Financial downturn did not just hit the common people but the corporate litigation sector as well
. Across the country, increased pressure was felt by the law firms as the customers demanded them to reduce the prices for their services. Due to the demands of the customers, the firms outsourced their work to other countrys firms or to hire more temporary or contract based lawyers. Some of the lawyers also changed their fee structure and eliminated some members from the staff to cut their costs. There are a number of virtual law firms that the corporate lawyers think are better options to choose in the time of an economic downturn.
In a virtual law firm, the business is done mainly with the help of telephone and video calling through internet. Lawyers chose to offer services to the clients, not from the brick and mortar offices but from their homes. This is how they were able to make substantial savings in their own expenses and offered the benefit of savings to the clients as well. The big law firms were the ones actually to face the brunt of the downturn as people wanted to choose economical options. The big law firm model that was popular was broken.
People were more interested in hiring business lawyers who were ready to slice their prices a bit to fit in the budget and the pocket. There are more than 60,000 people who work as lawyers in Washington. A number of global law firms have offices in this area and the economic turmoil in the country was the same for each one of them. The number of litigations filed in the recent economic downturn was very less as compared to the earlier recessions. The companies forced to cut down on the legal expenses chose to stay away from filing litigations. Some of the large law firms had to close down.
Economic downturn brings worries but there were some law firms that did well in spite of the crunch that went along. Out of all the sectors, corporate and property practices were the ones to be hit badly. This was the scene all along the economic crisis. Some of the business lawyers were of the belief that climate of fear was all over the corporate lawyers and this forced them to be overstretched. Every firm had to make redundancies as recession came along. The situation is improving and the companies are experiencing better inflow in terms of customers.
The firms are apprehensive of hiring more people as they fear another economic turmoil coming their way. No one knows what is going to happen next but the firms have to be particularly careful while hiring and offering their services.