Large law firms and smaller firms both have their place in the legal ecosystem and there are advantages and disadvantages to engaging either one. Let’s take a look at them.

Advantages of big law firms

Big law firms are great for big cases. Why? Because big cases often need the resources and high profile that a big law firm can provide, such as a research team and the perception of many great legal minds working on the complexities of the case. A big law firm can project an image of power, deploying bully tactics if required. This may be exactly what some big cases need, but it comes at a hefty price.

Disadvantages of big law firms

Not many people would want to “rock the boat” by saying this in print, but here goes…

Without wanting to sound like we’re berating big law firms, here is a list of their main disadvantages:

• If you have little confidence and experience in legal matters or the legal process, you can feel like a big law firm is walking all over you.
• Big law firms have been known to protect their records and churn through cases by settling when they shouldn’t.
• Big law firms are expensive to maintain and run. To cover their enormous costs, they’re driven by clocking up billable hours, even if the individual lawyer you’re working with is not.
• Because all staff have to comply with the law firm’s set of values, your representative lawyer probably won’t have the freedom to be human with you.

  Advantages of smaller firms

  Smaller firms in comparison can usually offer the following benefits:

•  They have more time for you and your legal matter during an initial consultation.
• With more time and patience for all clients, there is the opportunity to deal with your case with more “human-ness” – in other words, they’ll treat you like a human being.
• You’ll have easier and quicker access to your representative when you need it.
• They work with fewer clients at any given time so that they can focus better on you and your case.
• They charge less because they have fewer employees and their overheads are much lower.

  Disadvantages of smaller firms

  The main disadvantage of smaller firms is that they lack the resources to handle large, lengthy legal cases.

  A short story 

  Once upon a time when people went to the bank, they used to get their own banker. The banker would take all of the client’s circumstances into account for each and every important banking transaction, and the client would often stay connected with that banker creating a relationship.

  Fast forward to today and we have a very different scenario. The size of banks and the competitive environment in which they operate has forced out the old way of doing business. Making money and having vast numbers of clients are the priorities. Good service and “human-ness” have fallen by the wayside.

  At Bayberry & Weir, we haven’t thrown out the old school style of building relationships with our clients. We offer all the advantages of a smaller law firm and we keep “human-ness” well and truly alive.