Players in communications as well as the legal sector paid close attention to Patton Boggs' announcement yesterday that it was laying off 65 staff. As the media, including POLITICO, report, the lobbying and law firm earned $2 million less in 2012 than it did in 2011.
The issue is whether this distress at Patton Boggs is an isolated incident or a signal of hard or harder times to come in the businesses of persuasion and law. Because of the media, thought leaders, and fear associated with two brutal recessions in the 21st century, many of us have been conditioned to frame events in terms of possible trends.
The downside of that is that we may force fit the pieces, providing us with misleading information. Also, given that organizations are driven to create their own space or brand their behavior has been more idiosyncratic. Some may hit on winning best practices while others keep losing ground.
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