Decision 2008: Add Staff, Associate or Partner

I am guessing that some people may be reading this post thinking that I am talking about the Elections coming up in November.  For those of you looking for a political post I am terribly sorry to disappoint you.  This point will instead focus on the most important decision that I have made for my law practice, whether to add staff, an associate or a partner.  To date I have operated as a true solo, but I have been helped by my office sharing mate's assistants from time to time.  I remember reading a blog post about this within the last couple of months, but for the life of me I cannot locate that article at this time.  If I find it again I will edit this post and provide the link.

The timing of this post may be a tad bit premature since the entirety of the new relationship has not been determined.  I have been in talks with a law school classmate who is 95% sure he wants to move back to Wisconsin.  We have talked for the last four years about the possibility of starting a law firm together, but until this time those talks were never really serious, at least from a practical perspective.  Now it is looking like it could be a done deal if things continue to stay strong around here.  It is too early to pinpoint an exact date, but my guess is that he will join the firm in the next six months.  I have blogged over the past three or four months about a growing desire to bring on a part-time assistant to help around the office.  To date I have not hired anyone and with this development I will likely wait another six months before I move on that issue.  The benefit to the arrangement with my friend is that he will technically be an associate from the outset, but I am not committing any guaranteed income to him.  He will operate as a quasi-partner as far as the compensation structure goes.  Eventually we will graduate to a point where he is established in practice and we will look at "partnering" up. 

In the end this is the best case scenario from my perspective since I will get the benefit of another revenue generating attorney who will double as a highly trained assistant while he becomes acclimated to the Appleton, Wisconsin community.  It will not increase my overhead, fixed or variable expenses much at all.  He eats what he kills.  I will provide the office, the initial work, training, experience and malpractice insurance.  I still bear the risk as the owner and managing attorney.  Risk does not scare me, especially when it is associated with an educated and well-reasoned decision. 

So there you have it.  Ten days into 2008 and the pinnacle decision has already been made.  He will be a great addition to the firm and it will be great to have him and his wife back in the area.  I would not be surprised to see him lend his thoughts and insight right here on this blog in the weeks and months to come.  I will discuss my thoughts, observations and plans as we move forward as well.   

Comments

[Anon Attorney]

Just curious...Why so traditional? You describe a situation where you use a "traditional" partner/associate model that clearly does not fit what you intend. I can't imagine why any attorney would want to be an "associate" without a salary. He is more of a contract employee than anything else. I know, the word "contract" is ugly. But, the relationship is still pretty much what you describe. Perhaps your friend should put his own name on his own business card and you should pay him 1099, for his benefit AND perhaps yours....unless your motive for him includes using him to market YOUR organization. It seems it will be easier for him to establish himself as "his own" attorney with his own brand, that can later be combined with yours as a merger between two equals, as opposed to appearing to be the promotion of a subordinate. Just my observation. Would love to hear you respond.

[Nathan Dosch]

Anon Attorney,

Thank you for your comment. You make a number of good points to which I would like to respond. The arrangement will give the appearance of a "traditional" law firm, with the main difference being the compensation structure. All told the arrangement will take this form out of both necessity and to provide motivation. The traditional partner/associate model is not what I intended when I established my firm and it is not something I hope continues indefinitely. However, my friend will need some time to adjust and develop his own practice and I have work that he can assist with in the interim. Once he is established and self-sustaining then any lines drawn in the sand will be washed away. Unfortunately, at this stage I cannot provide the opportunity while shouldering all of the risk and the increased expense that comes with guaranteeing a salary. I decided upon the compensation structure because this way he will make more money if he works harder. It might be better thought of as a kind of start-up attorney business incubator as opposed to a traditional law firm model since I do not stand to profit from his hard work. In that regard it is a quasi-partnership from the start. Therefore, it is more of a mentoring relationship than an boss/subordinate dynamic.

I can't speak directly to his reasons for wanting to be a non salaried attorney, but I would guess that he is looking at the situation as an opportunity to invest his time learning the nuts and bolts of this practice area and a few things about the business of law. If I were him I would view it as an opportunity to work hard to build his own book of business. The association with me may make it easier for someone new to the area to make the connections he needs to building a practice. I think there are many good things involved with the arrangement I described. Is it ideal? Probably not. Could he do virtually the same things if he set up his own law practice? Sure. We are just leveraging our collective time and experience to resolve issues on both sides including my need to find someone to assist me the the workload and his desire to transition from out east to Wisconsin to build his own practice.

Thanks again for your comment. Please let me know if I have responded sufficiently to your comments.