How boutique law firms survive and thrive against their larger counterparts

According to the American Bar Association, small firms overwhelmingly (90%) consider themselves very successful or successful. ("ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division," State of US Small Law Firms (2022), p. 7.) There are a number of reasons that small boutique firms are not only able to survive, but also thrive and prevail in litigation against well-known, multinational legal behemoths.

Focusing on a specialized area of law often leads to better results

It is self-evident that in the view of a client requiring legal assistance in a particular area of the law, excellence of a law firm in that field of law is more beneficial than a firm with competence in a wide range of fields. For example, we at Garcia & Artigliere specialize in elder abuse, predominantly cases against skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Especially in cases against sizable healthcare facility chains, large firms which either specialize in "healthcare" or have a "healthcare" practice frequently serve as defense counsel. But elder abuse cases are often more nuanced than other garden variety personal injury cases or medical malpractice cases. As a result, it can give us an advantage over larger firms, which are commonly inflexible or unsophisticated in their approach of attempting to fit a square peg of a medical malpractice or other type of personal injury case into the round hole of an elder abuse case.

Lawyers at boutique firms are also able to be more nimble with case strategies and tactical maneuvers, particularly compared to large-firm lawyers who may be hamstrung by an institutional bureaucracy and/or fixed policies and procedures for how a particular case is to be handled at the firm or within a practice group.

Boutiques often offer reduced rates and fee arrangements more advantageous to clients

Boutique law firms offer competitive rates, and in the case of plaintiff's firms take most cases on a pure contingency basis - which affords the economically disadvantaged access to the justice system that they normally would not have if they had to pay large retainers and/or hourly fees like a large corporation or employer. Boutique law firms are also able to specialize in public interest cases such as civil rights or elder abuse litigation at reduced rates or on a contingency basis knowing that should they prevail in a case and attorneys' fees are available, any award will be at the prevailing market rate of attorneys of similar skill and experience in the relevant community regardless of the size of the firm. See, e.g., PLCM Group, Inc. (2000) 22 Cal.4th 1084, 1095.

Shareholders at boutiques have a more personal stake in the success of the firm and in the outcome of cases than at large firms

Shareholders at boutique firms generally have higher equity interests in their firms than partners at large firms, and therefore tend to have a more personal stake in the overall success of their firm as well as in obtaining positive results for their clients. This often contrasts sharply with lawyers at large national or multinational law firms. Take a typical associate at a large, multinational law firm. Other than the cases that associate is working on, that associate has virtually no stake in the outcome of the hundreds or perhaps even thousands of other cases being handled by other offices or practice groups at the firm. At boutique firms, more often than not cases are more than just cases, they become personal.

Stephen M. Garcia is senior partner at Garcia & Artigliere.