By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Scott Schwartz wanted to grow up and become a history teacher, but his mother had another idea.

"That's great ... right after you go to law school," he recalls his mother saying to him at the time.

In what could be filed under the category "Moms know best," Schwartz went on to build a successful law practice. And the Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria litigator is the new president of the Bar Association of Erie County.

He takes the lead role in a time of economic uncertainty and with the profession in flux. Schwartz says he is optimistic about the future, while at the same time saying there is much to be done to right the legal ship in Western New York.

"We've taken a bit of a hit as a profession in recent years," he said, citing improving the image and restoring respect to the profession as top priorities during his term. "People tend to like their own lawyer, when they need one, but not the rest of us."

Asked if he saw the image issue as a matter of attorneys not doing enough of a public relations push on their own behalf, he acknowledged that was part of the problem.

"You'll find that most lawyers are community-minded, and we probably should do a better job of publicizing that," he said. "We have so many lawyers giving back to the community, Lawyers for Learning working with kids to help them read, lawyers working on civil cases for no money, but people may not know that."

In addition to their reputations taking a beating, Schwartz says the economy has taken its toll on the Western New York legal community.

"When the economy affects businesses, it affects all of the lawyers out here who represent businesses," he said. "As a result, we have experienced some falloff, some layoffs."

Despite the challenges, he sees area attorneys faring much better than their downstate counterparts - though he said he hopes things are beginning to look up.

"The statistics show it (the economy) is rebounding," he said. "I think we will be fine, but I also think we need to remain vigilant."

As for his new role as president of the bar, Schwartz said he sees the association as an important resource for members, especially when times are tough.

"A high percentage of our lawyers are solo or small-firm practitioners, and many of them have struggled," he said. "Our job is to do what we can to help those who need it, and my job is to promote the overall profession."

 

By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

New York State Bar Association President Stephen Younger isn't one to mince words, calling 2009 "the worst year in the history of America to be a lawyer."

With that as a backdrop, Younger was determined to hit the ground running when he assumed the leadership role earlier this month. His first big initiative to bring in the best and brightest legal minds from across the state for a task force charged with examining the future of the legal profession. It is the kind of introspective career soul-searching that Younger believes is critical to the long-term success of legal professionals statewide.

"My sense is, having weathered the storm, we are seeing signs that the economy is turning around," he said. "And now seemed like the appropriate time to take stock."

The task force is divided into four groups that Younger said he sees as the core areas of focus for New York state legal professionals.

• Harnessing new technologies to improve efficiency and to meet the challenges of the future.

• Training and promoting new lawyers.

• Developing ways for attorneys to achieve work-life balance despite the 24/7 virtual office created by new technology.

• Reforming law firm structures, including an emphasis on the use of alternative billing methods.

"I'm a believer that when you face a crisis, it is a great time to make change," he said, "We had the option of maintaining the status quo and hoping things would get better, or actually looking at the cause of the problems and trying to look to the future and influence that change ourselves."

At the top of Younger's list is addressing the ever-changing role technology plays in the legal profession. In fact, he sees it as such a focal point that he carries it over into the second of the four task force items: balancing lawyers' downtime in a world of 24-hour access to information.

"Ten years ago we all thought a blackberry was a fruit, and today it is just about taking over the lives of any active professional," he said. "Ten years ago we thought cell phones were for talking on, and now there is a whole generation that use their phones primarily to text."

It's that evolution that the bar association needs to focus its energies on and get out in front of, he said.

"Quite simply, the lawyer who figures out what the next game-changing technology is is going to be the successful lawyer in the next decade," he said.

Another hot-button legal topic - alternative billing - is in Younger's sights. Locally, several firms recently said that the shift away from the traditional billable hour will increase as the client demands it, and that trend is slowly on the rise in Western New York.

"I think this is really a touchstone issue of our time," he said. "The hourly billing system has only been in effect for say, 50, 60 years, but it has really taken over the marketplace."

According to Younger, the system has taken over most firms to the point that associates are measured by the "quantity of their work, not the quality of their work." On the flip side, he said most clients feel the system is backward.

"When the client does well, the lawyer does poorly and when the client does poorly, the lawyer does well because a case drags on," he said. "If a case goes on for 10 years, the client has to pay the lawyer a fortune."

While Younger sees most lawyers as conservative by nature and averse to changing the system, he, too, feels that the push back from clients will necessitate the change to alternative billing methods.

He also addressed the idea that there is a great divide in the legal communities of Western New York and those attorneys practicing downstate. Similar to the comparison made when the housing market crashed, Younger said because the local legal community never had out-of-control hiring and salaries that firms in New York City experienced, there was no great bubble to pop when times got tough.

"Beyond that, I think the issues are the same for Western New York as they are for New York City. The ramifications may be somewhat different, though."