Our profession is quite different from how it was just a few years ago, and far different from how it was decades ago, when lawyers and those who regulate the legal profession claimed—or, rather, dreamed—that the law was a profession but not necessarily a business. One comment to Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 1.17 even notes that “the practice of law is a profession, not merely a business.”
The reality remains that the practice of law has been and will always be a business, and like any other business, some are better businesspeople than others. Consequently, and because it is difficult to gauge the skill of any given lawyer, the best lawyers are not always the most financially successful. And, of course, there remain some lawyers who care only about results, while most must also be concerned with making a living.
