Business Booms at Some Small Firms, Perhaps Thanks to Lower Fees

Despite the struggling economy and Wall Street layoffs, some small law firms in New York are seeing their business boom.

Among the reasons why are the significantly lower hourly rates charged by these law boutiques and a growing number of small businesses being launched by laid-off workers that need legal services, reports the New York Law Journal. Its article is reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

Four years after leaving BigLaw practice at Latham & Watkins and launching his own small firm, for instance, Michael Rakower says billable hours have increased by about 50 percent over the past year at his commercial litigation, civil rights and white-collar defense firm. Additionally, a number of "higher-value" appellate cases that don't require a lot of document review are being handled by the firm, which now keeps four lawyers, including Rakower, busy.

Although his small practice charges about 50 percent less than partner billable-hour rates at major law firms, Rakower says he isn't that this is a major reason for the sharp increase in business.

"There's no magic bullet," he tells the legal publication. "All I know is that I worked my tail off for four years, and I think you reap what you sow."