law partnership business plan

How to Create a Law Firm Business Plan Aimed at Success

Want a successful law firm? Start with a solid business plan. Our guide covers everything that will help you create a roadmap for success.

A firm exists to serve people- so its business plan must take into account those it aims to help. A law firm's business plan lays out the key pillars that will support a practice, from operational details to marketing strategies to financial projections. Furthermore, it should provide a clear roadmap for where the firm hopes to be in the coming years.

In this blog,  we will guide you through the process  of creating a comprehensive law firm business plan that  will help you achieve your goals . Additionally, in our latest Grow Law Firm podcast, our host Sasha Berson conversed with Omar Ochoa, the founding attorney of Omar Ochoa Law Firm, to discuss the topic of creating a law firm business plan aimed at success.

Why Is a Business Plan Important for Law Firms?

A business plan is a vital tool for any law firm to achieve success. It outlines goals, strategies, and the feasibility of business ideas, providing a clear direction and focus for the firm. The plan can be used to secure funding from investors or financial institutions by demonstrating the potential for growth and profitability.

Moreover, a business plan supports decision-making by evaluating the feasibility of new ventures and assessing potential risks and rewards. It helps to manage resources effectively by setting financial goals and tracking progress, ensuring the firm is making the most of its resources and achieving objectives.

Lastly, a law firm's business plan enables growth by identifying new opportunities and developing strategies to capitalize on them. By planning for the future and setting realistic growth targets, law firms can take their businesses to the next level. Overall, a well-developed business plan is critical for success in the legal industry, providing direction and focus, supporting decision-making, managing resources effectively, and enabling growth.

General Tips for Creating an Attorney Business Plan

Building a business plan for law firms is not an easy or intuitive process. By considering the following issues before opening your doors to clients, you have a much better chance of having a stable firm that matches your values and has a clear set of goals.

— Stay Focused

Forming a law firm can feel overwhelming. You have a lot of freedom and can easily get sidetracked into issues that either can wait or do not deserve your attention.

If having a strong law firm website design is important enough for you to include in your plan, you will spend time on that instead of less important matters.

A plan also includes a budget. The process of planning your firm's finances can ensure that you do not overspend (or underspend) as you start your own firm.

The attention to detail that comes from having a plan will help you avoid spreading yourself too thin by focusing on every issue or the wrong issues. Instead, you will maintain your focus on the important issues.

Whether you have law partners or develop a solo law firm business plan, the plan will help you stay focused on your end goals.

— Keep Track of Goals and Results

It is easy to set goals when you  start a law firm and then promptly forget about them.

Your plan will set out your goals and the metrics you will use to determine your progress toward meeting them. The plan should also explain how you will know when you have met them.

For example, you might have a growth goal of reaching five lawyers within two years. Or you might have a revenue goal of collecting $200,000 your first year.

Too many businesses, including law firms, meander on their developmental path. By setting goals and the path for meeting them, you will have guardrails to keep your firm on track.

"If you want to be the number one law firm in the country by revenue right in a 20 year time period, have that be your goal and everything that you do right is in service of that goal. You might not get there, but you're gonna find that you're gonna be very successful either way."

"If you want to be the number one law firm in the country by revenue right in a 20 year time period, have that be your goal and everything that you do right is in service of that goal. You might not get there, but you're gonna find that you're gonna be very successful either way." — Omar Ochoa

— Sort Out Your Own Law Firm Strategy

Developing a clear vision is important for establishing a strategic law firm plan aimed at long-term goals . As Omar Ochoa discusses in the podcast, having very specific milestone visions like where you want to be in five, ten, or fifteen years helps drive the strategy and actions needed to get there.

It's easy to say that you'll run your law firm better. But a plan actually helps you identify how to improve by articulating a concrete strategy. The process of creating the plan will help you pinpoint problems and solutions.

A plan forces consideration of operational details often overlooked. It equates to defining your firm's purpose and then pursuing that vision with purpose-driven strategies and actions. As Omar notes, marrying vision to action through knowledge of other successful law firm models is key to achieving goals.

One area that is frequently overlooked in plans is the inclusion of law firm marketing strategies . Developing this aspect is critical for attracting clients and sustaining growth.

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— Move Forward

You should view your plan as a law firm business development plan that will guide the formation and growth of your firm .

You can review the document periodically to remind you and your law partners of your growth and expansion projections. After this review, you can ensure your growth and expansion remain on track to carry you to your goals.

The review will also tell you whether you need to update your firm's goals. When you started your law firm, you might have been unduly pessimistic or optimistic in your projections. Once you have some time to operate according to your plan, you can update your goals to keep them realistic. You can also update your processes to focus on what works and discard what does not.

The review can provide your projections for what you hope to accomplish and the roadmap for accomplishing it.

Law Firm Business Plan Template

Each of the websites below includes at least one attorney business development plan template:

• Business Plan Workbook
• PracticePro
• Smith & Jones, P.A.
• Wy'East Law Firm

You can use a law firm strategic plan example from these sites to start your firm's plan, then turn the plan into a document unique to your circumstances, goals, and needs.

What to Consider before Starting Law Firm Business Plans

Before starting a law firm business plan, think through a few key issues, including:

— Setting the Goals

Reflect deeply on your firm's purpose. Think about who you represent and how you can best meet their needs. A law firm exists for its clients. As you think about your  law firm goals , think about goals for providing legal services to your clients.

"We continue to try to have the biggest impact that we can because ultimately, in my opinion at least, that's what lawyers are for, is to be able to help people and be able to move us forward." — Omar Ochoa

You need to set realistic and achievable goals. These goals should reflect your reasons for starting your law firm. Thus, if you started your law firm because you expected to make more money on your own than working for someone else, set some goals for collections.

While you are setting your goals, think about how you will reach them and the ways you will measure your success. For example, if you want to expand to include ten lawyers within three years, think about intermediate goals at the end of years one and two. This helps measure your progress.

— Choosing Partnership Structure

For lawyers considering a partnership structure, it's important to select partners that complement each other's strengths and weaknesses to help the firm function effectively.

There are 2 main partnership structure options:

• A single-tier model provides equal decision-making power and liability between partners.
• Meanwhile, a two-tier structure offers tiers like equity and non-equity partners, providing flexibility and career progression opportunities.

While similarly skilled individuals may clash, partners with differing abilities can succeed together. Some attorneys also choose to run their own firm for flexibility. This allows them to leverage different specialists through occasional joint ventures tailored for specific cases, without the constraints of a single long-term partnership. Furthermore, it highlights how the law firm partnership structures impacts freedom and sustainability.

— Thinking of the Revenue You Need

Calculate how much revenue you need to cover your overhead and pay your salary. Suppose your expenses include:

• $2,000 per month for office rent
• $36,000 per year for a legal assistant salary
• $600 per month for courier expenses
• $400 per month for a copier lease

Assume you want the  median annual salary for lawyers  of $127,990. You need $199,990 per year in revenue to cover your salary and expenses.

But revenue is not the end of the story. Your landlord, vendors, and employees expect to get paid monthly. So, you should also calculate how much cash flow you need each month to cover your hard expenses.

You also need a reserve. Clients expect you to front expenses like filing fees. Make sure you have a reserve to pay these costs and float them until clients reimburse you.

— Defining the Rate of Payment

You need to make some difficult decisions when it comes to setting your own fee structure. If you choose a higher billing rate, you will need to work less to meet your revenue goals. But you might not find many clients who are able to pay your fees.

Whether you charge a flat fee, contingent fee, or hourly fee, you should expect potential clients to compare your fees to those of your direct and indirect competitors. Remember, your firm competes against other lawyers, online services like  LegalZoom , and do-it-yourself legal forms books.

Finally, you need to comply with your state's rules of professional conduct when setting your fees. The  ABA's model rules  give eight factors to determine the reasonableness of a fee. These factors include the customary fee for your location and the skill required to provide the requested legal services.

— Making the Cases in Your Law Practice Meet the Revenue Needs

Figure out how much you need to work to meet your revenue target . If you charge a flat fee, you can simply divide your revenue target by your flat fee.

Hourly fee lawyers can calculate the number of hours they need to bill and collect. However, law firm owners rarely bill 100% of the hours they work due to the administrative tasks they perform to run a firm. Also, you will probably not collect 100% of your billings, and clients could take 90 days or longer to pay.

Contingency fee lawyers will find it nearly impossible to project the cases they need. You have no way of knowing the value of your cases in advance. You also have no idea when your cases will settle. You could work on a case for years before you finally get paid.

Parts of a Business Plan for Law Firm Formation: Structure

A law firm business plan is a written document that lays out your law firm goals and strategies.

For many businesses, a business plan helps secure investors. But the ethical rules prohibit law firms from seeking funding from  outside investors or non-lawyer shareholders .

Your business plan is for you and your law partners. It will help you manage everyone's expectations and roles in the firm. Here is a law firm business plan example to help you see the parts and pieces in action.

— Executive Summary

An executive summary combines the important information in the business plan into a single-page overview. Your plan will include details like projections, budgets, and staffing needs. This section highlights the conclusions from those detailed analyses.

Your executive summary should include :

• A mission statement explaining the purpose of your firm in one or two sentences
• A list of the core values that your firm will use whenever it makes decisions about its future
• The firm's overarching goals for itself, its lawyers, and the clients it serves
• The unique selling proposition that sets your firm apart from other firms in the legal industry

You should think of this section as a quick way for people like lenders, potential law partners, and merger targets, to quickly understand the principles that drive your firm.

— Law Firm Description and Legal Structure

First, you will describe what your law firm does. You will describe your law practice and the clients you expect to serve.

Second, you will describe how your firm operates. The organization and management overview will explain your legal structure and the management responsibilities of you and your law partners.

This section should fill in the details about your firm's operation and structure by:

• Describing the scope of the legal services you offer and your ideal clients
• Restating your mission statement and core values and expanding upon how they will guide your firm
• Explaining your location and where your clients will come from
• Describing your business entity type and management structure
• Detailing your unique selling proposition , including the features that distinguish your firm from your competitors

When someone reads this section, they should have a clear picture of what you will create.

— Financial Calculations

Your attorney business plan explains where your firm's revenue comes from and where it goes. This is where your skills as a lawyer begin to diverge from your skills as a business owner. You may need to learn a few new accounting concepts so you can perform the analyses expected in a financial plan.

You will need a  financial plan  for at least the first year.

If you plan to seek a bank loan or line of credit, your bank may need a financial plan that covers three years or longer.

You will need more than a few rough numbers for a useful business plan. Instead, you will need to estimate your expenses and revenues as accurately as possible.

"Take some financial statements courses, take some managerial accounting courses that teach you how to track costs, how to frame costs in a way that you're looking at the important costs." — Omar Ochoa

You might need to contact vendors and service providers to get precise costs. You will probably need to track your billings with your prior firm to predict your revenues. If you are opening a law firm after law school or an in-house job, you may need a competitive analysis to show what similar law firms earn in your location and practice area.

Some reports you may need in your business plan include:

• Revenue analysis listing the fees you will collect each month
• Budget describing your monthly and annual expenses
• Financial projections combining the revenue analysis and budgeted expenses to predict your profit margins
• Cash flow statement showing how your revenues and expenses affect your cash on hand.

Your cash flow statement might be the most important financial report because it explains how your bank balance will fluctuate over time. If your clients take too long to pay their bills or you have too many accounts payable due at the same time, your cash flow statement will show you when money might get tight.

— Market Analysis

A market analysis will tell you where you fit into the legal market in your location and field. You need a competitive analysis to understand the other lawyers and law firms that will compete with you for potential clients. You can also analyze their marketing messages to figure out how to stand out from the competition.

A competitive analysis will tell you what services other firms offer, how much they charge, and what features help your competitors succeed.

Your analysis should include a discussion about your :

• Ideal clients and what you can do to help them
• Market size and whether you offer something clients need
• Competitors and what they offer to clients
• Competitive advantages and how you can market them to potential clients

You can also develop and hone your marketing strategy based on the benefits you offer to clients over your competitors. Finally, a market analysis can tell you the locations and practice areas in which your firm may expand in the future.

Your market analysis helps you focus your efforts on your legal niche.

— Marketing Plan

A marketing plan sets out the steps you will take to reach your target market. Your marketing strategy will take your market analysis and turn it into a plan of action.

You will start with the results of your market analysis identifying your clients, your competitors, and your competitive advantages. You will then discuss the message you can deliver to potential clients that captures the advantages you have over your competition.

Some advantages you might have over other lawyers and law firms might include tangible benefits like lower billing rates or local office locations. Other advantages might provide some intangible benefits like more years of experience or state-bar-certified specialists in those states that allow specialization.

You will then discuss your marketing plan. A marketing plan explains :

• Characteristics of the target market you want to reach
• What your competition offers
• The distinct benefits you offer
• A message you can use to explain what separates you from your competition
• Your action plan for delivering your message
• Your goals for your action plan, such as the number of client leads, new clients, or new cases per month

Your action plan will include the marketing channels you want to use to spread your message. Marketing specialists can help you identify the best channels for your marketing message and client base.

For example, if you practice intellectual property law, you need to reach business owners and in-house lawyers who want to protect their companies' brands, inventions, artistic works, and trade secrets. A marketing agency may help you create a marketing strategy geared toward trade publications and business magazines.

However, IP lawyers require an entirely different marketing strategy than firms that practice family law. Family lawyers need to market to individuals and will tailor their marketing efforts toward different marketing channels and messages.

Even if you expect most of your client leads to come from referrals, you still need brand recognition for those leads to find you. You should consider a website, basic SEO, legal directory, and bar association listings.

— Your Law Firm Services

You will outline the services your law firm offers to clients. Lawyers with established clients and an existing legal practice can simply describe what they already do.

Any new law firm or lawyer transitioning from other practice areas should consider:

• Practice areas you know and enjoy
• Overlapping practice fields that will not require extra staff, such as personal injury and workers' comp
• Related legal services your clients may need, such as wills and guardianship

By offering needed services you can competently provide, you can gain clients and avoid referring existing clients out to other lawyers.

