New 'Lower Cost' Alternative Law Firm Adds 5 More Seyfarth Attorneys
Last week, a start-up employment boutique in the Chicago suburbs had an attorney roster of exactly three—its name partners, all of whom formerly practiced for many years at Seyfarth Shaw.
But by the start of business this week, the fledgling firm more than doubled in size, with the addition of five more Seyfarth lawyers. Three will be partners and two will be associates at Clark Baird Smith. At Seyfarth, three were counsel, one was an associate and one was a staff attorney, name partner R. Theodore “Ted” Clark Jr. tells the ABA Journal.
A practitioner for decades at Seyfarth, Clark expected to end his career there. However, faced with a choice between finding a way to cut costs and retain his public sector clientele or potentially lose the work to more aggressive competing counsel, establishing a small firm with lower overhead, as a “lower cost” alternative to Seyfarth, was the only option, he says.
“This was dictated by economics, and to try to come up with a way that we could offer lower rates to our public sector clientele,” Clark says, explaining that the move has enabled his group to cut its rates by a minimum of 10 to 15 percent and expects that reduction to last at least through 2011. Meanwhile, although his book of business includes national clients, most are in and around Chicago and don’t need the big-firm infrastructure that Seyfarth provides.
“Economic circumstances necessitated, in my judgment, the decision that I made,” says Clark. “It was facing the prospect of losing the clientele that I had developed and fostered over the years, or trying to maintain it with a lower cost structure,” amidst “the increasing realization that this recession was real and the rate pressure would continue to be there if I stayed at Seyfarth.”
The move also puts the small firm conveniently at hand for a number of suburban clients, who can park at their Rosemont, Ill., office for free instead of driving to Chicago and paying $25 or more for parking, he notes.
The eight lawyers at his new firm represented a substantial portion of the public sector practice group at Seyfarth until last month, according to Clark. But he nonetheless expects to remain on good terms with his former firm and refer to it labor and employment matters that Clark Baird Smith can’t handle. Likewise, he is hopeful that public sector work will flow his way from Seyfarth.
Seyfarth’s David Rowland, who manages the firm’s Chicago headquarters, echoes those sentiments.
Clearly, the 750-attorney Seyfarth, with offices in nine U.S. cities, has capabilities that an eight-lawyer suburban boutique doesn’t, Rowland tells the ABA Journal. Meanwhile, Clark Baird can compete more effectively with other small firms in the Chicago suburbs vying to represent governmental entities hard-hit by the difficult economy and big-ticket concerns such as pension-funding issues.
“We pride ourselves on having breadth and depth and that works for most of our clients, and I think that will continue to work,” says Rowland, who describes his firm’s relationship with Clark Baird as one of mutual respect.
“I think we all understand and respect the business decision that they’ve made,” he says of Clark and his group.
Although the new boutique expects to grow further at some point down the road, it doesn’t anticipate any further additions in the near future, Clark says.
