Salaries frozen
Big Law freezes salaries for 2009 ... and bonuses will be reduced for 2008! Clients are demanding that rates remain constant, no rate increase for most, though some will be able to get away with modest increases.
Clients, in general, are becoming more demanding. Lawyers need to "get over it." Lawyers are not entitled to continuous increases and must realize that we are in competition, not with other lawyers so much as with other service providers by way of comparison. And clients will leave if they are not happy with how we relate to them, serve their interests both economically as well as responsiveness.
One example happened to me just this morning. I asked my lawyer a question by email. He called me to respond rather than responding to me with an impersonal email. He asked a simple question or two and provided me with a very simple, yet effective answer that addressed my issue completely. I'll pay at least 1/4 hour (or his minimum if higher), but my issue of the moment was addressed completely. That's effective, efficient service.
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