— Your Law Firm Budget

You should approach your budget as a living document. You will spend more money as you add more lawyers and staff members to your firm. But you can also look for ways to reduce your operating costs through investments in technology services and other cost-saving measures .

Your budget should set out the amount you expect to initially spend on start-up expenses. As you create your start-up budget, remember many of these expenses are not recurring. Furniture, computers, and office space build-outs can last several years. In short, your budget should answer the question, "What do you need to open a law firm?"

It should also lay out the amount you plan to spend each month to operate your firm. Here, you will include your recurring expenses, such as rent, staff salaries, insurance premiums, and equipment leases.

Using your operating budget, you will determine the amount of money you need to start and run your firm. This, in turn, will tell you whether you need to take out a loan or tap into your savings to start your law firm. You will need a plan for paying your expenses and day-to-day costs while your firm gets onto its feet.

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Some Useful Tips on Creating a Business Plan for Law Firm Creation and Development

As you draft your law firm business plan, you should focus on the process. By putting your thoughts down in writing, you will often identify issues you had not previously considered.

Some other tips for drafting your business plan include:

— Describe Both Strengths and Weaknesses

You want to project confidence as you prepare your business plan. Remember, you will use this plan to approach potential law partners, lenders, and merger targets. You need to show that you have a solid plan backed up by your financial projections.

At the same time, you need to remain realistic. Write a business plan that describes your business challenges as well as your competitive advantages.

For example, if you have a strong competitor that has a solid  law firm reputation management  and many of the clients you will target, acknowledge the difficulty of getting those clients to switch law firms. Describe your marketing strategies for approaching and pitching your law firm to those clients.

— Think Ahead

Remember that your business plan sets out the roadmap for both the establishment and operation of your law firm . Think about issues that could arise as your firm grows and matures.

For example, you may have a goal of reaching ten lawyers in three years. But as your staff grows, you may need a human resources manager. You may also seek to handle your payroll in-house instead of outsourcing it to a payroll provider. These changes will create ripple effects throughout your business plans. You will incur costs when you add staff members. You will also realize benefits like increased attorney efficiency.

At the same time, any projections more than five years into the future will likely be useless. Your firm and its clients will evolve, and technology will change how you practice law.

— Be Clear about Your Intentions

As you develop your plan, you should keep its purpose in mind. First, you want to outline your core values and goals for your law firm. Set out the reasons why you started your law firm and what you intend to accomplish with it.

"You can't just be doing something because you want prestige. There's gotta be more to that, right? You have to have a purpose that you're following. And if you've got that, that purpose is like gravity, right? You will always be grounded." — Omar Ochoa

Second, you set out your path to achieving those goals. This will include boring technical information like how much you spend on legal research every month. But it will also explain your approach to solving problems consistent with your mission statement and philosophy for law firm management.

— Consult and Update If Necessary

Your plan should guide you as you build your firm. It contains your goals and the roadmap for reaching them. But your plan is not carved in stone.

As you face challenges, you will consult your plan to make sure you approach these challenges in a way consistent with achieving your goals. But under some circumstances, you might find that the plan no longer provides the right solution.

As you work with your firm and your law partners, your goals, processes, and solutions to problems may evolve. The technology your firm uses may change. Your law firm's costs may go up with inflation or down as you realize economies of scale. You should update your plan when this happens.

Final Steps

There is no recipe for creating a business plan for law firm development. What goes into your mission statement and plan will depend on several factors, including your law firm's business model. But this is a feature, not a bug of developing a business plan.

The process of business planning will help you develop solutions to issues you might have overlooked. If you have law partners, just going through the process of creating a law firm business plan can ensure that everyone is on the same page.

As you create your plan, the process itself should provoke thoughts and ideas so you can have a unique law firm tailored to your goals and values. This will help you get exactly what you wanted when you started in the legal industry.

To learn how to expand your client base as your firm grows, check out Grow Law Firm, a professional  law firm SEO agency .

Founder of Omar Ochoa Law Firm

Omar Ochoa is a founding attorney with extensive experience in complex litigation, including antitrust, class actions, and securities cases. He has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients and has been nationally recognized as one of the best young trial lawyers in the country.

Omar graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in business administration, accounting, and economics. He later earned his law degree from the university, serving as editor-in-chief of the Texas Law Review. He has clerked for two federal judges and has worked at the prestigious law firm Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Omar is dedicated to seeking excellence. He has been recognized for his outstanding achievements in antitrust litigation.

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Building a Business Plan for a Law Firm Partner Move

The legal market has become more and more competitive in recent years, with law firms coming under intense pressure to serve their clients more efficiently, while simultaneously increasing the amount of revenue that partners bring in. As a result, companies are now less willing to take a chance on a potential partner and instead will insist that they prove their worth. This is even more acute now that the economy has turned downwards and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

Simply having the right skills and being a cultural fit is no longer enough to secure a partner position. Instead, you will need to demonstrate to the firm that you are able to earn your keep and make a profit. Because of this, it is essential that you develop a practice which is personal to you and clients and work that will move with you, should you choose to move law firms. You will then need to be able to write a detailed business plan that demonstrates your potential value to both your existing firm and any firm you may want to join. 

You will need to go through a similar exercise for any internal promotion to Partner. In most cases, a firm is only going to promote you if they feel they have to in order to protect their business. This means they need to feel that if you were to leave, a significant amount of clients and work would go with you.

Now that you understand why a business plan is necessary, the question is, what information should you include? Here are our thoughts on building a business plan for law firm partner.

What Do Law Firms Want to See?

For the most part, a company will want to see a breakdown of your financial performance. You will need to demonstrate not only how much money you have brought in in the past, but also project what you will post in your first few months with the firm.

In the context of a business plan, financial performance means three different things – all of which are important, although different firms will place different weighting on them. They are:

• Client Partner Billings: The total revenue which the firm gets from the clients you manage or “own”. If you are moving, then it is the total value to the new firm of having the clients you can bring
• Matter Partner Billings: The total revenue from all the files which you are in charge of, including the billings of your subordinates or fee earners in other teams. This demonstrates the overall value of your caseload.
• Personal Billing: The revenue generated directly from your time, whether on your own files or other people’s.  

Anticipating your revenue is a precise art and needs to be done with the utmost care. A law firm will hold you accountable for your figures, so it is essential that you do not inflate or under-value your estimations. Instead, you should thoroughly analyse the strength of your contacts and how much work you believe you will get from them. Another point is to pick out those who may have followed you from previous practices, as they will also add to your value. 

How to Begin

When building a business plan for law firm partner, it is essential that you are able to quickly pull out the information that will prove most valuable. This is why you should begin with an executive summary.

Your summary should ideally be a one page cover sheet that summarises all the main points in your plan. It needs to be concise and capture the essence of your business plan, especially your financial projections. Once this has been done, you are ready to move on to the rest of your proposal. Here are the elements we think you should include:

Set Your Objectives

The first main section you should include when building a business plan for law firm partner is an analysis of the key objectives you want to set yourself. You should then outline how you intend to meet these targets and what your strategies will be.

There are many different ways you can demonstrate how you will hit your goals. Here are just a few:

• Expanding existing relationships: list contacts you already work with and how you intend to increase the revenue they bring in.
• Identifying important sectors : identify which areas of the market you will expand your operations in and why.
• Using your reputation : discuss how your prominence in the industry can be harnessed to bring in business.
• Providing extra services : explain how you will use your experience to provide additional services to the firm’s existing clients.
• Enhancing pitches : outline how you can help the company improve the way it bids for a specific type of work.

You should also set out a few paragraphs underneath this to provide more information about your practice and how it will add value to the firm. Alongside this, it is a good idea to discuss your reasons for wanting to move – both social and economic.

Analyse the Markets

The next step is to take a detailed look at the specific market you will be working in. Are there any issues or trends that could impact the demand for legal services? What opportunities would be available to you?

You should also outline the specific geographical areas that you will service in your first few years at the practice. Ideally, this needs to be a mix of new and existing markets. Once you have done this, go into further detail about the precise industry sectors you will focus on and list the major participants in this area, plus the reasons why they are important. 

Outline Your Clients and Financials

Now we have arrived at arguably the most important part of building a business plan for law firm partner. This is where you identify the clients you think will be able to bring in quality work for the business, plus your financial information.

When listing your clients, you should identify the significant clients and discuss in detail the type of work you have carried out for them and what your measurable outcomes were – such as fees. If this is a plan for a new firm, then be specific about the clients but do not name them. That would be a flagrant breach of your duty of confidentiality and at this stage it would not be appropriate to expose yourself to that risk. Simply call them “Client A”, “Client B” etc.

You should also consider identifying opportunities to further develop your clientele. If the plan is for a move, then you should think about how you could get extra work from existing clients of the firm that those clients don’t send in at the moment. If it is an internal plan, then target existing clients of your current firm that you do not presently work for. Also, set out which new clients you want to target and why. 

In terms of financials, you should outline your billing hours over the last three years. These include the hours you billed to your own clients, your current firm’s or other partner’s clients, plus any productive non-billable hours. If there are any figures you feel need explaining, such as an unusually low or high billing, consider adding a footnote underneath.

The next things you should list are your personal charge out rate for the last three years and your billings, collections and referrals. For the latter section, you should differentiate between your own billings and referrals you made to other teams, with the total amount underneath. You also need to include fees you earned from clients of another partner, where you were the main ‘matter partner’.

Finally, you need to outline the compensation you have received in the last three years. This includes your basic salary, monthly draw, plus any bonuses you may have received.

Look at Business Development

The next major area you should include when building a business plan for law firm partner is business development. There are four main sections that are important to mention, which are:

Provide a breakdown of your current team, including their position, how much of their time is dedicated to your case work and whether they are in part or full time employment. If there is anybody within your team that you wish to bring with you to your new firm, explain why this would be a good idea and list their current and expected remuneration, plus the hours they billed in the last year.

You may also need to request extra support from your new firm, in addition to your current team. If this is the case, be sure to outline who they are (for example, a junior associate) and why you believe they are necessary. A potential reason is that you envisage you will grow the business dramatically and want to focus on the more high-end clients – meaning you would need an assistant to carry out the day-to-day lawyering work.

Time Allocation

If you are intending to bring in a lot more business for the firm, or focus on new markets, you will need to outline how much time you wish to spend on this. Remember that you will also be expected to harness and grow existing clients, so it is essential that you demonstrate you are able to divide your time effectively. 

Initiatives

The next thing you should outline is what marketing initiatives you intend to pursue during the next financial year. These include any sponsorships you will undertake, the conferences or seminars you plan on attending, speaking engagements and any articles you intend to write for external publication. 

If there are any specific initiatives you think the firm should pursue, such as training in key areas, be sure to include this as well. It would be a good idea to also outline why this is important and, if possible, identify potential providers to work with.

Expenditure

Like any business, the law firm will want you to outline how much you expect your ventures will cost. Each time you identify something that you will need the company to provide, whether it is additional team members, a sponsorship opportunity, or extra training, you need to ensure you fully work out how much this will cost.

How You Fit Their Culture

It is important to outline why you believe you will be a good fit for the firm. After all, the company will want to know if they can work with you professionally – regardless of the amount of money you will bring in or what your plans will be. If two candidates sound the same on paper, then the business will likely go with the one they feel will integrate better into their culture. To determine whether you will be a good fit, you should carry out detailed research into the company and utilise any contacts within your network who may be able to help.

Now that you understand the basics of building a business plan for law firm partner, you should be confident in your ability to achieve your dream job. Once you have completed your plan, you may feel that you need an extra pair of eyes to advise you on any areas that may need to be tweaked. While this could come from another lawyer, you might find it more beneficial to contact a specialist legal recruiter. 

Having somebody that lives and breathes the legal market in your corner could enhance your prospects in a number of areas. They will first of all be able to offer independent, and sometimes critical, input into both your client list and proposed billings. 

An experienced recruiter will also be able to give your prospects of success a health-check and advise on how to fine-tune your sales pitch. In addition, they are likely to have an in-depth knowledge of the firm you are applying with, meaning they can give you essential information about the company and its culture that you may not otherwise have access to – thereby giving you a potential advantage over your competition. What is more, they could even provide details on other opportunities you may want to consider based on your experience. 

If you believe that your business plan could benefit from the expertise of a specialist legal recruiter, contact Jepson Holt today. We will review your document and provide expert assistance to give you the best possible chance of success. For further information, you can also read our free eBook entitled: “Taking Control of Your Legal Career” . This handy guide details everything you need to know about progressing in your career and the actions you should take. At Jepson Holt, we aim to help you get the most out of your working life as possible. 

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Law Firm Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Law Firm Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 lawyers to create business plans to start and grow their law firms. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a law firm business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Law Firm Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your law firm as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Law Firm

If you’re looking to start a law firm, or grow your existing law firm, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your law firm in order to improve your chances of success. Your law firm plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Law Firms

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a law firm are personal savings, credit cards and bank loans. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a law firm.

If you want to start a law firm or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below are links to each section of your law firm plan template:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of law firm you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a law firm that you would like to grow, or are you operating law firms in multiple cities?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the law firm industry. Discuss the type of law firm you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of law firm you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of law firms:

• Commercial Law : this type of law firm focuses on financial matters such as merger and acquisition, raising capital, IPOs, etc.
• Criminal, Civil Negligence, and Personal Injury Law: this type of business focuses on accidents, malpractice, and criminal defense.
• Real Estate Law: this type of practice deals with property transactions and property use.
• Labor Law: this type of firm handles everything related to employment, from pensions/benefits, to contract negotiation.

