Analysis of Kirton McConkie.

Salt Lake Community College

ECON 2010: Microeconomics

April 21, 2022

Firm Analysis
Company Profile

Kirton McConkie is a Utah based law firm that is what you would call a “full-service” law firm.

They practice in a wide variety of legal aspects such as civil litigation, real estate, family law, bankruptcy,

corporate, tax and estate planning and many other areas. They are equipped to handle just about any

type of legal issue that could arise between all four of their offices. Kirton McConkie was founded 1964 by

Kirton McConkie and “with offices in Utah and Idaho, Kirton McConkie attorneys have serviced clients in

more than 150 countries and all 50 U.S. states.” (Kirton McConkie, 2022)

Consumer Demand

Legal services in the past and currently are classified to a necessity to those that need them. “Inelastic

demand is typically associated with necessities or, for our purposes, essential legal services. Something

clients really need – bankruptcy, criminal representation, or child custody, to name only a few. Also, when

demand for legal services represents a small portion of the client’s overall budget, those services are

more inelastic.” (James, 2016) Though legal services are far from the survival necessity such as insulin, if

you are in need of those services they are a necessity for the situations regarding custody of your children

or a potential criminal conviction.

Costs

Kirton McConkie’s biggest expenses are the salaries of their employee’s which fall under fixed cost. Of

course they have their normal fixed costs such as rent on buildings, malpractice insurance or utilities. But

unlike a production company whose biggest expense are materials to produce a product, Kirton

McConkie’s would be salary expenses. Law firms bill their clients by the hour for the time spent doing

research, attending hearings, and drafting documents, so naturally it makes sense that salaries are their
biggest expense. Salaries in this company dynamic are interesting, and always changing. We are currently

going through a large inflation throughout the country right now, which will undoubtedly affect this firms

fixed expenses, which is their biggest expense. This company will have to keep up with market levels and

continue to stay competitive to keep a prestigious roster of Attorney’s as they do now. Which in turn will

mean raising the hourly rates that they charge their own clients to keep up with the changing market.

Market Structure

Kirton McConkie falls under the market structure of monopolistic competition. They fall under this

category mainly due to the close substitutes available and the relatively free entry and exit into the

market. The major competitors for Kirton McConkie are going to be other large firms in the state such as

Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, and Scalley Reading Bates Hansen &

Rasmussen. Because the barriers to enter are so low, all you need is a law degree in order to practice, the

market is somewhat saturated. There are many Attorney’ that go out of their own and build their own

firms, and you have firms that have been around for decades, like Kirton McConkie. The market is

saturated and due to that each company is competing against each other which keeps the price

competitive. I don’t foresee this market structure changing in the future. The legal world doesn’t bring a

lot of new innovation in their field, but rely more on experience throughout the years. I also don’t foresee

the barriers for this market to change because they are already so low. The market structure mainly

dictates the price and how the companies advertise. Pricing will always be driven by the market to stay

relevant and in line with what other firms are changing. Advertisement is huge for this market structure,

when you’re offering similar products you are relying on advertisement to set you apart from the many

other firms in the area.

 Works Cited

Home Page. Kirton McConkie. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.kmclaw.com/

James, B. R. (2016, June 6). How much do your rates influence the demand for your services? Richard
James. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://therichardjames.com/do-rates-influence-demand-
for-
services/#:~:text=Also%2C%20when%20demand%20for%20legal,those%20services%20are%20mor
e%20inelastic.