Champagne & Razor Blades: 10,000 Clients & Growing

Today, Jimerson Birr welcomed its 10,000th unique client. A little more than 17 years after we opened our doors, 10,000 clients have trusted this firm with something that mattered to them. I have been trying to figure out what that number means ever since.

On June 24, 2009, we had 16 clients. Really, we had 1 client and 15 businesses who were just doing us a favor. There was no institutional experience to fall back on, and no certainty that any of this would work. There was a fledgling law firm, a handful of people willing to believe in it, some clients willing to trust us, and an enormous amount of ambition.

From the founder’s chair, 10,000 clients doesn’t feel like a smooth upward line. It feels like a heartbeat: up, down, up, down. Great victories followed by punches in the mouth. Breakthroughs followed by sleepless nights. I’ve often described it as each day being either champagne or razor blades.

Our clients’ stories are theirs to tell, so I won’t name them here. But I carry them with me. A company protected. A partnership repaired. A terrible deal unwound. A crisis contained. A claim defeated. A livelihood preserved. A life-changing exit. A wrong made right. And sometimes, an outcome that forced us to get better before the next client needed us.

So what does 10,000 unique relationships mean to me? It is 10,000 times a business looked at a problem important enough to keep them awake at night and decided: I want Jimerson Birr standing next to me.

That is an extraordinary privilege and responsibility.

Our clients built this firm every bit as much as we did. They gave us the problems from which we developed expertise. They gave young lawyers the chance to become seasoned lawyers, including a 30-year-old lawyer in 2009. They referred their friends and business partners, and they pushed us to become more sophisticated, responsive, specialized, and useful.

Every person who has worked here has played a role in earning that trust. Some, like Brandon C. Meadows and James O. “Joby” Birr, III, were here when the firm was tiny. Others joined later and helped build what came next. Each generation has added something the generation before it did not have.

The first 10,000 built the platform. The next 10,000 get to launch from it.

The first 10,000 required us to build our reputation, people, expertise, systems, capabilities, and understanding of what small and midsize businesses really need from their lawyers. The next 10,000 start with all of that in place, plus 17 years of experience showing us where the traditional model of legal service needs to change.

The old way of law is increasingly incompatible with the way modern businesses operate. SMBs need lawyers who understand their businesses, anticipate problems earlier, move quickly, communicate clearly, use technology intelligently, and bring practical solutions to problems that are rarely just legal.

That is where Jimerson Birr is going. We are leaving more of the old way behind and building a firm around the needs of the businesses we serve.

For the mid-market business owner, entrepreneur, executive, or leadership team who has ever felt underserved by the legal industry, the message is simple: help is on the way.

We want to be the firm standing watch for those businesses: seeing around corners, identifying threats early, protecting what they have built, and helping them pursue what comes next.

It took us 17 years to reach the first 10,000 clients. I want us to reach the next 10,000 in one-third of the time.

To our clients: thank you. To everyone who helped build this firm: celebrate what 10,000 represents.

And to the next 10,000 small and midsize businesses ready to leave the old way behind: we’re ready for you.

Charlie Jimerson
Founder and CEO