In addition to explaining the type of law firm you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, number of cases won, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the law firm industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the law firm industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your law firm plan:

• How big is the law firm industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your law firm? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your law firm plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: businesses, households, and government organizations.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of law firm you operate. Clearly, households would respond to different marketing promotions than nonprofit organizations, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most law firms primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other law firms.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes accounting firms or human resources companies. You need to mention such competition as well.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other law firms with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be law firms located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What types of cases do they accept?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide better legal advice and services?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you provide more responsive customer interactions?
• Will you offer better pricing or flexible pricing options?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a law firm plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of law firm company that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to in-person consultation, will you provide virtual meetings, or any other services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the products and services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your law firm company. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your law firm located in a busy business district, office building, etc. Discuss how your location might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your law firm marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your law firm, including filling and filing paperwork, researching precedents, appearing in court, meeting with clients, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to file your 100th lawsuit, or be on retainer with 25 business clients, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your law firm to a new city.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your law firm’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing law firms. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with legal experience or with a track record of successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you file 25 lawsuits per month or sign 5 retainer contracts per month? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your law firm, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a law firm:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of licensing, software, and office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or your certificate of admission to the bar.  

Putting together a business plan for your law firm is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert and know everything you need about starting a law firm business plan; once you create your plan, download it to PDF to show banks and investors. You will really understand the law firm industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful law firm.  

Law Firm Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my law firm business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Law Firm Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of law firm you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a law firm that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of law firms?

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Chapter 3/6

Developing a Business Plan for a New Law Firm

How to Start a Law Firm

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A law firm business plan is the foundation for everything your business does. Without a solid foundation, your firm will lack direction from the very beginning.

Starting a Law Firm Business Plan

A good business plan includes:

• Vision. Create a picture of what you’re building.
• Values. Identify the rules to guide your team’s important work. 
• Law Firm Business Model. What you offer, who you offer it to, and how you’ll deliver your services.
• Targets and Priorities. Clarify metrics that indicate success.

Law Firm Vision

We worked with a lawyer who was stressed out about his vision. He spent weeks on the assignment because he couldn’t think of a statement that would make his entire office happy. 

During one coaching session , he got that lightbulb moment when we told him that he was making too big of a deal of it. You don’t have to create the most amazing vision that perfectly captures everything you are hoping to build. You do need to start mapping out what you are (and aren’t) trying to create. 

Picture these two lawyers:

• Lawyer 1 wants to double the size of his team in the next two years so he can handle more cases, help more people, and make more money.
• Lawyer 2 does not enjoy managing people. She wants to build a technology-based solution that she can offer clients with a recurring monthly price and that is delivered using a few key team members.

Neither vision is wrong. But, how each lawyer will make decisions to build a profitable business will look very different. You need to get a sense if you are trying to build something that looks more like Lawyer 1, Lawyer 2, or Lawyers 3-8. Get it? 

Jot down thoughts now so you know where you’re headed and can start building the guardrails for future decisions.

Law Firm Values

Your values are a living embodiment of the firm culture you’re hoping to create and the approach to work your team shares. They are the guardrails of your business. 

From hiring to client management to a marketing strategy, every decision you make comes from your values. 

Your values are typically 3-6 factual statements that are authentically you. 

Here are some tips on crafting great values:

• Your values must concretely point to your business. You want achievable values that set your business up for success .
• Your values must have actual meaning. Like the “be the best lawyer” example, you want to avoid the obvious. Sure, every firm wants to be the best. But what, precisely, does your firm want to do that sets you apart from the crowd?
• Finally, avoid table stakes values. Honesty, integrity, and hard work are all good works that all companies should have. But, they have nothing to do with your specific goals vs. any other firm.

As an example, here are Lawyerist’s values :

• Build an Inclusive Community.
• Experiment Like a Lobster.
• Grab the Marker.
• Seek Candor.
• Grow as People.

Each of these represents the culture of our company (even “ Experiment Like a Lobster ,” which describes our playful and out-of-the-box thinking process). We use these values for all of our decisions, especially hiring. When we evaluate a candidate, we study their fit: Are they open to experimenting? Are they willing to help us build an inclusive community ? Are they eager to lean into candor and compassion ?

Building your vision and values is an essential first step for your business. We can’t tell you how much easier other decisions will flow once you have these documented. You will make better decisions and alleviate some of the anxiety of decision fatigue.

Law Firm Business Model

One of the biggest perks of starting your firm is deciding your law firm business plan and model. You get to take everything you learned in school and while working at other organizations and implement the parts you like. Even better, you get to leave out the details that stressed you out.

This is an excellent place to review your vision and values. Take the time to dream about this. This is often the most rewarding part for new law firm owners. With a smart strategy, you can build your dream firm.

Ask yourself:

• What kind of place do I want to work in every day? 
• What kind of clients do I want to serve? Who is my ideal client ?
• What type of pricing model do I want? 
• What kind of access to justice issues do I want to tackle?

You get the gist. The questions you can ask yourself here are endless, but use your vision and values to inform your model. For example, if one of your values is “ grow as people ,” you might offer education opportunities for clients in areas related to their cases. 

The important part is, it’s all up to you. This is yours. You get to decide.

Competitive Analysis

As part of finalizing your law firm business model, it can be very helpful to complete a competitive analysis. A competitive analysis not only forces you to define who your competitors are, it gives you a chance to determine what may be missing in the market so that you can address it. 

Lawyers often assume as long as they practice law, there’s a market for what they want to do. Or they think they’re only competing against other lawyers when clients are often drawn to non-law solutions. 

These lawyers are missing a huge opportunity. They aren’t asking clients how they heard about their firm. They’re not trying to figure out what other solutions their clients tried first. They aren’t looking at what clients want and how the market is attempting to respond.

Here are some tips for putting together a competitive analysis:

• Make a list of competitors. Simple, right? List firms in your practice area/location, your jurisdiction, and who may be serving your ideal client base.
• List the other ways your clients are solving their problems . Are they use an online service to create their will? Are they asking their cousin’s nephew’s wife, who once worked at a law firm in 1988, for advice? Get creative.
• Do field research . Ask your friends, family, and current clients what they do when they have a potential legal problem.

Once you’ve collected the data, you can begin the analysis. Think about the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor and the solution you’ve collected. Compare pricing, accessibility, marketing messages, and client service. How does it all compare to your firm? What do you do better? What could you improve?

And keep in mind: This isn’t a one-time deal. You’ll want to stay on top of competitive solutions through Google or social media alerts or by subscribing to industry emails and newsletters. At least once a year, do a complete forensic competitive analysis to see where things have changed.

Targets and Priorities

When you’re first starting a law firm business plan, you may just have a goal of “get my firm up and running.” A good goal! But, as you dream on your initial strategy, it’s helpful to set some initial short-term and excellent long-term goals. Yes, these goals may change as you learn and grow. But, setting goals upfront will give you a path to get started.

Short-term Goals

Look to your initial vision and values for your first goals. If you’re a family law firm that wants to do low-conflict divorces, you might have a client acquisition goal aligned with this.

For example, you could say: In the first six months of my firm opening, I want 50% of my new clients to be low-conflict separations and divorces. You’ll see this goal follows the S.M.A.R.T. formula: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound. 

Another short-term goal might be systems-oriented: I want a written client onboarding process documented in my first three months. (If not implemented.)

Think through all the different parts of your business and see if you can achieve one short-term goal.

Long-term Goals

Long-term goals can be a little trickier when you’re first starting. Thinking one, two, or even five years out might seem impossible. But this is where you can begin to dream a little.

A long-term goal might be that in three years, you want a staff of five people, a complete operations manual, 50 new clients a year, and Fridays off each week. 

Remember, these goals might—and likely will—change. But give yourself something to work with in the beginning.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

As you’re starting a law firm business plan, you’ll need  a way to measure your firm’s health. These measurements are called KPIs. They track goals in all parts of your business, from marketing to finances to client acquisition .

Measuring and monitoring your KPIs will allow you to:

• Monitor the health of your firm . KPIs will enable you to see how well your law firm is performing. For example, KPIs make it easy to track your finances and your firm’s monthly growth.  You’ll see problems and successes quickly and be able to take action by creating new goals or redirecting your team’s efforts.
• Simplify decision-making . Armed with the above information, you can make informed, rational decisions for everything in your business. You don’t have to guess if a decision is the right one. Instead, you can (and should) measure all variables to make the best decision for your firm’s future.
• Track your wins. By tracking your KPIs, you track your wins. Monitoring law firm data makes it simple to incentivize your staff’s hard work. After all, when you meet your numbers, everyone benefits.

For example, at Lawyerist, we track KPIs with a color-coded system.

Green means hitting our goal, yellow means we’re on the cusp, and red means not hitting the number. We track weekly, which means when something goes yellow, we can analyze and plan before it goes red.

And, because we track weekly, a one-week red doesn’t mean an emergency. It means we need to take time to discuss, find a cause, and make a plan.

Types of KPIs for Successful Firms

KPIs can cover all aspects of your business, including your finances, client satisfaction, marketing, and business development. Keep in mind, as you start your firm, KPIs will be new to you and can feel overwhelming. So, keep it simple in the beginning. 

Start by picking three business questions you want answered. Find a way to measure that answer that you can track and update without too much work regularly. Then, start measuring. As your firm grows, you’ll develop your KPIs.

Let’s look at some examples.

Financial KPIs

Want to increase your revenue or improve your law firm’s financial health? You’ll want to track some financial KPIs , including (but not limited to):

• Revenue (cash collected)
• Monthly amount invoiced to clients
• Accounts receivable (amount clients owe you)
• Budgeted expenses

Regardless of your goals, we recommend tracking some basic financial data to keep an eye on the health of your firm. For a quick win, narrow down your financial KPIs to the top three financial numbers  needed to understand your business.

Client Satisfaction KPIs

Your clients are your most valuable assets. Firm success requires that you watch specific metrics involving your clients. 

Client satisfaction KPIs connect to several key law firm growth goals. These include increasing referrals, increasing revenue (happy clients are loyal clients), and improving overall client experience. 

Examples of KPIs to track include:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Client retention rate
• Speed at which you close cases

Your Net Promoter Score measures whether current or former clients would recommend your legal services to others. A satisfied client is more likely to do so. This metric is most often gathered using a survey at the final delivery of your services.

Other measures, such as closing speed and retention, can give you insights into how happy your clients are with your services. Do you have a lower NPS than you expect? Are you losing clients? If so, your client satisfaction is low, and you could take action to improve it.

Marketing and Business Development KPIs

Is your current marketing strategy working? Without measuring KPIs, there’s no way of knowing. By tracking marketing metrics for your firm, you can see your marketing strategy’s performance and tweak where needed. 

Some of these metrics include:

• Organic traffic to your website
• Number of leads generated
• Conversion rates
• Acquisition costs/return on investment (ROI)

For example, if you see your website traffic trending down, some fresh content might do the trick. Or, if you see low conversion rates yet high traffic, your website isn’t inspiring potential clients to give you a call. You might need to change your call-to-actions or refresh your website.

Marketing and business development go hand-in-hand—as they’re both critical to achieving long-term growth goals.

Some examples of business development metrics to track include:

• Number of new clients each month
• Competitor pricing
• Sales cycle length
• Number of leads that turn into consultations

Profitability KPIs and Law Firm Financial Ratios

Every law firm should have a documented long-term financial strategy and profitability model. Any healthy business has a written plan to forecast revenue, expenses, net profit, and cash reserves. To ensure you follow through with your plan, track your firm’s profitability and financial KPIs.

And where should you track these KPIs? Don’t think too hard on that one. At Lawyerist, we use a Google Sheets  spreadsheet with a few simple formulas. Track anywhere that makes sense for your firm .

Next, we’ll outline how to use legal technology successfully.

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Law Firm Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Law Firm Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Law Firm business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Law Firms.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Law Firm business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

The Harris & Harris Law Firm is a startup up business that provides legal advice and services for clients located within the Scottsdale, Arizona region. The company is founded by Roger Harris and his son, Anthony. Roger Harris has been a partner in a well-established company, Foundations Law Firm, for over twenty years. Anthony Harris is a recent law school graduate who will begin his training under the scholarship of his father. With the extensive list of former clients in hand, Roger and Anthony are confident they can begin open their doors for business and grow the new law firm successfully.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide a comprehensive array of services for individuals or business entities who need advice and/or legal representation in court proceedings. Harris & Harris will provide a multi-prong approach to fashion specific solutions for each individual they represent; in that regard, all services are custom-packaged and provided for clients by the lawyers at Harris & Harris. This unique factor will set them above all other area lawyers, as most follow standard processes within the companies where they work.

Product Offering

The following are the services that Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide:

• Client-centric efforts in every case until resolution is found
• Unique process to fully explore client options in any dispute
• Creative and sustainable solutions on a case-by-case basis
• Prioritization of client needs above all else
• Dedication to professionalism and honesty
• Equally dedicated to securing the correct outcomes for our clients
• Team of highly-skilled lawyers who create winning solutions

Customer Focus

Harris & Harris will target the residents of Scottsdale, Arizona. They will also target medium-to-large businesses within Scottsdale, Arizona. They will target former associates and lawyers with whom they can collaborate in the future. They will target residents who have been served a summons for civil or criminal case appearances, whether as a witness, interested party or a potential defendant.

Management Team

Harris & Harris will be owned and operated by Roger Harris. He recruited his son, Anthony, to join the new firm upon Anthony’s recent graduation from law school. Within the next ten years, depending on performance, Anthony will receive incremental distributions of up to 49% of the company value in private stock. This will be based on Anthony’s performance and growth in the company as his role expands.

Roger Harris was formerly a partner in a well-established company, Foundations Law Firm, for over twenty years. He practiced law in the personal law arena, including wills and probates, trusts and other forms of personal law. He also managed the real estate law team at his former place of employment. Roger’s role in Harris & Harris will be the President, with the primary responsibility of driving new client traffic to the company. Roger has recruited Anthony, Richard Cummings, and Torey Crouch to begin their employment at Harris & Harris, as well.

Anthony Harris is a recent law school graduate who will begin his training under the scholarship of his father. Anthony will specialize in a unique processing of individual cases by creating algorithms that will specify which outcomes will best serve the client. Anthony will also represent clients in court and assist in defense appearances. With the extensive list of former clients in hand and the unique processes they’ve designed for clients going forward, Roger and Anthony are confident they can begin and grow the new law firm successfully.

Richard Cummings, a former associate of Roger Harris, will take on the role of Managing Partner in the launch of Harris & Harris. He will oversee all junior partners and staff, as the total number of lawyers grows expeditiously over the first few years.

