‘Any customer can have a car painted any color he wants, so long as it is black,” Henry Ford famously said. That attitude, of this is how we do it, regardless of the needs and wants of those for whom we are doing it, can fairly describe the approach taken by many large law firms to complex litigation today.
Regardless of the nature and demands of the case, the large firm has the same recipe for handling it. Start with a senior partner who may not have much, if any, experience taking complex cases to trial. Add in a junior partner or two and some senior associates who may be earnest, bright and hard working, but also lacking any trial experience or strategic insight into the case. Sprinkle in some junior associates whose prime motivation is overcoming crushing law school debt, along with a team of paralegals looking to take on crushing law school debt and become junior associates.
