The Pandemic's Dramatic Effect on the Business of Law

• Author: Daniel S. Wittenberg
• Pages: 26-27

Published in Litigation News Volume 45, Number 4, Summer 20 20. © 2020 by the Ameri can Bar Association. Re produced with per mission. All rights re served. This info rmation or any porti on thereof may not be c opied or disseminated in any

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OVID-19 has had a mas sive impact on the legal

industry. Since the pa ndemic resulted in shut-

downs across the count ry, law rms have rolled

out various cost-cut ting measures, including

layoffs, pay cuts, fu rloughs, and shortened

summer progra ms. Given the generational inuence of th is

circumsta nce, it behooves us to take a closer look at where

things sta nd in the business of law.

Shrinking D emand for Leg al Services

Overall, law r ms have seen a sweeping decline in new mat-

ter creation. Accordi ng to a recent report from Clio, the

number of legal matt ers opened each week from su rveyed

rms has decl ined over 30 percent since the start of th e

year. The report als o revealed that 56 percent of law rms

saw a signica nt decrease in requests for legal assist ance.

According to Jeff G rossman, head of busi ness development

at Citi Private Bank L aw Firm Group, “one in ve rms s aid

demand for their ser vices dropped 20% or more in April.”

Per the Clio survey, one reason  rms are seeing a slowdown

has to do with consume r attitudes toward legal problems.

Roughly half of the re spondents stated that if they had a legal

issue, they would very l ikely delay reaching out for legal help

until after t he coronavirus pandemic has subsided , while 22

percent reported t hat they were under the impression that law-

yers have ceased offeri ng legal services completely.

“We’ve seen no indication that t he need for legal services

has subsided during t he pandemic, but for many people,

dealing with t hem right now isn’t top of mind,” said Jack

Newton, chief exe cutive ofcer (CEO) and co-founder of

Clio, in a press releas e. “Law rms concerned about cash

ow should be focused on u nderstanding what barriers cu r-

rently exist for clients , and be sure they are prepared to

adapt their servi ces to current and f uture needs of clients.”

Legal Job Losses

According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BL S), the

legal sector had lost approxi mately 64,000 jobs through

April, bring ing the total numbe r of jobs in the industr y

down to 1,097,006. This i ncluded attorneys, paralegals,

legal secreta ries, and others. The gure i s down by 50,000

jobs from the same point l ast year. The April E mployment

Situation Summ ary had updated statistics for Ma rch, show-

ing 1,700 legal sec tor jobs lost during that mont h.

For perspective, t here were immense job losses across the

nation in all indus try sectors . The BLS esti mated 20 million

The Pandemic’s Dramatic Effect on

the Business of Law

By Daniel S. Witte nberg, Litigation News Associate Editor

© Angkana Kitt ayachaweng / Getty I mages

26 | SECTION OF LITIGATIO N

BUSINESS OF LAW