Torey Crouch, a former law student with Anthony Cummings, will take on the role of Research & Records Manager, as she will form the background work necessary for all the other lawyers on staff.

Success Factors

Harris & Harris Law Firm will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Friendly, knowledgeable, and highly-qualified team of Harris & Harris Law Firm
• Comprehensive menu of services designed to provide specific customer-centric solutions
• Specializations in real estate, trusts, probate, civil and criminal law are all offered under this multi-pronged services of Harris & Harris Law Firm
• Harris & Harris offers family discounts and other forms of packages for clients.
• Harris & Harris offers a “monthly pay” program for clients who need to spread out payments over time.

Financial Highlights

Harris & Harris Law Firm is seeking $200,000 in debt financing to launch its Harris & Harris Law Firm. The funding will be dedicated toward securing the office space and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated toward three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and marketing costs. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Office space build-out: $20,000
• Office equipment, supplies, and materials: $10,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $10,000
• Working capital: $10,000

The following graph outlines the financial projections for Harris & Harris Law Firm.

Company Overview

Who is harris & harris law firm.

Harris & Harris Law Firm is a newly established, full-service law firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. Harris & Harris Law Firm will be the most reliable, solution-centric and effective choice for clients in Scottsdale and the surrounding communities. Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide a comprehensive menu of attorney services for any individual, family or business to utilize. Their full-service approach includes a comprehensive array of services that are uniquely prepared for each client.

  Harris & Harris Law Firm will be able to serve the residents and businesses of Scottsdale. The team of professionals are highly qualified and experienced in all aspects of the law and several permutations of legal representation. Harris & Harris Law Firm removes all headaches and issues of securing a comprehensive law firm that is reliable and dedicated to clients, and ensures all issues are taken care of expeditiously, while delivering the best customer service.

Harris & Harris Law Firm History

Since incorporation, Harris & Harris Law Firm has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered Harris & Harris Law Firm, LLC to transact business in the state of Arizona.
• Has a contract for 10,000 square feet of office space midtown Scottsdale office buildings
• Reached out to numerous former clients and contacts to consider Harris & Harris for all their legal representation needs.
• Began recruiting a staff of five lawyers and three office personnel to work at Harris & Harris.

Harris & Harris Law Firm Services

The following will be the services Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide:

• Dedication to professionalism and honest dialogue

Industry Analysis

The law firm industry is expected to grow over the next five years to over $75 billion. The growth will be driven by an increased population requiring legal representation The growth will be driven by the increase of income for individuals, which can support the decision to hire representation. The growth will be driven by the increase in faulty or misleading documents, agreements, and certifications. The growth will be driven by legal firms who collect fees for business mergers and negotiations. Costs will likely be reduced as current technology becomes dated and new, higher-performing technological advances are employed.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market, customer segmentation.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Residents of Scottsdale region
• Businesses within Scottsdale region
• Former associates and clients with whom they can collaborate
• Individuals or businesses that have been served with a summons to appear in court

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Diamond & Johnson Defense

Diamond & Johnson Defense is a law firm located in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm was established in 1998 and has three partners who oversee all cases: Robert Anderson, who is a lead criminal defense attorney; Lisa Martinez, who is a criminal appeals and post-conviction relief attorney, and David Collin, an investigations and trial preparation lawyer. The law firm has a total of six attorneys who specialize in criminal defense, and six office staff, who communicate directly with each lawyer on staff.

Diamond & Johnson Defense is known as “The Defendant’s Law Firm” in Scottsdale, as 99% of the law practice is focused on personal law representation in civil or criminal court cases. The law firm charges fees within the top 5% in the county for personal representation. The years of practice have proven to be winning ones for Diamond & Johnson Defense, as over 69% of their clients have been released without any prison time. The team at D & J Defense are known to be highly-skilled at investigations and trial preparation, with several team members who will take on a single case to thoroughly cover every possible defense for each client.

Legacy Law Associates

Legacy Law Associates is well-known as a “compassionate” team of attorneys, specializing in family wills and trusts. With a team of dedicated and experienced attorneys, the firm aims to provide comprehensive legal services that meet the goals of each client or family who need legal services during a difficult season of life. Legacy Law Associates consists of a partnership of two attorneys, Jonathan Dunlap and David Sessions, who established the law firm in 2005 in Phoenix after graduating from law school together. Together, the co-owners seek families who have legal needs after the death of a family member; such as estate negotiations, final documents and closures, trustee assistance, probate searches, and confidential proceedings per the will of any individual. The law firm has hired a private secretary for each partner and is housed in a small office in downtown Phoenix. The firm has not grown since 2007 and does not choose to make that a pivotal goal for their partnership, relying instead on the on-going legal processes of trusts, wills, probate and other related items.

Construction Defect Law Firm

The Construction Defect Law Firm is owned and operated by Chip Jackson and is located in Green Valley, Arizona. The focus of the law firm is to represent homeowners who have determined a new or nearly-new home contains construction defects. In most cases, the home builder has moved on from the geographic region and, even when contacted repeatedly, is unwilling to rectify the situation by repair or monetary refund.

Chip Jackson is a highly-skilled evaluator and contractor within the construction industry. He is able to determine the viability of most construction issues with merely a cursory examination and has proven over the past ten years to be a worthy adversary in the courtroom. He wins 98% of all cases he brings into the courtroom. Chip’s clients are always homeowners who have been victims of construction defects in homes that are typically new or less than ten years old. His skill set includes negotiation outside the courtroom, compelling videos of problematic construction processes, drone footage of damaged rooftops, chimneys and other areas not typically viewed by homeowners and other support graphics that demonstrate the defects of the property.

Competitive Advantage

Harris & Harris Law Firm will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Harris & Harris Law Firm is as follows:

Word of Mouth/Referrals

Harris & Harris Law Firm has built up an extensive list of contacts over the years by providing exceptional service and expertise to former clients and associates. This group will follow Roger and Anthony to their new company and help spread the word of Harris & Harris Law Firm.

Professional Associations and Networking

Harris & Harris Law Firm will take an active role in all community organizations and networking events, where they can spread the word about the launch and start of their company. The law firm will offer an Open House specifically for association members to acquaint the city of Scottsdale with their new services and location.

Website/SEO Marketing

Harris & Harris Law Firm will fully utilize their website. The website will be well organized, informative, and list all the services that Harris & Harris Law Firm provides. The website will also list their contact information and list their available reservation times to meet with one of the attorney’s for an initial consultation. The website will employ SEO marketing tactics so that anytime someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “law firm services” or “lawyer near me”, Harris & Harris Law Firm will be listed at the top of the search results.

The pricing of Harris & Harris Law Firm will be moderate and on par with competitors so customers feel they receive excellent value when purchasing their services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Harris & Harris Law Firm. Operation Functions:

• Roger Harris will be the Owner and President of the company. He will engage and manage new client relations.
• Anthony Harris will be the Legal Outcomes & Research Manager for the company. He will work with clients to craft potential outcomes based on algorithms and research.
• Richard Cummings will take on the role of Managing Partner and, as such, will oversee junior partners and staff, as the total number of staff lawyers is expected to markedly grow in the coming five years.
• Torey Crouch will take on the role of Research & Records Manager, where she will support and provide research for all junior and senior attorney staff members. She will also oversee the office personnel.

Milestones:

Harris & Harris Law Firm will have the following milestones completed in the next six months.

• 5/1/202X – Finalize contract to lease office space
• 5/15/202X – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts for the Harris & Harris Law Firm
• 6/1/202X – Finalize contracts for Harris & Harris Law Firm clients
• 6/15/202X – Begin networking at association meetings and industry events
• 6/22/202X – Begin moving into Harris & Harris Law Firm office
• 7/1/202X – Harris & Harris Law Firm opens its office for business

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for Harris & Harris Law Firm are the fees they will charge to clients for the legal services and representation they provide.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required in order to staff Harris & Harris Law Firm. The expenses will be the payroll cost, rent, utilities, office supplies, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Harris & Harris Law Firm is seeking $200,000 in debt financing to launch its law firm. The funding will be dedicated toward securing the office space and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated toward three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and association memberships. The breakout of the funding is below:

Key Assumptions

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of Clients Per Month: 125
• Average Revenue per Month: $325,000
• Office Lease per Year: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, law firm business plan faqs, what is a law firm business plan.

A law firm business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your law firm business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Law Firm business plan using our Law Firm Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Law Firm Businesses? 

There are a number of different kinds of law firm businesses , some examples include: Commercial Law, Criminal, Civil Negligence, and Personal Injury Law, Real Estate Law, and Labor Law.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Law Firm Business Plan?

Law Firm businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Law Firm Business?

Starting a law firm business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Law Firm Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed law firm business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast. 

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your law firm business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your law firm business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Law Firm Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your law firm business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws.

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your law firm business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms.

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations.

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events.

7. Acquire Necessary Law Firm Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your law firm business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation.

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your law firm business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful law firm business:

• How to Start a Law Firm

Seven Sample Attorney Business Plans: Why Attorneys Must Have Business Plans

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By  Harrison Barnes

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• Business plans are a dying art, especially in the legal profession.
• Needless to say, business plans are also essential for a lawyer’s career.
• As the adage goes, if you don't plan your career, someone else will plan it for you.

Many of you work in firms that don't have a business plan for the firm as a whole , let alone your practice group or individual attorneys. And some of you are not privy to the firm's plan, even if there is one.

• If you are interested in seeing the elements of a lateral partner business plan click here: Partner Business Plans: Key Elements

Even so, that's no reason to forgo developing a plan for yourself. Remember, if you don't plan your career, someone else will plan it for you.

Have no fear. Personal business planning is not about writing a 50-page manifesto outlining every detail of every day of your professional life for the next 10 years . In fact, personal business planning can be as simple as you want to make it, as you can see here with this sample business plan for law practice PDF . You don't even have to call it a business plan -- call it a career plan if you prefer.

No matter how simple you make it or what you call it, personal business planning is about taking inventory of where you are , determining where you want to go and building a roadmap for getting there. Once you have the plan in writing, all you have to do is revisit it periodically to check your course and make any necessary adjustments.

1. Take an inventory of where you are.

The first step in the personal business planning process is to survey your situation. Often, it helps to ask yourself a series of tough questions. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What practice areas and professional activities most interest you? What is the status of your network and your reputation? How does your personal situation compare with external factors such as your firm's goals and objectives? Are your goals in line with the objectives of your firm? What about the status of your competition, internally and externally? Are you looking to succeed in a field packed with attorneys having similar skills and goals? What are the trends taking shape in your geographic region , in your practice area, and in your clients' industries? Do your goals and objectives capitalize on these trends? Given this analysis, what threats do you need to avoid and what new opportunities can you capitalize on?

2. Determine where you want to go.

You know where you are, but where do you want to go? Think about creating a mission statement for yourself. I know it sounds corny, but the mere exercise of trying to come up with one is enlightening. Answer this question: Why am I practicing law and what do I want to achieve? The answer doesn't have to be unique or earth-shattering -- it just has to answer the question.

Your mission statement doesn't have to be long or eloquent. In fact, you should try to keep it to one sentence. The most important thing to remember is that whether you want to become a partner in your firm, help the less privileged, become a judge, move in-house or start your own firm, your mission is yours and yours alone. Your parents were right: You can do, and be, anything you want.

3. Build a map for getting there.

All that's left is to figure out the steps between your situation and your destination as described in your mission statement. The best way to map out these steps is to start at the end and work your way back to your situation. Here is how your analysis might work:

Establish long-term goals. To accomplish your mission, first think about what long-term goals you will need to achieve. For example, if your mission is to become a partner , you might want to set long-term goals of winning a certain amount of new business or developing a new practice area. You also might speak with those responsible for making partnership decisions, to hear what they want to see you accomplish to support the decision to make you a partner. Once you know their expectations, you can align your long-term goals with their expectations. And you can make exceeding their expectations one of your long-term goals.

If you are already a partner, your mission might be to become one of the firm's top rainmakers. To accomplish this, one of your long-term goals might be to develop a certain percentage of new business from your existing clients over the next two years.

• Set objectives for this year. To accomplish your long-term goals, think about what objectives you can achieve by the end of the year. To continue the above example, if your long-term goal includes developing new business, you might make it your objective to win two new clients this year that represent a certain percentage of your long-term business development goal. To develop a new practice area, you might try to work on three projects related to the new practice area. If your goal is to focus on developing new business with existing clients, your objective might be to have a certain number of face-to-face meetings with your clients to discuss their business and legal issues.
• Start implementing your strategies today . Finally, to accomplish this year's objectives, think about what short-term strategies or steps you can start taking. For example, to win two new clients, you might determine that you need to build your referral network and become more visible in your practice area. That might mean taking a leadership role in an association, writing articles and giving speeches. You might run for office in a bar association section that interests you. Or you might join Toastmasters, to hone your speaking skills. To identify writing opportunities , you could develop better relationships with key people in your firm's marketing department so that they think of you when there is a suitable writing opportunity.

To accomplish your objective of working on three projects in a new practice area, you might determine that you need guidance and additional skills. Then you could identify a mentor with experience building new practice areas . To acquire new skills, you could take continuing legal education courses or seek opportunities to work on the types of matters that will develop those skills.

To develop additional business from existing clients, you might start by scheduling regular entertainment outings with key clients and in the meantime educate yourself about their businesses. What's going on in their industries? What do their most recent annual reports reveal about their strategies? Who are their primary competitors? What legal needs might these clients have that your firm is not serving?

In the meantime, as you establish yourself with new and existing clients, it might be a good idea for you to establish an individual attorney marketing plan, either through an associate attorney marketing plan, or a partner business plan if you are a partner.

The key to building your roadmap is to make sure that each activity you plan to undertake has a clear deadline and is as specific, objective and measurable as possible: "I will take two CLE courses in complex litigation techniques by June 1" or "I will entertain Mr. Jones from ABC Inc. once each quarter."

Also, when it comes to planning, the biggest land mines are complexity and procrastination. Try to avoid creating a plan that overwhelms you or anyone you tell about it. And remember that any plan is better than no plan at all.

