State’s Law Firms See Uptick in Business

The list of largest law firms in Arkansas reflects little change compared with last year, with one notable exception: Mitchell Williams Selig Gates & Woodyard of Little Rock added eight lawyers to its staff.

The firm of Friday Eldredge & Clark of Little Rock remains the largest law firm in the state with 90 lawyers licensed to practice in Arkansas.

(Click here for a PDF list of the state’s largest law firms. A spreadsheet version is also available.)

Although Mitchell Williams’ addition of eight lawyers put its count at 77, the firm still ranks at No. 2, as it did in 2011.

Harry Hamlin, Mitchell Williams’ managing director, said there was no single reason for the staff increase.

"There’s just some really good talent out there," he said, and when his firm encounters good lawyers, "we’ll hire them and we’ll figure out what to do with them after the fact. And we’ve been pretty successful at that."

That said, Hamlin and others in the state’s legal community also said business had picked up in the last year or so.

"I think in 2011 the overall level of business activities of lawyers was good," said Tom Womack of Womack Landis Phelps & McNeill of Jonesboro. "It certainly improved over 2009 and ’10."

"Last year was more or less flat," Hamlin said. "It has picked up a little bit.

"I think what we found is as some areas of practice scaled back, others get busier. For instance, three years ago you might have seen a drop-off in the commercial finance bond work, that sort of thing, but you had a pickup in foreclosures and workouts and bankruptcies.

"When you have a full-service firm like us, we can make up for deficiencies in one area with another area," Hamlin said. "We’re seeing more business deals. I’ve got a couple right now that are very sizable deals … . Litigation is still holding strong, and some of our other practice areas are still doing well. It’s not back to the way it was four or five years ago, but it’s getting there."

Womack, the outgoing president of the Arkansas Bar Association, said the lingering economic downturn had led law firms to refocus and realign their areas of legal expertise to meet the needs of the market.

"I think law firms have continued to try and refine their capacity to do certain types of work," he said. "It’s a competitive environment and firms are constantly looking for a way to offer more services to the clientele."

Areas of legal practice that are growing, Womack said, include intellectual property, environmental law services, sophisticated business transactions and financial transactions. Those areas have more "practice potential," he said.

"Most everyone feels like circumstances are going to get better and it’s going to be an improving legal services market," Womack said. "It’s just kind of a question of how to capture the growth in that."

Asked whether clients were bargaining harder on fees, Hamlin said, "Well, everybody negotiates on fees, especially large clients." He allowed, however, that "there’s been a little bit more" negotiating.

Hamlin said that national consultants see clients "wanting to go to flat fees or some other arrangement, trying to get away from the billable hours, but the reality is that isn’t really happening. We haven’t actually seen that. Now we have several clients that have frozen our hourly rates or negotiated hourly discounts on our hourly rates across the board. Depending on the client and how big they are, we’ve worked with them and we’re fine with that."

As for the practice of law in general, Hamlin said it’s changing and one of the biggest changes is the use of technology.

"With email and all the other technology changes, clients expect a lot, and they expect it sooner, faster, better," he said. "We have attorneys that are able to essentially practice 24/7 wherever they are in the world." What with iPads and smartphones, "whether they’re actually sitting here or not, they’re constantly working."

And though that can make lawyers more productive, Hamlin said, "It makes the practice of law more difficult. You’re really never off. I have clients all over the country, so I get emails at all hours of the day and weekends. If you want a successful practice, you’ve got to be responsive. They’re working. They’re on their smartphones. They expect you to be."