Why the Books of Business of Today’s Senior Attorneys Compare to Taxi Medallions in the Mid-2010s

In Ep. 46, Senior Attorney Match’s Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. discusses why the Books of Business of today’s Senior Attorneys compare to taxi cab medallions in the Mid-2010s.

Ep. 46 includes the following:

 

Topic 1: Uber in the 2010s: A Case Study of Disruption to Adoption

 

As Poock explains, in the early part of the mid-2010s, owners of taxi cab medallions “absolutely started to see the writing on the wall. . .  they started to feel in the early part of the 2010s the disruption that Uber had started to present - not getting as many rides to and from the airport, not getting as many rides from Midtown to Downtown.”

 

Why?

 

Simply stated, consumers proved in the 2010s that we prefer the convenience of ordering rides via the Uber app, rather than waiting to hail a taxi.

 

Topic 2: How the Books of Bus. of Sr. Attys. in the Mid-2020s Compares to Taxi Medallion Owners in the 2010s

 

As Poock points out, society’s digital pivot in 2020 accelerated the e-disruption in the legal industry, causing consumers of legal services, i.e., clients, to pivot to searching for their lawyers online rather than rely upon yester-year’s Word-of-Mouth custom of asking for lawyer referrals from their friends, relatives, work colleagues, professional advisors, etc.

 

Poock references an Exhibit “A” and Exhibit “B” to show how the largest law firms in America continue adopting SEO and invest in Google to attract the digital attention of potential clients. By example, Hennessey Digital’s 2023 study, “America’s Most Googled Personal Injury Law Firms” reports that Morgan & Morgan draws the attention of approximately 266,000 Google searches per month.

 

As Poock states, “[B]ecause clients are searching for their lawyers online, what we are seeing is that [Senior Attorneys’] revenues are actually going down because if you're not being found, you're not going to be hired. And if you're not hired by new clients, you're not going to be generating as much revenues.”

 

Poock also offers the following distinction between Senior Attorneys in the early part of the mid-2020s to taxi cab medallion owners in the early 2010s:

 

Unlike Uber drivers did who did not need either the medallions or taxi cabs of Taxi Medallion Owners, Growing Law Firms continue to need Senior Attorney-led law firms because senior attorneys continue to offer: (1) A Book of Business; (2) Their subject matter knowledge; (3) Their good will; and (4) Their Digital Value.

 

As Poock recommends: “[W]hile your Book of Business is . . . filled with clients, filled with referral sources, we are recommending that now, in the early part of the mid-2020s, is the ideal time for Senior Attorneys to consider selling to, joining, merging with, associating with Growing Law Firms that want and need what they have.”

 

Buzzer Beater: Why the Books of Business of Today’s Senior Attorneys Compare to Taxi Medallions in the Mid-2010s

 

As the 2020s progress, the Books of Business of Senior Attorneys will become less valuable due to many Senior Attorneys not adopting Multi-Channel Digital Marketing and thereby not replenishing their Books of Business at a pace comparable to yester-year.

 

Unlike the digital disruption that led to the plummeting in value of taxi cab medallions in the 2010s, the digital disruption in the legal industry in the early part of the mid-2020s presents the right time for Senior Attorneys to consider selling their law firms while Senior Attorneys continue to have: (1) A valuable Book of Business filled with clients and referral sources; (2) Good Will; (3) Subject Matter Knowledge; and (4) A treasure trove of digital content that Growing Law Firms want and need.

 

As Poock states, though, “[I]f you wait too long, and as your Book of Business may continue to decrease in value, your practice will become worth less.”