Strive to keep your plan simple and start taking action. As an attorney, you're well-versed in the areas of analysis and logic. In every work matter, you look at the situation and connect the dots to accomplish the desired objective. Apply the same approach to personal business planning and the dots you connect will lead you to the career you've always wanted.

• See 30 Ways to Generate Business as an Attorney for more information.

Business Plan For A Law Firm

How do i write a business plan for a law firm, what goes into a business plan, overview of the firm.

• A mission statement about the firm’s purpose.
• A vision statement or recitation of medium- and long-term goals for the firm.
• Important aspects of the firm’s history.
• Any important philosophies that the firm brings to legal practice.

Market Analysis

Do lawyers write business plans, 1. what are your goals.

• What do I want to achieve by starting my own law firm ?
• What is the impact I want to have?
• What am I good at?
• How do I want to service my clients?
• What problems do I want to help solve?
• What does success look like after starting this law firm?

2. Consider how much revenue you will need.

3. setting your fee structure, 4. determine how many cases you need to meet that revenue goal, how to create a law firm business plan, 1. executive summary.

• Mission statement: One or two sentences describing your firm’s purpose.
• Core values: What values are most important to the firm?
• Major goals: What are your firm’s overarching goals and objectives?
• Unique selling proposition: What sets your firm apart from other firms?

2. Firm Description

• Service(s): What type of law do you practice? What types of clients do you serve?
• Firm values: Restate your mission statement and core values.
• Legal structure: What sort of business entity are you? Are you in a sole proprietorship or a limited liability partnership?
• Location: Where is the office geographically located? What areas does the firm serve?
• Unique selling proposition: What makes your firm stand out? What technology or services give your firm an edge?

3. Market Analysis

• Ideal client: What demographics (like location, age, occupation), needs, and motivations would signify the best client match for your firm, and why?
• Industry description: What is the current and projected size of the market your firm is in? What are the trends in your legal niche?
• Competitive analysis: Who are your direct and indirect competitors, and how are they serving your target market? Where do your competitors succeed? What opportunities are there for your firm?
• Projections: How much can your ideal clients spend on legal services? How much can you charge?

4. Organization and Management Overview

• Describe what makes you unique and what sets you apart from other applicants.
• If applicable, include what makes each member of your team suitable for their particular roles.
• The organizational chart is a great visual aid if you have a larger practice.

5. Services

• What problems do your potential clients need your help with?
• How can your services uniquely help your clients solve their problems?
• What is the benefit of your services to clients?
• Why would potential clients choose your firm over another firm?

6. Marketing Strategy

• Ideal client: Where would you find your ideal client?
• Marketing goals: Detail what specific outcomes you hope to accomplish through marketing. Goals should include tactical objectives (more clients? Higher billing rates?) and overall objectives (like increased name recognition).
• Unique selling proposition: Restate what sets you apart and makes you uniquely able to best serve your clients.
• Competition: Detail who your competition is—and what they are doing to gain clients. Analyze their marketing strategies and assess where the cost of your services fits in with your competitors.
• Action plan: List the specific actions your firm will take to reach your target market and achieve your marketing goals (this could include a media/advertising strategy).

7. Financial Plan

• Revenue goal: How much money you want to make broken down by month.
• Financial projections: What you will really expect to earn, how many cases you think you will have the capacity to take on, and what you will be charging each client each month.
• Budget: A breakdown of your expenses and what your money will be going towards each month.
• Cash flow statement: What you actually earned and spent each month. This is different from your projections and budget and should be updated as the year progresses. You will find that you may have budgeted for something that cost you much less than you originally thought or made more in a month than you projected, these discrepancies should be recorded in your cash flow statement.

8. Start-Up Budget

• Hardware (laptops, printers, scanners, office furniture, etc.)
• Office space (Will you rent, or work from home?)
• Malpractice insurance
• Staff salaries (Are you planning to hire an administrative assistant or paralegal?)
• Utilities (Phone, internet, etc.)
• Practice management software or other technology services
• Partner Business Plans: Key Elements
• You Need to be Self-Managing and Responsible
• The Importance of Finding and Creating Demand
• The Importance of Asking the Right Questions, Self Improvement and Perception
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 1
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 2
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 3
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 4
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 5
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 6
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 7

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Harrison Barnes does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for attorneys and law students each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can attend anonymously and ask questions about your career, this article, or any other legal career-related topics. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom

Harrison also does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for law firms, companies, and others who hire attorneys each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom

You can browse a list of past webinars here: Webinar Replays

You can also listen to Harrison Barnes Podcasts here: Attorney Career Advice Podcasts

You can also read Harrison Barnes' articles and books here: Harrison's Perspectives

Harrison Barnes is the legal profession's mentor and may be the only person in your legal career who will tell you why you are not reaching your full potential and what you really need to do to grow as an attorney--regardless of how much it hurts. If you prefer truth to stagnation, growth to comfort, and actionable ideas instead of fluffy concepts, you and Harrison will get along just fine. If, however, you want to stay where you are, talk about your past successes, and feel comfortable, Harrison is not for you.

Truly great mentors are like parents, doctors, therapists, spiritual figures, and others because in order to help you they need to expose you to pain and expose your weaknesses. But suppose you act on the advice and pain created by a mentor. In that case, you will become better: a better attorney, better employees, a better boss, know where you are going, and appreciate where you have been--you will hopefully also become a happier and better person. As you learn from Harrison, he hopes he will become your mentor.

To read more career and life advice articles visit Harrison's personal blog.

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Harrison is the founder of BCG Attorney Search and several companies in the legal employment space that collectively gets thousands of attorneys jobs each year. Harrison is widely considered the most successful recruiter in the United States and personally places multiple attorneys most weeks. His articles on legal search and placement are read by attorneys, law students and others millions of times per year.

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Law Firm Partnership: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Law firm partnerships are often a disaster. They usually feel like a group of lawyers rowing a boat: everyone is paddling in a different direction, each attempting to reach a different destination, in the opposite direction from everyone else.

The boat either stays still, or goes around and around in circles without ever getting where anyone wanted to go. Partnerships unravel with alarming frequency, especially among smaller groups of lawyers.

Likewise, the partnership you’re contemplating right now will probably result in disaster. Slow down before you join up. The formation of a law firm partnership is a bigger decision than it seems.

The theory behind a partnership seems sound: bringing in a partner will spread the risk, create synergy, and double the odds of success.

The reality, though, is that many law firm partners spend all their energy fighting for a bigger share of a pathetic little pie. Instead of synergy, they get misery when the relationship unravels and the partnership fails.

The business relationship has failed, and more often than not, the personal relationship has soured as well.

The huge time suck of disharmony among partners

I just finished advising a lawyer to extract himself from a partnership because the two lawyers couldn’t stop squabbling over money. The “successful” partner is grossing under $200,000 a year. The “failing” partner is grossing $130,000.

Their competitive nature is dragging them both down, because they aren’t focused on the right metric. These two are so wrapped up in their arguments about money that they aren’t doing any marketing. They’re squabbling over whose piece of the dwindling pie is bigger, instead of baking a larger pie.

They’re both failing, and they’re each blaming the other instead of themselves. They’re both losing. Having one another keeps them distracted from the reality that neither is winning, and both need to get busy growing a real practice.

If you’ve got a really good reason to form a partnership (like you’re married to a lawyer and they insist) then go for it. But be aware: getting along with your law partner often proves more challenging than building a successful practice.

Why? Because lawyers can be nasty, you know? (I can say that because I’m a lawyer.)

Sometimes we take our challenging personalities home to our spouses. But more often, we keep our oppositional defiance, and whatever other disorders, at the office. We get into arguments. We fight.

What do we fight about? Money, of course. But we find plenty of other things to fight about, too. We say upsetting things to one another. We treat each other badly, and we fail to communicate.

A business filled with partners who can’t get along won’t last a long time (or worse–it will last a long time). You have to find a way to get along with the other owners, if your business is going to last. Or, you have to find a way to be the sole owner of your law firm, so that you’re not required to share authority with others.

Often, lawyers find themselves better off on their own rather than partnering up. Staying solo might be the most efficient and effective path forward.

Compare: law firm partnership vs going solo

Let’s compare two law firms.

First, the solo scenario : Young, smart, driven lawyer starts out alone.

Year One –This lawyer gets going and it’s challenging. She’s undercapitalized, she’s overworked, and she has no idea how to market, price, or handle the crappy cases she’s pulling in the door. Year one goes by; she’s living on ramen noodles and camping out in her childhood bedroom.

However, she is getting out into the community. She’s scared, but not paralyzed. She’s involved in a young lawyers’ group, she joined Rotary, and she’s meeting older lawyers at bar association activities. She’s getting some scraps sent her way, and she’s eating them up. At the end of the year she’s still lacking in funds, but she has gained some good experience.

Year Two –She’s understanding how to do the work that’s coming in. She’s getting a steady stream of business. The cases are small, but she’s networking like crazy, and she sees signs of improvement. She lucked out and got one case that generated $45,000 in fees. That one case made her year. She’s moved out of her parents’ place, and she’s bringing in an average of $14,000 per month. She’s now spending some of it on Google AdWords, and it’s generating a return.

Year Three –The Google Ads experiment is paying off. She’s spending $2,500 a month on ads, and bringing in $30,000 a month in revenue, from all sources. She built a website and is blogging each day. The website is getting some traffic, and those visitors are starting to call. Her clients are referring family and friends. Things are humming along, and she hired an administrative assistant.

Years Four and Five –You get the idea. She’s winning. Her revenue has grown. Her team is growing. She’s doing well, and her parents are thrilled. Her little business is built on a solid foundation, and she’s set for a long and lucrative career.

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Second scenario: Two young lawyers start out together as partners.

Year One –One of the partners insists that they need to get organized first. They spend much of the first six months working on drafts of internal systems and processes. The stuff they create is awesome and will support their business as it grows. They interview paralegals so they’ll be ready to hire when the business booms. One partner is focused on marketing, and the other is going manage the work—as soon as the work arrives. The year has been challenging, fun, and tough, and these partners are totally bonded. They’ll be friends forever.

Year Two –They’ve got everything you can imagine. Great systems and processes, cool technology and excellent management skills, and they’re ready. Sadly, the clients aren’t pouring in. The marketing partner has been busy helping out with the systems and technology, but business is expected: it’s just around the corner. Tension builds.

Year Three –Not having money is wearing on these partners, and the financial pressure is overwhelming. They’re fighting and sniping at one another. They unravel in the spring of year three and go their separate ways. Since there’s no money, it’s easy to dissolve the partnership. However, they figure out a way to spread the dissolution discussion into a 90-day-long negotiation/interaction.

Years Four and Five –They’re both figuring out what’s next. Job hunting is fruitless, so they both start out again on their own. The documented systems, being of no use anyway, get lost in the transition. Both of them try to get busy on marketing and bringing in some business. Many of their lunches with other lawyers are dominated by conversations about the angry breakup of the old partnership. After four or five years, they’re both back at square one, and only now feeling like they can really get started.

What do we learn from these two law firms?

Do you know lawyers like the solo and the partners? Have you seen this story play out? Do you know lawyers who, after five years, are in the same situation they were in at the starting point?

Of course you do. I know one particularly well. She’s told me her story–repeatedly. She’s bitter and angry, and can’t stop retelling her tale of woe.

She knew that she was working harder than her partner. She didn’t want to say anything, so she kept it bottled up. Of course, eventually, she boiled over. The argument wasn’t even about the money, but it was totally about the money. She was only getting half, and she knew she deserved more.

Her story is the story of small law firm after small law firm. The profits are shared equally, but the work isn’t. Resentment builds. Hostility is suppressed. Eventually, the volcano erupts. That’s when the law firm becomes two law firms. That’s when partners become solos. That’s when they swear “never again” and sign separate leases for separate spaces.

Law partnership is not a marriage

“They” say that being partners in a law firm is like being married. I’d say it’s much worse than that.

Here’s how a law firm partnership is different from a marriage:

• Sex . In a marriage, you’re getting laid. Not so much in your law firm partnership. Well, actually, sometimes you are, and that’s the problem. But mostly you’re not.
• Kids . In a marriage, you’ll often end up with kids. See #1 above. Sometimes kids cause people to try hard to make a marriage work. There’s a reason to stick it out when times are tough. That’s not always the case with a law firm partnership.
• Community . In a marriage, you’ve got community, family, and other relationships pushing you to stay together. With law firm partnerships, there’s no such pressure. In fact, other lawyers tend to jump on the bandwagon when you complain about your partner.
• Love . Last, but not least, marriages (hopefully) involve love. That’s a powerful bonding force. You might really like your law partner. But odds are that you aren’t in love. Infatuation maybe, but probably not love.

No sex, no kids, no community pressure, and no love mean that many law firm partnerships dissolve. It happens quickly. It’s painful, expensive, and–sometimes–embarrassing.

I’m not a huge advocate of small firm lawyers joining forces. Many of the perceived benefits fail to materialize. Much of what is gained by coming together as partners can be negotiated in an employer/employee relationship. The employment relationship usually involves substantially less drama.

The arguments about money and contribution are inevitable between law firm partners. Without sex, most law firm partnerships aren’t strong enough to withstand the relationship. I’ve stumbled across a number of law firm partnerships that include the sex, and many of them can’t withstand the relationship either. It’s tough.

Top 3 partner fights: money, money, and money

I’d like to tell you that law partners argue about growth issues like picking an additional practice area, or deciding where to put the expanded office, or when to have the next referral source party. But that’s not what they spend their time fighting about.

Law firm partners spend their time arguing over the trivial things that involve spending money. Money, money, and more (or often less) money is the core argument. It manifests in a variety of conversations about a range of topics but deep down, it’s a money conversation disguised as a conversation about a particular issue. The power struggle boils down to who gets the money.

Back when I was an associate, I overheard (hold a glass firmly to the conference room door and press your ear against the bottom) the partners arguing about an automatic door closer. They spent nearly an hour on the discussion. There were six of them in the room. They could have billed more than $2,000 during that hour. The door closer they decided to buy cost $300.

