They shrink from it partly because they aren't sure it sends the right message about the profession and partly because they are in unfamiliar territory. In a perfect world, they would automatically get calls from large clients with interesting cases all of whom pay their bills on time. The growth of the profession in recent years has made the world increasingly less perfect. The number of attorneys is growing at a rate far faster than the general population. The pie is thus being divided into smaller slices.
Clients realize they have more choices in legal services than ever before.
There has been a sharp increase in competition for clients. Many attorneys are scratching their heads because the phone isn't ringing as frequently with new clients. Yellow page ads don't pull like they used to. When the phone does ring, clients ask you to sell yourself. This increase in competition is generated not by the profession but by the marketplace.