Economic Stimu-fuck!
Submitted by J Boogie [TLL] on Friday, 13 February 2009Comments
Amid reports that the demand for legal services has flat-lined, one wonders when exactly the legal world will be shocked back to life. Work is down all across the board, from M&A’s, to even IP Litigation. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you’re asking yourself whether the Golden Era of lawyers is coming to an end right before our eyes.
With billions of taxpayer cash set to infuse the markets, the question remains whether it will be enough to save the flailing legal industry. Unlike other sectors, the legal industry is unique in that we generally wait for work to appear. We can’t go out and create lawsuits (well, we could…). We are a wait and see industry. I know other industries can be pegged this way as well, but law is unique (Lawyers are special damnit!) in that we are hated until needed, disrespected until we bail you out. An event has to trigger the need for our services. A company has to announce its intentions to merge before we get our grubby paws on the agreement materials. A person has to crash his car into another for a tort to be created. A nut-job has to go out and assault someone before the D.A. can prosecute and the defense attorney can get to work. You get the idea.
But once all the bail-out money gets where it needs to be, I suspect that there will be a bunch of money grubbers with tight wallets, who don’t intend to hand that “hard earned” cash over to legal eagles. What I mean is, our overly-litigious society may not be so litigious in the coming years. For society, that is probably a good thing. For us lawyers, well…it was fun while it lasted. In all seriousness, I am not sure what to make of the bailout. Our great great grandchildren will surely hate us for sticking them with unending debt, and it is possible that the Financial leaders who got us here in the first place will be judged by history as the biggest fucking idiots of all time. Horrible time to become President, Mr. Obama. As with the rest of the stimulus that has already been released, I’d wager that the money will end up right back in the pockets of shitty management and exec-types, who then shutter down to see how things ride out. No reason to take risks in such dire times.
But on the other hand, there is hope that new public works projects will get the infusion of cash they need to get off the ground. With some breathing room, large corporations that have been slowly suffocating may be able to engage in acquisition discussions, which invariably requires the need for legal services. And there is always the chance that in the midst of these turbulent times, some sort of technological breakthrough will take place and another I.P. boom could happen upon us. That last one might not exactly be a result of any infusion of cash into the economy, but it’s still a possibility.
So what do lawyers do in the meantime? There’s always pro-bono and public services. Their need for legal services is likely to remain steady, since recession or no recession, they live in this type of world on the daily. It might be a good way for greenhorns to get their feet wet and get some practical experience, instead of just sitting around. If you aren’t getting paid anyway, might as well work on increasing your skill set. Simpson Thacher recently announced a novel approach to (and hey guess what! A few of the same ideas or similar ideas as Unfiltered Vol. II!) dealing with the downturn in work, and I applaud them for taking such a different angle on the recession. I hope others follow suit, since this is a good idea and benefits the firm, the associate, and the party receiving pro bono assistance. Everyone wins!
TLL wonders what the rest of you think of the stimulus package in general, and if you are in the legal industry, what your take is on its potential effects.