Ultimately the partner bringing in all the money was tired of the other five partners spending his money on their behalf. He wanted to make the decisions. I’m sure he formed this partnership with the idea that the group was more valuable together than apart. But he found himself caught up in the trivia and resenting that his money was now being used to finance their decisions.

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Money fights manifest as arguments over lots of small issues. The partners distract one another from moving forward, and they get mired in trivia. When the partners argue about trivia, they lack the time required to make real progress (and don’t kid yourself: it’s nearly all trivia).

They spend hours discussing whether to add a new paralegal or whether to fire the existing paralegal. They spend little time, if any, figuring out how to finance and execute on a plan to generate 100 referrals in 100 days.

They spend days arguing over who gets credit for which revenues and how to split a declining pool of profits. They spend little time, if any, figuring out how to automate their practice and document management systems so they can assist more clients (growing revenues) without adding support staff (reducing costs).

They spend days debating whether the firm should reimburse for a particular personal expense rather than figuring out how to expand into a new market or practice area.

We like to say “money makes the world go round.” Unfortunately, it also brings law firm partnerships to a complete standstill.

Maybe you need a friend, not a law partner

Many of us are lonesome. It’s not unusual. It’s tough for many of us to make friends after we finish our schooling. Finding prospects for friendship is easy in school. We’re thrust into situations together where we connect and bond.

But practicing law isn’t well suited for meeting and making friends. Those of us who are proactive about building relationships can find opportunities in professional and business groups. But those of us who rely on happenstance find that it’s tough to build connections.

Many of us are practicing solo or in very small firms. The other lawyers we meet are our bosses, our adversaries, or our competitors. Each of these relationships contains obstacles to friendship. We’re not necessarily on equal footing. We’re hesitant to open up and be vulnerable, and we have limited time for building relationships.

Our loneliness sometimes drives us toward a partnership. We seek someone who will understand our stress, and with whom we can bounce around ideas and balance out the financial pressures. We need a buddy, not a business partner.

Sharing office space might be a better solution than going into business together.

I watched George and my father share office space for decades. They moved offices a few times over the years, and staff came and went. They survived together. The money was separate: each lawyer had his own checking account, his own trust account, and his own clients. They covered for one another when one went on vacation, or when one of them got sick. Sure, they argued about what to buy or how much to spend, but they were able to minimize the complexity of their financial relationship and keep the money arguments simple. The beauty of the arrangement, though, was that it didn’t destroy their friendship.

Partnerships just aren’t what they used to be

I often advise lawyers against forming partnerships with other lawyers. I pretty consistently argue for keeping finances separate, while sharing office space and expenses.

It’s funny, because based on my thirty years as a divorce lawyer, I advocate the opposite for romantic couples. For couples, I suggest integrating the money–it’s symbolically significant and it’s good practice for coping with larger challenges to come. It creates a “we” and breaks down the “me.”

Law firm business partnerships are different. There used to be good arguments for business partnership: economies of scale, ease of collaboration, and development of specific expertise. That’s not the case anymore, with advances in tools that facilitate communication and collaboration, and changes in the delivery and pricing of most business services. Now the partnership is often a dilution of effort, message, and effectiveness.

But no matter how much I counsel lawyers to avoid partnership, they do it anyway, and I’m not one to ignore reality. So, if you’re going to do it, let’s talk about how to give it the best chance of success. Since we know that money is the source of most problems, let’s focus on the money.

How not to split the money

The reflex among new law partners is to split the profits equally. It never even occurs to them to do otherwise.

They take the pool of income, pay all of the bills (the smartest ones put a bit aside for emergencies), and then they divide what’s left.

That’s where the trouble starts.

It’s the equal split that leads to anger, resentment, and ultimately, the dissolution of the partnership.

Did you know that you’re not required to divide the profits equally? Yep, that’s not something you have to do. You can do anything you want with the money. You can pay one partner more than the other. You can come up with some kind of formula for dividing the funds. You can be creative and do something no one has ever tried before.

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You already know that I think you’re headed for an argument regardless of what you do with the money, but it’s helpful for you to know—up until the wheels come off the relationship—that there are alternatives to a 50/50 split.

How to split the money with the partner you shouldn’t have

There are as many ways to split the money as there are law partnerships. I’ve heard about a hundred different plans and they range from the incredibly simple to the incomprehensibly complex.

1. Eat what you kill : One approach is to divide based on results, not effort. It pushes lawyers to act in their own interests rather than the firm’s shared interest. Nonetheless, it works for lots of lawyers. It’s basically a space-sharing arrangement disguised as a partnership.

These firms often prepare mini profit and loss statements for each partner, and pay an individual share of the profits after allocating expenses. These lawyers call themselves “partners,” but they’re really solos operating out of one bank account.

2. Revenue split : Some lawyers divide the money based on proportional shares of revenues. Each lawyer gets a share of the profits based on his or her percentage of the overall revenues that month, that quarter, or that year.

3. Subjective assessment : Some lawyers negotiate, using subjective judgments about each attorney’s contribution, and come up with a percentage of the profits to be paid to each partner. The negotiations get very involved with judgments about how to value the contribution each partner makes to the firm.

Does it matter which system you use? Probably not. Regardless of the approach you adopt, it’s easy to find fault with your methodology. No matter what you do, something unexpected will happen, and the system won’t work perfectly. That’s unfortunate, but it’s unavoidable.

I think it’s probably easier in larger firms with more lawyers. With a bigger group of lawyers, the money in your pocket didn’t necessarily come out of my pocket. It’s harder to blame an individual when you aren’t happy with your share.

In a bigger group, the lawyers tend to blame the firm, the system, or the committee at the top. They’re not any happier with the approach to compensation, but they have a harder time focusing their anger.

What to do about it? I’ve heard from advocates for every system and every formula. They all work—for a while. Then something happens, and something needs to change for the relationship to survive. It’s tricky, and there’s no single right answer.

Fundamentally, surviving a law firm partnership is about the relationship between the people. If the relationship is working, then the money will work out. When the upset, resentment, and bitterness reach an unacceptable level, then tolerance for the distribution of profits unravels, and the partnership unwinds.

Get a great prenuptial agreement

So what should you do? I don’t think there’s a perfect answer. If you find yourself talking about the topic before you start the partnership and have trouble agreeing, then you should probably recognize that trouble is coming.

Of course, it’s easier to agree before the creation of the firm and before there’s any money to divide. Once the cash shows up, the fireworks are more likely to start.

My suggestion on this topic is to lock it all down. Get it all in writing. Talk through every contingency and turn it into a comprehensive partnership agreement.

Don’t just trust one another. Don’t just make it a handshake deal. Write it all down in really excellent legalese.

Anticipate the end, because odds are good that it’s coming. Take a few minutes and imagine a very expensive, public, stressful, embarrassing end to your business relationship. Do what’s possible to mitigate the impact of the dissolution on your relationship. Is arbitration an option, so you can avoid airing your dirty laundry at the courthouse? Are there other steps you can take now to minimize reputational damage later?

Get experienced counsel to review the agreement for you. Make sure you get someone who has dealt with painful, acrimonious law firm dissolutions. Find someone who has been to the dark side, seen it exposed, survived, and come back to share the lessons learned.

Fast forward to the partner leaving

What if you’re reading all of what I’ve written, and are seeing yourself in what I’m saying? What if you’re trapped in a partnership that hit a dead end long ago, and now you’re dreading the unraveling and just killing time until it finally ends?

Stop waiting. Take action. Get it done so you can move on. It’s time to get it finished and build something more for yourself.

Being a solo is easier and better than ever. Office space is available in small units for shorter terms. Technology is sold on a per-user basis with features never before accessible by small businesses. Phone systems are activated in seconds. Printed material can be ordered and delivered tomorrow. Virtual assistants, paralegals, and lawyer support are available on an as-needed basis at bargain prices.

I hate to be Mr. Negativity, but let’s face facts: the partnership is over. It’s time to move on. Why not get it done now–like, this afternoon? What are you waiting for? Deep down, you know you’re going to split up. It never gets easier. Waiting for that big fee to come in before you take action won’t solve the problem. Hoping he stops being crazy isn’t going to work out. Dreaming of the relationship getting back to what it used to be is pointless.

Free yourself of the burden of the broken relationship. The energy and enthusiasm you used to have will flood back in. You’ll get busy marketing your new practice, and you’ll be creating an asset that delivers a lucrative future for you. There’s no time like the present for taking a positive step forward.

11 tips for forming your law firm partnership

If you’re going to insist on the partnership route, then I’ve got some advice. Here are my tips:

1. Don’t do it

Walk away. Ask yourself whether there is anything to be gained that couldn’t be achieved without becoming partners. Don’t do it is my best piece of advice, but we’re going to assume you’re ignoring me. Okay, I’ve been ignored before. I really like it when, after the wheels come off, lawyers tell me I was right, so go ahead and do what you’re going to do.

2. Document the partnership

I mentioned this above but I’ll reiterate: get it all in writing. Build in a specific plan for unwinding the partnership. Detail who gets what money and what effort is required by each partner. The more details, the better. Hopefully, you’ll get heavily into the negotiation and realize what a disaster you’re creating. If you survive the negotiation, be sure you’ve documented–in great detail–your systems for sharing fees, paying expenses, and covering for each other.

3. Make it office sharing

When things get challenging as you negotiate the partnership agreement, you can simply back off and turn it into an office-sharing arrangement. Don’t share your finances. Maintain separate funds and accounting systems. You can still collaborate and share backup coverage and staff. You don’t need to become partners to make this work.

4. Assume it’s not going to work out.

Assume this is an exercise in figuring out how you’re going to make it work next time—in your second partnership. Think of this as an experiment and don’t get overly emotionally involved. Maybe it’ll work, and you can get emotionally committed later.

5. Assume joint liability for everything

If you are going to make financial commitments that require personal guarantees, be sure both partners are guarantors. And—and this is critical—make sure your partner has assets on the line. If your partner has no assets, then a personal guarantee is meaningless. Guaranteeing an obligation when you’re drowning in student loans and judgment-proof is emotionally meaningless. You want both partners to have skin in the game. No skin, no game.

6. Get separate phone numbers

Get a separate number for each partner. You don’t need a “main number.” Just use your own numbers on your cards and in your marketing. In the event of dissolution, it’ll be one less argument if the phone numbers aren’t in dispute. Trust me on this.

7. Create three websites

Create a site for the firm, and create a site for each partner. Do the same if you decide you need to blog. You need your own web presence for now. There’s arguably a marketing benefit in taking this multiple website approach, and it’ll most certainly ease the unwinding of the law firm partnership. Invest your time and energy in your personal website and keep the firm site simple.

8. Don’t get credit

Don’t get a firm credit card or a credit line. If you’re going to use credit, then do it on your personal accounts. At the same time, don’t allow one partner to contribute more to the partnership than the other. You don’t want to have to loan money to your partner, and disproportionate contributions to the firm from assets or credit lines create a debt from one partner to the other. That’s a bad idea.

9. Keep separate bank accounts

Create a firm trust account, if necessary, and open two separate operating accounts: one for each partner. You don’t need a joint account. Just run both accounts in parallel. Keep it simple, and keep it separate. Yeah, I know, this is starting to feel less like a partnership and more like space sharing. You caught me.

10. Create separate entities

If you’re going to create an entity, and there’s not always a reason to do so, then create two of them: one for each partner. Talk to your lawyer about how to get this done so that it’s easy to unwind the partnership when necessary.

11. Choose a decision-maker

Designate one partner as the decision-maker with ultimate authority. Lock down that authority in your partnership agreement. One of you needs to lead, and the other needs to follow when you disagree. Otherwise, you’ll debate endless trivia. If you can’t agree on this point, then you’re doomed anyway, so this is the perfect time to find out what each of you really thinks.

Ready to make this work? The quick test

I’d never have been a good law firm partner. I like to do things my way. I mostly think I’m right and that I know better. You’d hate having me as a partner. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make it work for you. I’ve provided a single question below that’ll help you shortcut the process and find out, without all the trial and error, if this is going to work for you.

Here’s the quick test. Ask yourself–and ask your prospective partner–this single question:

Are you a leader or a follower?

The odds are good that you’ll designate yourself as a leader. So will your partner. That’s what most law firms look like–lots of folks who think of themselves as leaders with very, very few followers.

That explains why so many law firm partners find themselves rowing the boat in different directions. They each have a different destination. They’re all leading the others to a different place. Unfortunately, nobody is following. That explains why they keep crashing into the rocks. See it now?

What’s the solution?

Stop. Stop trying to cooperate. You weren’t able to do it before, and you’re not likely to do it now. Stop dreaming that you or the others will change. Stop imagining that you’re going to convince the others to follow, or that you’re going to magically become a follower yourself.

Here’s what you do:

Option 1: Separate your practices. Split up. Divorce. Leave. Get away from one another.

Option 2: Stop being a leader. Let the other lawyer be the decision-maker. Shut your mouth and follow. Why you? Why not the other lawyer? Exactly! You should probably refer to Option 1 above.

As usual, I’m fatalistic about our chances of cooperating (I like to think of myself as realistic).

Sure, there are lots of reasons to work with other lawyers. However, working with other lawyers doesn’t require the sharing of all decisions. Someone can lead and the rest can follow. It’s essential to designate a leader who has decision-making authority. In fact, you’ll find that most successful practices have figured out a way to grant someone authority, regardless of the ownership structure. But it’s only when some lawyers relinquish the role of leader that law firm partnerships start to work.

Can a law firm partnership work out?

Am I opposed to all partnerships? Of course not. But mostly they don’t work, and the lawyers who join them spend 40 years playing musical partnership chairs. They group, regroup, move around to other partnerships, and spend unquantifiable energy on partnership issues.

A partnership isn’t necessary. It’s not essential, and it’s often a distraction from the important tasks required to build a business.

You’re driven, energetic, and willing to work hard. That’s like lightning in a bottle. There’s a powerful force in that bottle, and now is the time to use it.

You can use that energy on getting business, satisfying clients, and growing your reputation and practice. Or you can spend it on “partnership issues.” Your energy, your call.

