Business News New Jersey
A Lawyer Reflects on Changes in His Field
Article reprinted online with permission from BUSINESS
NEWS New Jersey.
From BUSINESS NEWS New Jersey, A Lawyer Reflects on Changes in His Field Philip
L. Chapman of the Roseland law firm Chapman, Henkoff, Kessler, Peduto & Saffer is a
trustee of the corporate and business law section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
BUSINESS News: How long have you practiced law?
Chapman: I graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960, went into the army for six
months, and then started in the practice of law in New Jersey in 1961. I have been doing
it ever since. My specialty subjects have been corporate, commercial and real estate. I
did some heavy litigation in my early career. I also trained in dispute mediation.
BUSINESS News: How has the practice of law changed in 35 years?
Chapman: The first change would be the sheer proliferation of statutory law, regulatory
law and case law. The second is the increase in the number of practicing attorneys and
their dispersion. We have 60,000 lawyers licensed and approximately 27,000 actively
practicing. In 1961 we probably had 8,000 licensed and about 6,000 practicing. Roughly
half of today's lawyers have been admitted to the bar in the last 10 years. When I
started, I was in Newark, which was the recognized law center. There was a street life and
a club life, where you were likely to meet other lawyers. Now lawyers are dispersed, and
they don't know each other very well. That has had a negative effect on the way the
members of the bar treat each other.
BUSINESS News: The marketing of law has changed a lot, hasn't it?
Chapman: There have been some sea changes with respect to whether lawyers view this as
a business or a profession. It is both. Since the Tax Reform Act of 1986 there has been
less legal business and more lawyers trying to get it. That and the loosening of controls
on the ability to advertise and engage in PR means that there is more visible reaching
out. The coupons some lawyers distribute along with your car wash is just one example.
Other lawyers advertise on the back of supermarket carts. Some lawyers advertise on
television and in newspapers. All this is done because it is clear that if you don't do
it, some other lawyer will. Lawyers today can't just wait for their phones to ring.
BUSINESS News: Is that good?
Chapman: I don't make a judgment on whether it's good or bad. The fact that the bar is
hungry and that there are lots of lawyers makes it more of a consumers' market. Even large
corporations are watching their bills more. There will be excesses and a lack of
decorousness of some lawyers will become a concern to both the profession and to
non-lawyers. Certainly the actions of some lawyers after the explosion in Edison did not
serve the bar well. The reach out by lawyers at times has clearly been inappropriate and
indecorous.
BUSINESS News: How has the nature of the business law practice changed?
Chapman: The substantive transactions are the same. People are still buying and selling
businesses, making contracts, signing leases, borrowing money. Who is doing what, though,
may have changed. There are lawyers who live lives in both litigation and commercial
transactions and try to do both. That poses some difficulties because the rhythms of
commercial transactions and litigation don't mesh well. Litigation commands priority over
a lawyer's servicing a business transaction. That is because the courts have deadlines,
adversaries make moves, lawyers make moves. You can't get people to postpone there the way
you can in commercial transactions. A common complaint of business brokers, real estate
brokers and business clients is that lawyers don't pace deals appropriately. That often
results from someone trying to juggle both litigation and commercial transactions.
BUSINESS News: The general public has learned a lot about law from television and O.J.
Chapman: Yes. There are also many lawyers whose mindset in the conduct of their
business comes from television, movies and books, which glorify lawyers as combatants, as
highly competitive and aggressive people who must win. Negotiations are treated as I
win-you lose, zero-sum games. There is a lot of macho contesting between lawyers that is
totally inappropriate. Business lawyers are supposed to be facilitators, and it takes a
strong constitution to ignore a lawyer who acts rudely or inappropriately.
BUSINESS News: The public seems to have a low regard for lawyers. What is the cause of
that?
Chapman: I believe that the years of the Reagan-Bush pulpit, when they both trashed
politicians and lawyers, have brought about a very strong reprise of the ancient antipathy
toward lawyers. Today you get the same negative readouts about both politicians and
lawyers. It's easy to blame all the problems of modern society on lawyers. Why do we have
too much litigation? It's because the lawyers are hungry. Why do we have so many lawsuits?
It's because everyone expects that if you have a bump or a bruise somebody owes you. The
presence of a lot of lawyers is a contributing factor, but it is the pulpit that tries to
lay blame rather than trying to understand the culture we have built.
BUSINESS News: How are the relations between companies and their lawyers changing?
Chapman: Business people will probably have to shop more. The ability of the company
lawyer to answer all questions in view of the proliferation of subjects is limited. One
hopes that the company lawyer will know his or her own limitations and will call in an
expert.
BUSINESS News: So specialization is taking place in law like in so many other fields?
Chapman: Yes, it's the same as in medicine and accounting. But I worry that the bright,
young people become specialized too early. Sometimes they look only at their area of
expertise, rather than at other areas. This sometimes means that a highly intelligent
lawyer can give the wrong advice. Chinese walls have grown up in some firms, and there is
not enough cross-fertilization.
BUSINESS News: Many business people feel that lawyers can be deal breakers. Is that a
fair crack?
Chapman: Absolutely. Too much "I" can get into the lawyer's relationship with
the client. The lawyer ought not be in front of the client except in instances where the
client really wants the lawyer to be the spokesperson. But being out front is a heavy drug
that can tempt a lawyer. We are more verbal than most of our clients, and it's easy for
most of us to dominate our clients. The other thing is that lawyers, without realizing it,
can get into a contest of wills. They want to win.
BUSINESS News: What's hot in law and what's not?
Chapman: For the last five years, most large law firms have been fed most vigorously by
their litigation activity. That means that the litigates tend to be in positions of power
in the firms. Litigates tend to be more surgeon-like, less patient and more brutal. There
is a harshness in firms, which can be seen in the expulsion of partners from some firms. I
don't think this is a particularly good thing for the bar that the executive councils of
law firms are dominated by litigators. The culture of litigation in law firms is
dangerous. Litigators usually don't nourish young lawyers.
BUSINESS News: Last question. If you had to do it over again, would you become a
lawyer?
Chapman: Yes.
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