A look at the business of law

People need lawyers for a variety of reasons: personal injury lawsuits, estate planning, taxation, workers' compensation, criminal defense, bankruptcy, divorce and just general litigation. The top law firm in the region -- Limbaugh, Russell, Payne & Howard in Cape Girardeau, with 12 lawyers on staff, even handles cases relating to entertainment law.

Local lawyers and their clients regularly appear in municipal, district, circuit, state and federal trial and appellate courts. Law firms have to be loaded with talent to cover the diverse, and sometimes unusual, needs of their clients. Law firms are like most businesses -- they recruit the best legal minds they can find.

Joe Russell, law partner at the Limbaugh law firm, said some law firms use professional marketers to locate prospective associates, but his firm does not.

"We do it ourselves, and we take our time and keep an eye out for good prospects," said Russell. "We frequently get inquiries from attorneys interested in joining our firm."

Russell said his firm doesn't keep a file of job applicants because lawyers usually find work quickly.

"We watch students as they proceed through law school, and we talk with prospective associates. The interview process varies, but all prospects would be talked with more than once," he said.

Russell said his firm has hired lawyers from other states and from many different law schools, and no law school is favored over another. He said his firm is considering hiring another lawyer next year.

Although lawyers handle many cases that could be deemed routine, some are anything but. At the area's second largest law firm -- Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane and Berens in Cape Girardeau, with 11 lawyers on staff, law partner Richard Steele said that some years ago he got a phone call from an acquaintance of his in Memphis, the accountant and business manager of actress Cybil Shepard.

"He asked me if I'd like to put together a trust for her," said Steele. "And I was delighted to do it. I talked to her several times over the phone. It was kind of funny ... she always wanted to use secret phone numbers."

Steele also recalls representing a woman charged with murder.

"Years ago, when I was a young lawyer, I did a case for a woman who killed her boyfriend in his sleep in Cape Girardeau. She had signed a suicide note and misspelled his last name. In court, the judge ordered her to spell his last name, and she misspelled it again the same way. She finally pleaded to murder in the second degree. As a lawyer, you take the cards you're dealt."

It has been said that the United States is the most litigious country in the world -- there are more lawyers here than in any other country.

Mike Murphy of Osburn, Hine, Kuntze, Yates & Murphy in Cape Girardeau, the third largest law firm in the region, with eight lawyers on staff, said his firm has seen a steady increase in business.

"We're getting busier over time. I don't know if we're working harder or it's an increase in litigation, but we've got plenty of work," said Murphy.

He said his firm handles civil litigation that includes medical malpractice, personal liability, toxic tort defense and general commercial cases.

"Our firm has grown over the years. We were founded by four partners and we now have eight lawyers on staff. And another one will join us in August. He's a young man clerking for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen Limbaugh in Jefferson City."

A law office typically has many employees in addition to lawyers. While lawyers assume ultimate responsibility for legal work, they often delegate many of their tasks to paralegals. Paralegals -- also called legal assistants -- perform many of the same tasks as lawyers; however, they are prohibited from carrying out duties considered to be the practice of law, such as setting legal fees, giving legal advice and presenting cases in court.

Joseph Blanton Jr., of Blanton, Rice, Sidwell & Nickell in Sikeston, a firm tied with the Osburn firm as the third largest in the region, said paralegals help his firm's lawyers put together documents needed for business transactions, and they help prepare litigation cases.

"Lawsuits generate an enormous amount of paper and electronic information, and the paralegals keep the files organized," said Blanton, adding that paralegals also make arrangements for and help the lawyers prepare for depositions, closings and trials.

"Our paralegals have been either recent college graduates who are self-starters, or persons who have worked in law offices for many years."

Blanton said his firm also employs two legal nurse consultants who are registered nurses that focus on medical issues in legal cases.

"When hiring a nurse consultant or a paralegal, we look for intelligence, the ability to work independently, and the ability to keep 15 balls in the air at the same time," said Blanton.

The practice of law, like many businesses, has changed over the years. At Buerkle, Beeson, Ludwig, Jackson & Boner in Jackson, the fourth largest law firm in the region, with six lawyers on staff, Joe Buerkle said the changes are dramatic.

"Primary changes relate to the tech field," said Buerkle. "We cannot operate and be current today without a computer, fax, e-mail and online resources like searchable databases. A lawyer can be very active today and not physically see a client for weeks."

Buerkle said it has become very difficult for law firms to cover all areas of the law. His firm has had to concentrate on certain areas of practice in order to stay current and effective. A true general practitioner, he said, is becoming very rare. He said lawyers are well advised to carve out a niche and concentrate on it.

Buerkle said cases decided by federal and state appellate courts are "the overwhelming force that drives the change in law. This is despite the preoccupation of the general populace with legislative action."

It is the task of the lawyer to make sure that change does not overwhelm order, said Buerkle. "Order is what our system of justice is all about."

And what would be a typical day for a Southeast Missouri lawyer?

Michael Ponder, law partner in Cook, Barkett, Maguire & Ponder in Cape Girardeau, the fifth largest law firm in the region, with five lawyers on staff, said he gets to work about 8 a.m., checks his e-mail, returns phone calls, checks his regular mail about 9, attends a deposition or two and leaves the office about 5 or 5:30 p.m.

"We are fortunate here that we carefully select our cases, and that gives us a flexible schedule," said Ponder, adding he often spends two or three days a week on the road attending depositions. He has a regional litigation practice, but he also travels to St. Louis, Illinois, Arkansas, Texas and other states. His firm currently has a case pending in Washington, D.C.

Ponder said he takes referrals from other lawyers, and on a typical day he would spend time reviewing material. If he takes the case, an appointment would be necessary to meet the client. He also interviews potential new clients about three times a week.

According to the publication Lawyers Weekly, the largest law firm in Missouri is St. Louis-based Bryan Cave, which has 319 lawyers on staff.