If you’re tired of arguing, if you’re tired of rowing in circles, then choose from the options above and get moving. Soon you’ll be moving the boat forward. There may be fewer oarsmen on board, but you’ll be headed where you want to go. You’ll stop going in circles, and you’ll eventually reach your destination.

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How to Write A Lateral Partner Business Plan [TEMPLATE]

by Jennifer | Jun 21, 2022 | Business Plan , Lateral Partner Moves

The Lateral Partner Business Plan is an essential tool when pursuing a partnership-level lateral move. Your perfect-fit law firm is out there. What distinguishes Gillman Strategic Group is our focus on our candidates and the career that you want. We work with you to assess your Business Plan and ensure that you are positioned to get the right results for you.   Rather than repurposing another Business Plan or a generic template we ask you to put this together because it makes you more valuable, more aware, and more prepared for a lateral move.  A thoughtful, well-crafted plan is a valuable tool. It educates the law firm about your expertise and background, gives you increased leverage when negotiating your wants and needs, and gives your partner a roadmap on how you will continue to be successful and benefit the firm.

Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity to market yourself and your practice.

This article will explore three components of an effective lateral law partner business plan. By including them in yours, you’ll be setting yourself up for a successful and smooth lateral placement process at a law firm where you will be happy.  Download our sample lateral business plan template, get started on your future today. 

Download the Lateral Partner Business Plan

(This post focuses mostly on Partner Business Plans, but the same template and approach can also be useful as an associate attorney business development plan.)

#1: Lateral Partner Business Plan Executive Summary

Think of this section as your bio or resume. This is your chance to hook the reader with an outline of your practice, experience, and industry niches or areas of specialized expertise.

Be sure to highlight any noteworthy accomplishments, like winning a high-value or high-profile case, and don’t forget to emphasize your key strengths. 

You can also include general information such as:

• Job title and job functions
• Leadership roles within and outside the law firm
• Relevant work history
• Community and charity involvement
• Your expectations for your practice in the future

Last but not least, when it comes to your summary, keep it brief. This is just an overview, so aim for 100-200 words. Remember that busy partners will be reading it – so keep this short. 

Our Business Plan Template guides you through putting your Lateral Partner Business Plan together. Download it here.  

#2: Current Business

In this section, dive deeper into your current book of business. The level of detail and specificity you employ can vary depending on your comfort level — some attorneys are willing to divulge all client information, while others are not.

Regardless, the goal is to show that you have a portable business portfolio that you are highly likely to retain at a new law firm. One of the primary motivating factors for law firms to bring in a lateral partner is revenue generation, so be sure to include realistic projections for your practice.

T his can be a bit of a tricky balancing act, as you don’t want to under or over-project. If you expect your revenue in a given category to increase or decrease from historic levels, be sure to explain why.

Your revenue projections will be of intense interest to the firm, so make sure you provide as much detail as possible and that your forecasts are credible. 

Your current business section should include the following information:

• Existing clients with the type of work, past and projected revenue, and cross-selling opportunities
• Origination information; in other words, identify how each client came to you, such as through a referral or marketing activity
• Client contact information, including all the individual relationships you have at the client’s business (for example, the CEO or General Counsel) as well as how long you have known each contact and the strength of the relationship

Finally, it may also be a good idea in this section to touch on how you have developed your practice to date. The LPQ is likely to cover your business development track record, but it is nevertheless useful to reiterate some of the information here. 

#3: Future Opportunities in the Lateral Partner Business Plan

This may be the most critical section of all — this is where the rubber hits the road. Here, you will connect the dots for the hiring firm by laying out how you will use your new platform to retain and grow business from existing clients and generate business from new clients. Include the following in your Lateral Partner Business Plan: 

• Define your ideal client, and be specific. Examples may include: multijurisdictional product liability defense for pharmaceutical companies, management-side labor, and employment for middle-market companies, or trusts and estates for wealthy individuals.
• Define your competitive advantage. Why do your ideal clients hire you? Is it because of your experience, industry knowledge, personal brand, reputation, pricing, or a combination of these?
• Write about the specific opportunities that a new law firm and its platform will bring to you and the firm. Perhaps you could not get work from a client due to conflicts at your current firm. Or, you have clients that need a national platform or services that your current firm cannot provide.

T he point is to put yourself in the best possible light. However, do not overpromise or create unrealistic expectations. Again, the level of detail and specificity depend on the comfort level of the individual candidate. 

You can also include other opportunities and plans, too. Where would you like to grow your practice geographically? What other specialties within your practice area would you like to explore? In which industries would you like to practice (where you don’t practice now)?

Ask yourself questions like these, and paint a portrait for the reader of what they can expect from you as a member of the firm. Remember, though, not to over or understate your potential. Protect your credibility and reputation by keeping your estimations optimistic but realistic. 

The Lateral Partner Business Plan  Bottom Line

When pursuing a lateral partnership opportunity, it is essential to create an in-depth and comprehensive Business Plan. Doing so is an important part of the lateral partner hiring process (and it will help you complete your Lateral Partner Questionaire .)

Even if you are not thinking of making a move now or at all, a Lateral Partner Business Plan can still be useful. 

If you have an up-to-date Business Plan you can explore other opportunities, if it ever sounds interesting. If you already have a Lateral Partner Business Plan, it can be constructive to review it for areas of improvement. If you don’t already have one, your first step before seeking lateral move opportunities should be to start working on your plan. If you have any questions or need help, let’s schedule a time to talk.

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What Is a Partnership Business Structure?

• March 24, 2022 May 1, 2024

Business structures help protect owners from liability and enable them to maximize the tax benefits of running a business.

A partnership business structure is one of the simplest ways for two or more people to run a business together. 

The Most Common Business Partnership Structures

One of the first decisions business co-owners must make is what type of structure works best for their business. There are two common types of formal partnerships: limited partnership (LP) or limited liability partnership (LLP).

Limited Partnership (LP)

A limited partnership features a general partner who has unlimited liability, while all other partners have limited liability. The general partner is the operation’s hands-on person. Limited partners may be silent partners who help fund the startup of the business and are not involved with day-to-day operations. 

Profits are reflected on the personal tax returns of all the partners. The general partner takes on the responsibility of paying self-employment taxes on partnership profits. Partners with limited liability also have limited control over how the company operates.

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

A limited liability partnership works in much the same way as a limited partnership. The key difference is that under an LLP, every partner has limited liability. An LLP separates every owner’s personal finances from those of the business. Personal assets—bank accounts, property, vehicles, etc.—are protected if legal actions are brought against the company. These assets are also protected against the company’s creditors or the debts of other partners. Most LLPs hire a business manager to oversee daily operations.

General Partnerships and Limited Liability Limited Partnerships

A general partnership does not require filing paperwork with the state. Typically, two or more people form a partnership by agreeing to a written partnership. The partners file taxes under their own names. A general partnership offers no liability protection, which is one of the main advantages people seek when forming a business structure.

The Limited Liability Limited Partnership (LLLP) structure is a recent addition to partnership types. An LLLP operates like an LP, with a general partner managing the day-to-day business. However, it also limits the general partner’s liability so that every partner has protection.

Who Should Form a Partnership?

A partnership works well for companies with more than one owner, professional groups that want the benefits of a partnership but don’t want to run the business (such as attorneys or doctors), or owners who want to try out a new business before creating a more formal business structure like an LLC or corporation .

Entrepreneurs may decide on a partnership business structure if their business falls into one of the following categories: 

• The business has multiple owners.
• It is a low-profit, low-risk business.
• It has a limited customer base.
• It is an enterprise transitioning from a hobby into a business.

How Do You Form a Partnership?

A general partnership requires only a partnership agreement between two or more people. In theory, you could start a business on a handshake, but experts recommend a written agreement. 

The other partnership structures (LP, LLP, LLLP) require registering with the state where the business is located. Forming these types of partnerships also require owners to establish certain aspects of a formal business, such as creating business banking accounts and obtaining required permits and licenses. Some states may allow a business to register online; others may require documents be submitted in person or through the mail. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, most states also require registration with the secretary of state’s office, a business bureau, or a business agency. 

Challenges of Forming a Partnership

Liability: General partners have unlimited liability, meaning they must carefully choose with whom they enter into a partnership since they are responsible for the partnership’s liabilities. In some cases, a creditor can pursue a single general partner for the obligations of the business.

Self-employment taxes: A general partner must pay self-employment taxes on income received through a partnership. A limited partner does not pay self-employment taxes on their share of a partnership’s income, but does pay self-employment taxes on any guaranteed payments, according to the IRS . Guaranteed payments involve payments for any services rendered to or on behalf of the partnership.

Advantages of a Partnership

• Liability protection: This extends only to limited partners, not general partners in an LP structure.
• Capital investment: Pooling the resources of the partners allows for creation of a better business than trying to run it alone.
• Specialization: Either through a general partner or a business manager, partners can bring in professionals with expertise in business operations rather than try to run a business on their own.
• Simple tax filings: Partnerships file Form 1065 and report income on their personal taxes, usually with a Schedule K-1.
• Avoid double taxation: Profits pass through to the partners, rather than first getting taxed at the corporate rate as with a C corp.

Evaluating the requirements, advantages, and challenges of a setting up a partnership is essential before deciding if it’s the right legal entity for your business.

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Business Plans for Lateral Partners – Good vs. Great

Most effective business plans, if not done correctly, are relatively useless.  Why?  Because many partners end up borrowing a template from a friend at another firm, and they just fill in the sections. 

There is not that much thought about why certain information is included, and how it fits with the LPQ and the overall business case for joining the new firm.  Effective business plans often read like a rehash of a partner’s website biography and contain duplicative information that will be included in other documents as part of the due diligence process. 

But effective business plans don’t have to be superfluous, and here are recommendations. 

There are three main questions partners have regarding effective business plans:

• “Should I have a effective business plan?”
• “If so, when should it be presented to the firm?”
• “What should the business plan include?”

Main Purpose of Business Plan  

Before I answer the above three questions about effective business plans and it’s important to explain that the purpose of a effective business plan is to show your future vision for your practice at a particular firm. 

Effective Business plans are used in conjunction with a Lateral Partner Questionnaire (LPQ), which is a detailed questionnaire that focuses on various aspects of your practice and includes questions about the historical, current, and projected financial aspects and economics of your practice.  Taken together, these provide firms with the most comprehensive 360 degree view of your practice and how it will potentially fit in to the new firm.  

In short :  The LPQ looks at your past and present practice, and also encompasses projections for the future.  Business plans supplement the LPQ by putting more “meat on the bones” about your current practice, where you want to go, and how you plan to get there.  The business plan is also, at times, a stand-alone document that can be used at the new firm to present to the executive/hiring committee to explain why you should be hired.  

Now let’s address each of the above three questions.

• “Should I have a business plan?” Answer: it depends.

If you have an immediately portable practice that is at least self-sustaining (meaning you can keep yourself busy with your own work), or the new firm has enough work to keep you busy based on your unique skillset, a business plan may not be needed.   The information that you include in the LPQ will likely be sufficient.

If it’s unclear as to whether you may have enough business to keep yourself busy, a business plan is important to help explain your vision and plan for your practice.   It’s a piece of the puzzle that helps the new firm answer, “What’s the likelihood this partner will be successful at our firm?” 

• “When should it be presented to a firm?”

Do not present a business plan before you are interviewing (the exception is if you are coming from the government). 

The business plan must be tailored to each specific firm you are considering, and you will learn important information during the interview process that you will use to help build your case as to why you and your practice is a good fit for the new firm. A big mistake is presenting a generic business plan.  I remember attending a seminar a few years ago on lateral partner business plans, and the speakers (hiring partners at law firms) basically said, “We don’t like generic business plans and think they are sort of useless.  If we actually want a business plan, it should be focused on our firm specifically.” 

Your business plan ideally connects these dots: (1) what the firm wants to accomplish, (2) what you want to accomplish, and (3) how coming together could help you both accomplish these mutual goals.  You are (obviously) unable to connect the dots if you have a generic business plan that is presented at the outset.  As a result, presenting it after a round or two of discussions will enable you to connect the dots much better. 

• “What information should it contain?”

The level of detail included in your business plan will depend upon your particular circumstances, where you are in the process, and what you wish to highlight.  Below are the most relevant sections that can be presented.   Think of this as a general lateral partner business plan template, which should be modified and tailored based on your specific situation. 

DETAILS TO INCLUDE IN THE BUSINESS PLAN

• Practice Description . Briefly describe nature of your practice, including areas of expertise or specialization; ideal to provide breakdowns (e.g., example 30% M&A, 25% private equity, etc.).
• Practice Development to Date : What you have done to develop your practice to date.  Although the LPQ will cover your business development track record, it doesn’t hurt to reiterate your main clients, origination track record over the past few years, and your billing rate. 
• Highlights/Accomplishments : Any highlights about your practice (e.g., particular high-profile deals or cases) and/or industry recognition.
• Firm Citizenship: Leadership roles, etc.
• Key Strengths : What are your unique strengths as a partner?  Where do you see yourself adding the most value to a new firm/practice? 
• Future Goals : Where you want your practice to be in the next 3-5 years.  For example, do you want to expand your practice area or enhance a particular industry focus?  Are there additional clients you want to pursue, but you are limited at your current firm due to conflicts, rates, or geography?
• Industry Trends : What industries do you focus on? What is happening in your particular industries that could create more opportunity at the new firm?  What are the untapped opportunities and how are you positioned to capitalize on them? 
• Limitations or Challenges with Current Firm (this is optional, depending on the particular circumstances of your situation) : Why are your future goals difficult to accomplish at your current firm?   Note: the challenges can also be “softer” factors such as the manner in which client credit is shared is not consistent with the type of culture in which you enjoy practicing, etc.  Be careful, however, not to come across as venting your frustrations.  The more this is focused on business and limitations to your practice, the better.
• Your understanding of the new firm’s goals/strategic needs as it pertains to your practice (based on your discussions).
• How your background/experience could fit into the firm’s goals/strategic needs.
• How the new firm could help you (1) more easily accomplish your goals and/or (2) reduce some of the challenges with your current firm. In short, how could both sides come together in a way that meets everyone’s needs.
• Your Network of Contacts : Include a list or chart of people you would plan to continue receiving business from, and who would you expect to approach to develop new business.  The ideal format for the headers is the name, company, title, and the nature of your relationship, including how long your have represented the client (if they are a current client).  This can include the new firm’s clients to the extent it has been discussed already.  If you do mention the new firm’s clients, be sure to take a collaborative tone that includes pitching together as a group and not as a lone wolf. Note :  Some partners are understandably reluctant to “share their rolodex” too early in the process.  If you are uncomfortable, it’s ok to hold off on providing too much detail regarding your network if it’s still early in the process and you are unsure if the firm is a fit.  If the firm presses you for information on your network and future prospects, you can equalize the process by asking the firm to share information on their main clients/contacts as well, so it’s more of a “mutual brainstorming.” 
• Specific Business Development/External-Facing Activities : Many business plans have generic sections such as “Writing:  I plan to write articles” or “Speaking:  I plan to speak at industry conferences to help get my and the firm’s name out there.”  There is nothing wrong with this, but it often comes across as very generic.  To make more of an impact, provide specific examples of what you have done to date, and what you plan to continue doing.  For example, are you on the Board of any high-profile publications or do you often participate at certain industry conferences?

