Law firms spend a lot of time thinking about clients, but faced with a sudden downturn, it's a good time to ask: What exactly do you think about clients?

This lesson continues our look at the economic downturn and the steps which law firms can take to navigate it. As discussed in Lessons for Law Firms During a Market Downturn (4-29), the downturn has many implications for law firms, including a power shift away from associates, and back to clients. We saw how smart firms are hunkering down, listening to clients and focussing on service delivery.

Despite the self-publicity, the truth is not all firms are client-oriented. There is a spectrum spanning firms with a "commodity approach" at one end, and firms with a "professional service" approach at the other. The commodity folks are all about the money, and professional service folks are all about the clients.