When applied to a legal practice, the bottom line refers to annual firm profits, whether calculated for the firm as a whole or on a per partner basis. There is, of course, nothing wrong with concern about law firm profitability. The rule prohibiting a lawyer from suing for a fee because it was an honorarium, a token of a client's gratitude, was rejected in New York State more than 150 years ago. However, in the three decades since that decline began, our legal culture has become increasingly possessed by the bottom line mentality, a mind set that evaluates professional activity exclusively in terms of short term profits. Our trade journals annually rate law firms in terms of revenue and net income.
Lawyers leave their longtime partners in search of greater profits.
Venerable firms come unglued because of fights over money. In this regard, many large firm lawyers today are no different than their business counterparts. Over the same period of time, business people have come to view the corporation more in terms of the financial value of its assets than as the provider of a particular type of service. This new financial concept, underlying and enhanced by the merger frenzy of the 1980's, is probably where many lawyers first encountered the bottom line mentality. Whatever its source, however, this mentality poses problems for practicing lawyers, for the clients who seek their services, and for society in general.