Well, the McGuire Woods ad campaign attacking the billable hour has started. And its worse than I anticipated. “The longer lawyers take the more money they make. Does that align their interest with yours?” Can you think of a less enlightened question. “Does the fox in charge of the hen house have the same interest as the hens?” What’s particularly scary is that this is the same McGuire Woods that said it wanted to be a “cutting edge” law firm in its release announcing this ad campaign. Wow, they really are standing on the outside precipice with observations like this.
But it gets worse. The ads continues: “Whether it be a fixed fee, success fee or some other alternative, we have learned that companies make better decisions when they know their cost up front.” Really? Does that mean McGuire Woods is penalizing all of its clients that continue to be charged by the hour? I mean, McGuire Woods is preventing them from making better decisions by not insisting that they bill on some non-hourly basis. At least according to the wisdom espoused in the ad.
My fear that clients would see this ad campaign as mindless pandering is greater than ever. Trivializing the need to align economic interests, focusing on client service, providing real value to clients are more than marketing slogans. I’ve written before on the separation of firms that talk the client service talk through their marketing departments and those that truly walk the walk. From my standpoint, I see McGuire Woods lips moving with no evidence that their feet have gotten the message.