Law Partners

My husband and I bought a practice a couple months ago. Staying busy for sure!

Unless you’ll be committing malpractice by taking time off, here’s a reminder: you can’t take care of your clients if you’re burnt out. Turn your phone off, you don’t owe anyone an explanation.

What is the best way to find a qualified attorney candidate for a smaller firm looking for an associate with some litigation experience?

Do you expect the value of your law firm equity to increase over time? If so, by what % annually?

For those firms with multiple equity partners: (1) how did/do you structure buy-in for a new equity partner? (2) how did you value your business for the buy-in? (3) how are equity partners’ compensati… more

Poll: how much of a difference does a junior vs senior corporate partner make in terms of client outcomes? Non-equity vs equity? Just thinking that there’s a lot of junior corporate partners out the… more

I’m curious how other small and midsized firms are structured. Board of directors or executive leadership group? What types of officers and what do they do? Practice group leaders? A firm administrato… more

Is there such a thing as a “career consultant” in our field? This bowl seems to be the closest thing.
Basically someone to discuss issues with that doesn’t have a motivation (like co workers or head h… more

Comp help! I am in a mid-sized firm and collected appx 2.2M for 2020 on my clients that I originated. It is expected I'll do the same or more for 2021. How do I make the best case for what my bas… more

Looking for insight on lateraling as a partner. My speciality area is in high demand, and have been getting hounded by recruiters. Started taking those calls, which lead to multiple interviews. Cont

Ok I’m just going to ask this: If you haven’t talked to a client in a while and you ping them with a “hey how’s it going, wanted to check in,” etc email, are you met with radio silence?
Cont:

Interested in perspectives on training a very inexperienced person (high school graduate) to be the assistant you want them to be (requiring patience and training to develop skills the person may or m… more

Is anyone else having a hard time finding a good associate (one who is not only smart, but has savvy, a "professional presence" and demonstrates a passion for their career)? We'd like … more

Have a client contact at my biggest client - key decision maker - asking repeatedly over the last week or so to meet up for a drink this week. He’s in town for a while.

$1.5M client and new “profitability tool” showing %0 profit. Credit split 50/50 btw 20 year attorney/equity partner (JEP) and a much more senior/connected EP (SEP). Both SEP and JEP developed separ… more

What are the issues to look out for when negotiating an income partner compensation?

I’m considering leaving an Amlaw 200 firm as an income partner to join a small firm as an equity partner. I’ll hopefully be bringing all of my work with me. This turned out to be the case when I made … more

$1.15M in collections this year under my origination, $900k in working collections. 2 year track record as partner. Am Law 100. What should my salary be for 2021?

How do I get associates to invest in cases as if they were responsible for them? I tell associates that they should take responsibility but few of them step up.

How much do you give your secretary as a holiday gift? This seems to be based on region and I’ve heard of partners in NYC giving thousands, but that seems crazy.

What is a fair range of compensation for a W-2 Non-Equity Partner at AmLaw 200 firm:
$700,000+ in billables on the year;
$500,000 in originations collected;
I realize there are other considerations than the a… more

How do firms handle file distribution? We a boutique firm with 14 attorneys. We do national work on a contingency fee. We have big companies as clients, but they are not individual attorney's clie… more

Current non-equity partner at a firm with 10 attorneys; 2 equity partners). I’m currently paid with a salary plus profit sharing for a portion of the work I do (we do contingency work only). I have ch… more

Current non-equity partner here. Up for equity this year. Had a good year. Concerned that my firm will either forgo giving me a bonus or give me a lower bonus than I deserve in exchange for possibly g… more

Ideas for client gifts this year? Typically has been a nice bottle of wine, but only to the clients I had previously shared drinks with so I knew they were wine drinkers.

Partner in a small-mid size firm here. My practice is highly specialized, and I’m the rainmaker for that group. I am mobile and I’ve no need for a secretary or office, and due to Covid I have been en… more

Do any managing partners/management committee members have any experience with utilizing an executive coach?

Is it common practice for firms to pay for tail malpractice coverage for newly hired partners?

Relatively new partner here. Recently, I took my eye off the ball of a small closing (assuming, incorrectly, that the senior associate was on top of things), and the client became openly frustrated wi… more

I’ve been the exclusive appellate attorney at my office for five years as an associate and 11 months as a “partner.” No equity partners. My appeals come from other partners. Once a case comes to me o… more

With covid this year, most firm holiday celebrations/dinners etc. have been canceled. Other than actual bonuses, what is everyone doing to show your associates and assistants you appreciate the hard w… more

Not sure if anyone is interested in commercial real estate or looking for alternative investment opportunities but we are working with a couple of groups that have some pretty neat opportunities. Happ… more

My firm is looking into digital marketing. Admittedly, we know very little about it. We plan on obtaining bids from outside vendors. Can anyone provide any insight into how to evaluate vendors, what … more

Managing partner of a Midwestern family law firm. Four lawyers and three staff. We have been a 100% remote and electronic practice since March. With COVID numbers spiking again, we have no plans to r… more

I've been a lawyer for 12 years. I started up my own law firm immediately out of law school. I've grown that now to a 5 attorney practice. I'm starting to get courted by mid-tier regional… more

Non-equity partner here, planning to put my name in the hat for an equity vote next fall. Looks like my buy-in will be approximately $100k.

Question: how do people pay for their buy-in? I've dive… more