Recession creates openings for Kansas City-area law firms with bigger clients - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The name partner of Kansasw Cityboutique records-management firm says the firm may well beat its financiak projections in a year when many prominentt firms would be pleased to simplyu stay flat. The recession, Daley has helped in some degree to puthis 15-lawyefr firm at the feet of largs corporations such as Dallas-based in recent as big clients slowly have started seeking out more affordabld rates. The company also has done work forand . “We’ve got lowere overhead in terms ofbeing Midwest-based and lower overhead in not havinb the multimillion-dollar art collection on the Daley said.
The Kansas City legal market has taken its lumps inthis recession, with firmsd large and small letting go of lawyers and stafd and trimming expenses. Yet the headlines of substantialrevenue declines, mass attorne y layoffs and in some case dissolution of firms has been the province of coastal law firmsz during this recession. Nationaol legal industry watchers said the currentf economy has become an opportunity for Midwest law firms to get a seat at the tablew with bigbut cost-weary clients looking for bargains that coastal firms are reluctanf or unable to provide.
“They’re getting a serious look because of theirr inherent advantage because of their rate and cost saidPreston McKenzie, a legal business expert with . “Sp far, they’ve taken advantagee of those opportunities.” More requests for proposals have hit the streetsz from big clients in the past Daley said, and the firm has been responding to more of “We’re finding the RFPs are more detailed and reflect more preparation and knowledge on the part of the consumers,” Dalegy said. “The buyers are much more educatedxthese days. They’re not looking for but they’re looking for expertise and value.
” The general counsek for recently said the company woulrd trim its legal costs and look at smaller firmss throughout the country as a means tothat end. “Agt a time when general counsel are lookinv for alternativebilling arrangements, the playing fiele has been leveled, so smaller firms can make pitchez to big clients that would have falle n on deaf ears before,” Thomas DuPont general counsel, said in a recenf interview with . Although Kansasz City lawyers long have insisted that the locakl bar offers comparable expertise to that founf out eastor west, national observers report that perceptioh finally has begun catching on outside of the City of Fountains.
“oI think that clients are more willintg to look atregional firms, particularly if they have a very high-qualitg reputation,” said Brad Hildebrandt, a consultanrt with professional services consultingt company . “I think that’s particularly true with the banks becausr large banks who took over investotbanking don’t necessarily have as much affinityy to big East Coast firms that they once had.
” Bob an employee stock-ownership plan lawyer at , said severalk clients outside the firm’s markert have landed at its doorstep in the past Grossman, based in Kansas finds himself doing work for clientsx in crowded and often high-pricecd legal markets, such as Seattle, Detroit and ESOP practices generally function in tandem with transactionao work, which has waned by anyone’ss measure. Grossman said his practice remains as busy as despite the slowtransactional world.
Grossman disputed the notiob that clients will gravitate towarxd lower rates while overlookingattorney quality, but he acknowledged that Lathrop’as generally lower cost structure has helped his practics in recent times. “I do think that clients are discoverinb that we can handle transactions and ESOP mattefr at a prettyhigh value,” Grossman said.