Present-day attorneys earn significantly less than their predecessors, and the increasing cost of law school isn’t the primary reason. In reality, the steep decline in attorneys’ earnings is primarily due to clients’ increasing reluctance to spend on legal services.
Many attorneys have been addressing the increasing reluctance to spend by slashing their rates. This has led to a dangerous race to the bottom for attorney fees.
But you don’t have to slash your rates just because a lot of attorneys have been slashing theirs. You can continue to charge healthy rates if you can show that you generated ideal outcomes for previous clients who came to you with similar situations.
For example, if you’re an injury attorney, you can show new clients that you brought previous clients in similar situations X dollars in exchange for the fees they paid. If you’re a defense attorney, you can show new clients that you saved previous clients in similar situations X dollars in fines or X years in prison in exchange for the fees they paid.
If you can prove to new clients that you generated ideal outcomes for your previous clients, then you don’t need to lower your rates at all, much less slash them.
Don’t join your competition in the race to the bottom for attorney fees. Show your value instead!