Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Branches, Boutiques And Client Conflicts

By ALM Reporters and Joe Danowsky
June 28, 2006

As analyzed in several A&FP articles, a major strategic goal of many law firms is to attain and maintain dominance for specific practice areas in a legal market. One downside of dominance in a practice area, however, is that a firm may increasingly need to turn away work in other practice areas due to client conflicts.

Compared with the growth of a firm's client list, the growth potential for client conflicts is exponential. Published advice on conflict avoidance for solo practitioners and small firms amounts to making a list and checking it twice. By contrast, the conflict avoidance systems marketed to large firms seem to find it necessary to promise automated assistance for reviewing multiple digital and imaged data streams of engagement letters, waivers, billing records, etc.

While the problem of client conflicts does not seem to be limiting overall firm growth, it has motivated some firm-hopping by practice areas, and opened up ecological niches for boutique firms. In lieu of overall team depth, the latter provide highly specialized expertise at a reduced-cost.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws Image

This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.

Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin Image

With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.

The Article 8 Opt In Image

The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.

Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York Image

In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?

Fresh Filings Image

Notable recent court filings in entertainment law.