still a dang good lawyer (if I do say so myself). But although I know that, my potential clients do not. There are a number of less skilled lawyers in my area with better win/loss records. Why? They do not take the riskier cases. I do. I gain more experience by taking a more difficult case and my clients benefit by having a lawyer by their side.

I feel that image is how nearly all clients judge an attorney. "Does he look successful?" I am not being snobbish. When I hired a lawyer to prepare my and my wife's will and related documents, even though I am an attorney, I, personally, had no basis for determining if the other lawyer was any good (beyond word-of-mouth -- which I am not dismissing), beyond what he looked like, what his office looked like, and his personal hygiene.

Although I focus on the image I project, I also keep my expenses to a minimum. My low rent allows me the flexibility to take riskier cases. I have a nice watch, but it cost less than $50. I wear a nice suit to court; but at my office, I meet with clients in a casual button down shirt and chinos. My car is almost 10 years old and still going (knock wood). Technology has eliminated the need (and cost) for a secretary or receptionist, and has allowed me to stay more in touch with my clients than ever.

Maybe you could call me a thrifty tag hag. ;)

Keep up the great articles Chuck!