Maybe you’ve never heard of the third wave of lawyering. That’s OK, lots of people haven’t. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t on the horizon and coming at us fast. Better join the crowd or get out of the way before it runs you down.
OK, so we begin with “Wave Theory” as postulated by Alvin Toffler. Toffler talks about how society goes through waves, beginning with an agrarian society and moving into an industrial one. First we hunt for dinner and then we figure out a way to build a factory for it.
The upshot is that an industrial society by definition mandates uniformity of product – McDonald’s in New York is exactly the same as McDonald’s in Topeka (or so I’ve been told). We order one from column A, one from column B. If we don’t like the type of bun the burger comes on we don’t have a choice.
So, too, with legal services. The consumer of legal services walks into an office and is greeted by a receptionist. The consumer takes a seat in the waiting room and wait for the lawyer, who eventually comes out and speaks with the consumer in the office or conference room. Consumer is quoted a fee and either accepts or declines. Pay a fee and walk out, a done deal.
The Third Wave is upon us and is also refered to as the “post-industrial” society and the “information age”. This society is represented by “subcults” or diverse lifestyles, “adhocracies” or fluid organizations that adapt quickly to change, and where information begins to substitute for most material resources. Mass production is replaced by mass customization; offering personalized and cheaper goods, services.
And how does this all relate to lawyers? Well, a “Third Wave law firm” works from homes, cubicles or small shared offices free from the confines of standardization, centralization, concentration, synchonization and bureaucracy, which has primarily contributed to the disatisfaction of lawyers with the practice of law. A Third Wave lawyer doesn’t have a full-time staff but prefers to work with Virtual Assistants or freelancers on specific cases or tasks.
Third Wave lawyers don’t maintain traditional offices that most consumers typically associate with law firms. They are paperless, enabling them to keep all information at their fingertips at all times. They do their research online. In short, they do business whenever and where ever they happen to be at that moment. Third Wave lawyers refuse to be confined by time, space and the restrictions that a typical law office employs.
The most important part of being a Third Wave lawyer is to fire your full-time staff. Every one of them gets shown the door, which will promptly close as they leave the premises. They answer their own phones, read and respond to their own email, faxes and mail, and maintain their own schedule. In short, they take control of their world.
There are a ton of financially successful Third Wave lawyers, and the number is growing by leaps and bounds. I like to think of myself as a Third Wave lawyer, but here are some others:
- Chuck Newton, bankruptcy lawyer in Texas;
- Grant Griffiths, family lawyer in Kansas;
- Peter Olson, a solo in Chicago;
- Susan Cartier-Liebel, a lawyer and consultant to solo practitioners; and
- The Greatest American Lawyer.
Work online, use the Internet as much as possible, and your clients will do the same. How would you feel if you took in half the number of cases each month but got to keep 95% of your gross income as net profit? Would you like to work less, make more, get off the hamster wheel that keeps you tied to the office until all hours of the night, and spend some time with family and friends?
If so, then the Third Wave is for you. Stop making excuses about why you aren’t doing it and can’t do it – you can.
