{"id":18745,"date":"2016-02-05T00:54:04","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T05:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/02\/business-report-things-change-but-remain-the-same.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T13:37:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T18:37:46","slug":"business-report-things-change-but-remain-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/02\/business-report-things-change-but-remain-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Report: Things Change, But Remain The Same"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"james\n<\/div>\n
\nJames T. Towne, Esq., principal at Towne
\nRyan & Partners PC, Saratoga.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY JAMES T. TOWNE, ESQ.<\/p>\n

Growing up most of us heard the French
\nproverb “the more things change the more they
\nremain the same” at least once from our parents.
\nSo, too, it applies to the state of the legal profession
\nin upstate New York, which continues following
\na pattern ongoing since the start of the
\nGreat Recession in 2008-09.<\/p>\n

Part of the barometer for the profession’s
\ncondition can be measured by the condition of
\nNew York’s law schools. They prime the pump
\nof the profession.<\/p>\n

In the first decade of the century, they flooded
\nthe profession’s engine, leading to a lack of jobs
\nand entry level opportunities. In recent years,
\nNew York’s law schools showed a continuing
\ndecline in enrollment as those schools continued
\nto shrink faculty and admissions in an effort to
\ncatch up with the realities of employment in
\nthe profession.<\/p>\n

In 2015, 11,565 students enrolled in New York
\nlaw schools, down from 12,033 (3 percent) the
\nyear before. New York lagged the national trend
\nwhich showed the total number of students
\nfell by almost 6,000 or a 5 percent decrease in
\nnational enrollment. The National Association
\nfor Law Placement found that overall employment
\nfor recent law graduates fell for the sixth
\nstraight year in 2013 (to 84.5 percent) and that
\nunemployment among 2013 grads was 12.9
\npercent, nearly double the national unemployment
\naverage for the same period of 6.6 percent.<\/p>\n


\nBut with unemployment at a low of nearly 4
\npercent for the Capital District and residential
\nand commercial real estate transactions continuing
\ntheir ever stronger rebound–always
\na strong signal for law firms engaging in that
\npractice area–the legal profession in the Capital
\nDistrict continues on a solid footing.<\/p>\n

And using personal and business bankruptcy
\nfilings as another measure of the local
\neconomy, while a decline may be bad for bankruptcy
\npractitioners, it is an overall indicator of
\na strengthening economy that can only portend
\nwell for the profession as a whole as business
\nfailures decrease and personal financial well
\nbeing increases.<\/p>\n

In 2013, there were 7,838 bankruptcy filings
\nin the Capital District. In 2014, there were
\n7,177, a drop of 8.5 percent; and in 2015 there
\nwere 6,671, a drop of 7.1 percent. While a yearon-
\nyear decline of 8.5 percent and 7.1 percent,
\nrespectively, may seem modest, looking at a
\ndecline of bankruptcy filings of 14.9 percent
\nover two years helps put in perspective the
\nrelative strength the Capital District’s economy
\nis experiencing.<\/p>\n

So what are the profession’s prospects and
\nhurdles in 2016?<\/p>\n

There is no question that the market for legal
\nservices has permanently changed as clients seek
\nfor different ways to deal with legal problems,
\nincluding re-assessing fee arrangements. Clients
\nseek creative ways to deal with the billing structures
\nof law firms. Alternative fee arrangements
\nrepresent a major change from the “old days”
\nwhen firms performed the services and simply
\nbilled by the hour. Now the relationship is seen
\nas more of a partnership between attorney and
\nclient on both the legal and business side where
\nclients and law firms will have to work more
\nclosely on the business aspects of the attorney-client
\nrelationship and how to make it successful
\nfor both parties rather than confined merely to
\nthe legal part of the relationship as in the past.<\/p>\n

Part of this evolving process involves exploring
\nalternative fee agreements, dispute resolution
\nalternatives, as well as seeking out law firms
\nwith unique practice skills or with additional
\nattributes beneficial to the client’s needs.<\/p>\n

“Business as usual” is now a waning occurrence
\nas clients seek a law firm with the best
\nskill set for the client’s needed practice area or
\nseek to leverage the added benefits a law firm
\nmay possess such as that afforded by certified
\nminority status. 2016 should be an exciting year
\nas these trends continue to evolve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James T. Towne, Esq., principal at Towne Ryan & Partners PC, Saratoga. BY JAMES T. TOWNE, ESQ. Growing up most of us heard the French proverb “the more things change the more they remain the same” at least once…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":25289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-reports","category-legal-accounting"],"yoast_head":"\r\nBusiness Report: Things Change, But Remain The Same - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/02\/business-report-things-change-but-remain-the-same\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business Report: Things Change, But Remain The Same - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James T. 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