Law Firm Partners

You are a partner in a law firm and you have decided to make a lateral move. You want it to be the right move to a better platform. Where do you start and how do you maximize the likelihood of a successful outcome?

Just weeks before Stewart Dolin committed suicide in 2010, he told his therapist he still felt anxious about his position at Reed Smith, the global firm he had joined as a result of its 2007 merger with his former home, 140-lawyer Chicago firm Sachnoff & Weaver.

The legal profession has never been more cutthroat. As the race for revenue intensifies, firms are putting more pressure on their partners to perform in a number of criteria. If they don't, it will be reflected in their compensation, title and possibly their place in the firm.

A federal appeals court rejected an attempt to loosen restrictions on private investment in the legal industry, dismissing arguments that ethics rules on so-called "fee splitting" impinge on lawyers' First Amendment rights.

There is no question that today's sophisticated clientele is placing more emphasis on the full service concept. Multi-disciplinary practices are a good example of how clients want all or most of their outside services handled by the same organization. The Walmart one-stop shopping idea has become part of the legal profession. Thus, the firm needs to determine how it can best deliver its legal services with this full service concept in mind.

It is fast becoming an imperative for elite firms to widen the range of their partner compensation. Too narrow a range allows competitors with wider ranges to lure away the most commercially successful partners.

The New Year and the New Administration has areas of taxation estate planning and philanthropy on the front burner. No one is sure what will be happening with the minority discounts regulations in turmoil and proposed guidance of the modification of charities partnership interest and unrelated business taxable income (UBTI). By integrating a number of tried and tested tools, we may create a platform for substantial savings.

The attorney-client relationship is not one that always ends well. The client is able to discharge the attorney at any time, but outstanding legal fees must be addressed.