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deals and litigation in the hundreds of millions.
Not only are virtual law rms like Rimon o ering brick & mortar loca- tions but now, brick & mortar rms are expanding on a virtual basis.
Chris Wilson is a partner who le one of the largest virtual rms, to join Taylor English, a brick & mortar rm based in Atlanta. He described why he le a virtual rm but has (with management) determined the virtual platform is the best way to expand in modern times.
“I previously worked for a 150+ at- torney virtual rm where there was zero marketing or IT support. at’s not going to work for most attorneys who are accustomed to the resources of BigLaw. When Taylor English de- cided to expand on a national basis, we decided to do so through attorneys working remotely. Lower risk and no long-term real estate obligations. is allows us to pay 80% on their book and still o er the support that comes with paralegals, associates, and all the back-o ce support needed to handle the largest of deals or cases.”
Warning: is Isn’t for Everybody Jill Williamson is a former virtual law rm attorney. While she seemed to view her former virtual law rm colleagues with genuine admiration, the platform didn’t work for her. She o ers this caveat: “ e virtual rm I worked at was purely performance based. (Note: there are now virtual and hybrid rms that o er draws). So it’s not enough to have a marketing plan. You have to have the clients who
will port with you.”
is was repeated by every former
virtual law rm attorney we spoke to, with one exception. We spoke to a partner who has a loyal client base but was clear that other factors that should be taken into consideration.
I spoke with Paula Jill Krasny, a trademark and branding lawyer, at length regarding her time spent in BigLaw, virtual law, and now a full- service, mid-size rm in Chicago, Levenfeld Pearlstein.
At one point, Ms. Krasny was re- cruited to help spearhead the Chicago presence of a virtual law rm. While her experience at the virtual rm was
positive, she missed the in-person in- teraction and collaboration.
Although she could have chosen to re-enter the BigLaw ranks, she instead joined Levenfeld Pearlstein. She was attracted by the rm’s entrepreneurial and collaborative culture as well as its exibility and camaraderie. For her, it represented the sweet spot between BigLaw and virtual law.
Of note, is the fact that of the ve partners we interviewed who le vir- tual law rms, none of them returned to BigLaw. Without exception, they went to boutiques or elite mid-sized rms like Levenfeld Pearlstein.
In contrast, the partners at the ex- ceptional virtual and hybrid rms were nothing less than ebullient. Su- san Metcalfe is a former AmLaw 100 partner who now works at Potomac Law Group, a virtual law rm that started in Washington D.C. and has been growing nationally.
“I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life,” she beamed. “When I was at BigLaw, I saw people who made a lot of money but were absolutely miserable. I was one of them. I was a partner and I had no control over my rates or whether I could charge based on at fees or other alternative fee arrangements, I had to deal with un- reasonably high demands in terms of con icts, billables, grueling hours and bureaucracy, in order to feed a system that was dysfunctional.
“Here, it’s not about racking hours and stats in order to appease the com- mittee who decides your compensa- tion. It’s about putting real value and real relationships with clients rst.”
Rimon Law Partner Lisa-Marie Monsanto focused more on the di er- ence between Rimon and “eat-what- you-kill” virtual rms where cross- selling is non-existent. “ at is simply not true at Rimon. As a nance lawyer I regularly work with and cross mar- ket my colleagues in tax, real estate, litigation, bankruptcy and intellectual property. What is di erent at Rimon is that we do not have the tremendous overhead found at traditional law rms. Our clients want excellent le- gal services at a reasonable cost. ey place less emphasis on large teams and Class A o ce space.
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“On a personal level, Rimon pro- vides a great work-life balance for many of us wanting to help aging par- ents and spend more time with our families.”
Clients also seem to appreciate what these new rms have to o er. Stacy Papadopoulos is the General Counsel of the American Gaming As- sociation.
“My primary contacts (at the vir- tual rm) are from big law rms, of- ten with in-house experience, who graduated from top law schools. So the quality of representation and le- gal product is never a question. An experienced in-house counsel knows that most of the work they send out, doesn’t require a dozen lawyers charg- ing close to $1,000 an hour. Nowa- days, I usually prefer to send work to our virtual rm as they provide a much higher level of value.”
Ms. Papadopoulos does point out a signi cant weakness that is largely due to the fact that these rms are rel- atively nascent in their development, as compared to the 100 year old be- hemoths against whom they compete.
“If these new rms have an Achil- les Heel, it’s that they’re not yet big enough to take on certain niche mat- ters like antitrust or ‘Bet the Com- pany’ litigation. However, 90% of our legal needs do not fall into those cat- egories.”
THE TAKEAWAY: BIGLAW & MID- MARKET FIRMS ARE IN TROUBLE
Virtual and hybrid law rms truly are viable alternatives to BigLaw. With payouts ranging from 60-80 percent on business, the math isn’t tough for those with even a modicum of porta- ble business. ey are going continue capturing both premium clients and partners from BigLaw. More virtual rms will appear and more brick & mortar rms will o er remote work- ing platforms. For BigLaw, pandora’s box has been opened and the virtual platform is what has appeared.
As the Nobel Laureate once said
“ e times, they are a changing.”
FREDERICK SHELTON IS THE CEO OF SHELTON & STEELE, A LEGAL RECRUITING AND CONSULTING FIRM, BASED OUT OF LAS VEGAS. SINCE 1993, FREDERICK HAS WORKED WITH ASSOCIATES, COUNSEL, PARTNERS, GROUPS AND COORDINATED LAW FIRM MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS.
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