ABA Article: No Associates - Just Consultants
I saw this article in the ABA Journal about a Canadian Law firm that has no associates, just consultants who come and go as they please, and work on whatever projects they choose.
The article is a reminder for me about the difficulties of growing a small law practice, specifically the high cost of labor tends to keep small firms small.
If the economic model of your practice is like mine, where you trade time for money (as opposed to some litigators who can take cases on contingency and may have an opportunity to snag an award where their fee is greater than the time and cash investment they put into the case) the only way to grow to make a meaningful income is to leverage someone else's labor.
Just about everywhere, but especially in New York City, the cost for quality talent is very high--and can sometimes represent more than what some solo lawyers make themselves in a year.
In trying to manage the growth of my own practice, I have used "consultant-lawyers" to varying degrees of success, but I've found there are complications with that model that make it faulty (aside from any potential ethical or insurance issues).
Often, consultants are not vested in a client's matter, they are just a hired gun, and sometimes don't give the client the value-added personal service that is a relationship building opportunity.
At least in my practice, the work isn't commoditized, that is, lots of small, impersonal tasks to complete where quality client contact is unnecessary to get the work done. All of my work involves close personal interaction with clients. Perhaps this is just a reflection of my particular pracitce (corporate--representing entrepreneurs and high growth businesses), or my personal style, but I'm reluctant to rely exclusively on this model--they might was well us a legal form service like LegalZoom.
Part of the idea behind LawFirmIncubator is not just to share referrals, but also to create opportunities for lawyers here to share staff. For example, I may not be able to afford a mid-level corporate associate on my own, but me and another lawyer may be able to. My job as a manager of the project is to match those two needs and create opportunities for our lawyers to build a platform to grow from.
The article is a reminder for me about the difficulties of growing a small law practice, specifically the high cost of labor tends to keep small firms small.
If the economic model of your practice is like mine, where you trade time for money (as opposed to some litigators who can take cases on contingency and may have an opportunity to snag an award where their fee is greater than the time and cash investment they put into the case) the only way to grow to make a meaningful income is to leverage someone else's labor.
Just about everywhere, but especially in New York City, the cost for quality talent is very high--and can sometimes represent more than what some solo lawyers make themselves in a year.
In trying to manage the growth of my own practice, I have used "consultant-lawyers" to varying degrees of success, but I've found there are complications with that model that make it faulty (aside from any potential ethical or insurance issues).
Often, consultants are not vested in a client's matter, they are just a hired gun, and sometimes don't give the client the value-added personal service that is a relationship building opportunity.
At least in my practice, the work isn't commoditized, that is, lots of small, impersonal tasks to complete where quality client contact is unnecessary to get the work done. All of my work involves close personal interaction with clients. Perhaps this is just a reflection of my particular pracitce (corporate--representing entrepreneurs and high growth businesses), or my personal style, but I'm reluctant to rely exclusively on this model--they might was well us a legal form service like LegalZoom.
Part of the idea behind LawFirmIncubator is not just to share referrals, but also to create opportunities for lawyers here to share staff. For example, I may not be able to afford a mid-level corporate associate on my own, but me and another lawyer may be able to. My job as a manager of the project is to match those two needs and create opportunities for our lawyers to build a platform to grow from.
Labels: consultants, employees
posted by LawFirmIncubator at
2:56 PM
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