Speaking at the Association of Costs Lawyers’ annual conference last week, the master of the rolls Lord Neuberger expressed great confidence that a combination of the Jackson reforms, alternative business structures and client demand for fixed fees will mean that lawyer’s fees are almost certain to come down.
Is economics any use? That sounds like the start of a rant/ a joke/ or a quip in an after-dinner speech (all the easier to make as many economies, presumably advised by fine economic minds, struggle to recover and grow).
So let me be more specific. Can a law firm’s principle, or even a practice manager, use economics to make a decent business plan? After all, the economy is water we all swim in - its tide and temperature should matter.
Displacement activity takes place when animals or humans are faced with a crisis and don’t know how to react. Apparently, birds peck at grass when uncertain whether to attack or flee from an opponent. So it is with governments, too. Confronted by an unprecedented crisis, they haven’t a clue what to do about too-big-to-fail banks with debts and built-in bonuses, nor how to grow themselves out of an economic hole.
I read with interest your feature ‘Time out’. As a solicitor who failed to achieve a work/life balance, I hope that my experience may be a lesson to others. I was a partner in a small firm for 23 years. For 21 of those years, I was a full-time working mother. I sought to manage my life with hard work and efficiency. Over the years, I suffered recurrent stress-related insomnia. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. I planned to reduce my working hours, but did not do so.
