many times. It's an environmentalist's
mantra that caught on decades ago,
urging citizens to consider the global
impact of their choices and to take action
in their own communities to help save
the planet.
But Primerus thinks it has an
application in the health of the legal
world as well specifically to where the
current legal industry is headed and
how Primerus can make a difference to
clients around the world, now and in
the future.
Primerus was founded in 1992 to do
something about the decline in the legal
profession. Armed with the Six Pillars
(Integrity, Excellent Work Product,
Reasonable Fees, Continuing Legal
Education, Civility and Community
Service), it has done just that. Now,
with its 170 law firms in 40 countries,
Primerus has a unique ability to bridge
the local and global needs of clients
around the world offering them
everything they love about having a
trusted advisor at a smaller local firm,
attorneys with the expertise to meet any
legal need they encounter.
Primerus attorneys act locally,
following the Six Pillars in the choices
they make every day, serving their
communities, and meeting the needs of
their clients with personalized, quality
service for reasonable fees. They also
think globally, relying on their fellow
Primerus members around the world
as their clients' needs arise in other
practice areas or jurisdictions.
And that's exactly what today's legal
industry needs.
"The fact of the matter is that
most smaller firms will never be able
to afford the infrastructure needed to
achieve nationwide or global coverage,"
according to James Jones, senior fellow
at the Center for the Study of the Legal
Profession at Georgetown Law Center.
"But at the same time, clients have these
needs, and increasingly even a local
matter will have global implications
for a client. Firms have to find a way
to compete on that front and be able to
offer services in a more seamless way.
possibility of doing that."
According to Primerus President and
Founder John C. Buchanan, the door
is now wide open for a concept in law
design that Primerus calls "the law firm
of the 21
that is very appropriate to Primerus'
mission of becoming the law firm of
the 21st century a new model in
the delivery of very high quality legal
services, at reasonable fees, anywhere in
the world," he said. "The saying came
from Steve Jobs, who said `The best way
to predict the future is to invent it.' I
could not agree more."
Buchanan said that model includes
providing high quality legal services
at very reasonable fees; using the
"practice group" or "boutique" model of
specialists to define the size of the law
firm (generally small to medium-sized
firms); using the "franchise business
model" to join with other law firms for
marketing, branding and cost-sharing
efficiencies; and allowing unlimited