The business plan is not a one-size-fits all approach, but the above provides more clarity on the key issues these documents involve and how to best approach this part of the lateral hiring process. 

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Author: Dan Binstock

Dan co-owns Garrison & Sisson, where he focuses on lateral partner and practice group placements. He has consistently been recognized as one of the Top 100 Global Legal Strategists and Consultants by LawDragon, and authored "The Attorney's Guide to Using (or Not Using) Legal Recruiters." Dan is the Immediate Past President of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC), where he also served as Chair of the Ethics Committee. Visit here to learn more about Dan, or contact him confidentially with any questions at (202) 559-0492 or [email protected].

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The lateral partner questionnaire (lpq), search lateral partners.com, table of contents.

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• General Partnerships Under the Law

A partnership is a business owned by more than one person. There are several different types of partnerships, each with different characteristics, benefits, and possible disadvantages. A general partnership is the simplest form of a partnership. Generally, if a business is referred to simply as a “partnership,” it is a general partnership.

General Partnerships Are Easy to Form

A business with two or more owners can be a partnership. Much like a sole proprietorship, forming a general partnership does not require filing any documents or taking any specific action. If you and another person simply run a business together, it is a general partnership by default. General partnerships differ in this regard from limited partnerships (LPs) or limited liability partnerships (LLPs), since forming one of those businesses requires documents to be filed with your state’s Secretary of State or appropriate agency. Also, many states require general partners to register their business’ name and pay taxes, even though the entity is technically formed without any formal process.

In some instances, it may make the most sense to begin a business as a partnership and incorporate or form an LLC later as the business grows.

General Partnerships Give Joint Authority and Impose Joint Liability

A general partnership can be thought of as an equal split between the partners. This offers benefits and possible disadvantages. Each partner has joint authority to act on behalf of the others, giving the entity a flexibility that other types of business structures do not have. Thus, one partner is free to contract with customers, suppliers, or other parties without the need for explicit approval from the other partners. However, since general partners share joint liability, contracts can be enforced against any of the partners. General partners may be held personally liable and are not offered the protections of a limited liability company (LLC) or LLP. It is therefore important to form a partnership only with people whom you trust.

Similarly, each general partner has an equal right to the profits and losses of the business. In the absence of an agreement that states otherwise, this is true no matter how much effort, capital, or other resources each partner puts into the business. If one partner chooses to leave the partnership, it is usually dissolved. The business must be re-formed between the remaining partners or run as some type of single-owner business if no partners remain.

It is possible to form a partnership without a written partnership agreement, but this is the best way to clearly define each partner’s rights and responsibilities.

For these reasons, it is a good idea for partners to create and agree to a partnership agreement. Even if it is not filed with the agency that regulates business in your state, a partnership agreement acts as a contract between the partners by outlining how profits are shared, how losses are accounted for, and how the business will be run. Having a solid partnership agreement in place may help avoid unnecessary conflict between partners.

Taxes Pass Through to General Partners’ Personal Returns

The tax on a partnership passes through to the general partners, meaning they pay taxes for the business on their personal tax returns. In this way, general partnerships are similar to LLCs or S-corporations. A tradeoff to this benefit is that partners must usually pay the self-employment tax and quarterly estimated taxes. Be sure to consult a tax professional if you are unsure about the taxes you may owe due to your general partnership or other business.

Last reviewed October 2023

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Lateral Partner Integration Requires Business Development Plan

When a lateral is hired into a new firm, following the tone set during the recruiting process is essential. The firm needs to ensure the lateral is set up for success on day one. Openness, honesty, and transparency are key.

A 12-month marketing and business development plan should be created as a roadmap for integrating new lateral hires and partnering them with a business development liaison. The assigned liaison should host regular check-in calls and serve as the lateral’s initial point of contact for all client development activities.

Setting the Stage

An introductory call between the lateral and their assigned BD liaison should take place prior to their start date or within the first two weeks. This should be the first in a series of integration meetings that take place during the lateral’s first year.

The goal of the meeting is to help the lateral understand the resources of the firm, services the marketing and BD department provides (i.e., requests for proposals, pitches, collateral, conference/speaking engagement prep, awards & rankings, bio updates, etc.) and to answer firm questions that may not have been addressed during the recruiting process.

The lateral and liaison should discuss any immediate client needs/opportunities, expectations, what support the lateral needs, and alert clients about the move.

The lateral should walk away from the meeting feeling confident, comfortable, and with a clear path forward.

Read more: Lateral Partner Recruiting Must Focus on Honesty and Clear Data

Introduction and Implementation

The BD liaison must also obtain a fulsome knowledge of the lateral’s practice, portable book of business, client targets, and preferred marketing styles. They should ascertain the partner’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as business goals and objectives.

The liaison needs to know why the lateral was hired—their niche expertise, specific client needs, and regional presence—to help identify cross-sell opportunities, make appropriate introductions to targeted attorneys within the firm, and plug the lateral into pre-existing client and industry teams. Prioritization should be placed on client-facing activities and the lawyer’s strengths.

The new partner’s BD liaison should have the same information as the legal recruiting team, which includes the lateral’s resume, partner questionnaire, offer letter, and revenue goals. Armed with these resources, the business development liaison is positioned as a part of the firm’s long time revenue strategy for the lateral partner, versus as a document producer.

Positioning the BD liaison as a key to the lateral’s success at the onset will encourage the partner to engage them in a meaningful way with strategy, innovation, and revenue generating activities for a sustaining practice. This allows the partner to focus on delivering quality legal services, while the BD liaison can focus on collaboratively growing their book of business.

Having a thoughtful, written integration plan is imperative. A written process ensures not only accountability, but gives each lateral the same onboarding experience regardless of which practice group or industry team they sit in.

During each meeting, the liaison should probe the lateral on topics such as satisfaction with the firm, sense of being valued, client growth opportunities, bandwidth and utilization, and cross-selling successes or frustrations. Regular status updates should be provided to firm leadership and other stakeholders. If the lateral flags an issue or perceived roadblock, the liaison should dig deeper to understand the root cause, and work with leadership to course correct.

It’s critical that firms not overpromise and underdeliver. For example, a lateral may have been hired to inherit a portfolio that fell through, or perhaps market fluctuations prohibited the opening of a new office that the lateral was intended to join. It’s important to keep the lateral’s business development liaison informed of these developments so they can monitor follow-though, manage expectations, and help pivot if necessary.

The firm should be clear about their commitments. Conversely, expectations for new partners’ client development and relationship building activities, for example, should also be addressed directly.

The most successful laterals are engaged and actively participate in regular integration calls. Holding 90-day reviews that include members of the recruiting team and practice group or department leaders can provide an opportunity for the partner to be heard as well as to receive direct feedback.

Integration Process

Avoid letting new lateral partners fall between the cracks, especially if they’re rainmakers or inexperienced business developers, by having a continuity plan that includes the written integration process. The BD liaisons shouldn’t work in silos.

Find a collaboration tool that works for the team’s communication style and commit to using it. Keep detailed records and have a plan of continued support should the assigned BD liaison leave the firm, or if there is significant recent or impending change happening within the firm, such as a merger or acquisition.

Recruiting and integration don’t cease when a merger is on the horizon, and the potential for new laterals to get lost in transition during a major change increases. Firms must adapt their recruiting and integration strategies not only to speak to the newly merged firm’s emerging cultural differentiators but also to how laterals will be supported in a fluid environment.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Brian J. Carrozza is director of client development at Goulston & Storrs.

Courtney C. Hudson is business development manager at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.

Megan K. Senese is co-founder and principal at stage, a women-owned business development and legal marketing firm.

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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jada Chin at [email protected] ; Jessie Kokrda Kamens at [email protected]

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Setting Up a Business Partnership or LLP

LLPs give you more protections than general partnerships — here’s how to set up both.

Matt Crabtree

When two or more people team up together in a binding way, sharing in the profits and losses of that enterprise, they are said to be in a ‘partnership’.

While the stakes are higher for general partnerships , LLPs give more liability protections. But the two are quite similar.

If you're thinking of forming a business partnership, it's helpful to have a basic awareness of the process. In this post, we'll define business partnerships, examine how to form them, and address some common concerns.

In a Nutshell

General partnership steps.

• Choose your business name.
• Have a publically-accessible registered address.
• Maintain a minimum of two ‘designated members'.
• Be governed by a legally binding general partner agreements.
• Submit required information to Companies House.

There may be fewer reporting requirements compared to LLPs . 

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) steps

As will be shown below, limited liability partnerships have additional legal requirements for formation and management in order to ensure the protection of its “members” (i.e., the partners). 

One of the main advantages of LLPs over limited corporations is that the LLP agreement need not be made public after registration with Companies House. 

All in all, general partnerships are quite informal and simple to create, but you take on more risks on the back-end as a general partner. 

What is a business partnership?

A partnership is a kind of legal business structure in which the gains and losses of a company are shared between two or more people. 

So, if you want to do business with two or more people — you could go for a general partnership or a limited liability partnership. Keep in mind that the setting-up process for LLPs is longer , due to it offering more liability protections. With quite 

It's important to first examine the similarities between general partnerships and LLPs before moving on to the differences between the two.

The Agreement Structure

Both general partnerships and LLPs are governed by partnership agreements. Without an explicit agreement to the contrary, the law will “impliedly” include some provisions into your partnership. 

There should be a written agreement between all partners in any partnership. This will reduce the potential for future disagreements. 

The partners in a partnership are bound by the terms of their agreement. Each partner's duties to the others and their share of the profits are spelt out in detail. 

The flexibility of the partnership agreement is a fantastic feature of both general partnerships and LLPs under the law. Since partnerships are not bound by the restrictions of corporation law, people in it can act considerably more flexibly. With very few exceptions, a partnership agreement might include a great deal of information. 

Partnership Agreement Considerations

As a rule, the following may be included in both general and limited liability partnership agreements :

• The business's official name.
• How much capital each partner will provide and how much profit each will keep.
• How much, if any, pay the partners are allowed to take, and how they are responsible for keeping track of it.
• Which partners are eligible to receive interest payments from the partnership and at what rate.
• How much time and effort each partner can anticipate to put in, and how decisions will be made, including which choices should be taken jointly and which may be delegated.

Differentiating Limited Liability Partnerships from General Partnerships

The fact that general partnerships are formed instantly sets them apart from limited liability partnerships. However, forming an LLP formally requires you and your partners to perform certain actions. 

Forming a partnership in business

Although it can be quite simple, there is a protocol to be followed while forming a business partnership. Depending on the sort of relationship you're looking to create, they may vary somewhat. 

It's smart to go about potential plans with the people you'll be working with in advance. When forming a business partnership, it's important to think about the following points:

1. Find your business partner

You’re about to run a race: the first thing to do is to identify a potential business partner who complements your team. In most cases, it is even possible to start a firm with more than one person. 

The Partnership Act of 1890 allows for as many as twenty people to be involved in a single partnership. Some businesses like accountancy and real estate organisations may fall outside this rule — you and your potential business partners may want to seek the advice of an attorney who specialises in business law if you have any doubts about this.

Partner candidates should be trustworthy, provide value to the company idea, and be able to commit as much time as you do to making it a success. 

Finding collaborators that have different expertise and experiences from your own might be advantageous. Together, you'll be able to contribute more to the relationship and reap the benefits of a wider range of expertise and life experiences. Perhaps most crucial, look for individuals to work with and have conversations with.

2. Have a clear vision of your company's future

The next thing to do is get very clear on what work your partnership wants to accomplish. This has two different sides to it.

The first consideration is a legal one: determining the form of partnership to be formed. A limited, limited liability, or general partnership is the option here. Talk to your partner about the benefits and drawbacks of each option. 

If a limited liability partnership's yearly revenue is more than £85,000, for instance, the firm must register for Value Added Tax . This is something to think about if you anticipate sales to be higher than that amount. In certain cases, a limited liability company will also hire an auditor.

As for the second consideration: when two people decide to go into a company together, it's usually because they have extensive experience in the same field. This might be due to prior professional experience, personal investment, or contacts in the field — take into account your mutual experience and knowledge to pinpoint the specific segment you can dominate.

3. Make it legally obligating with the other party

After settling on the legal status of your partnership and its primary functions, you should write a partnership agreement to formalise your business relationship — or a LLP Agreement, if that’s what you’ve chosen. 

The regulations for running the partnership are laid forth in these documents. Among the items they contain are how to run the partnership, its decision-making process, how a partner may quit the partnership, respective obligations, capital contributions and the distribution of earnings — this is crucial because, in the absence of an agreement, many areas of your partnership would be governed by legal default rules.

All partners have an equal vote in partnership decisions, partake equally in partnership profits, and bear equally in partnership liabilities when unlimited liability is in effect. Depending on the circumstances, you may want to negotiate changes to these depending on the contributions and responsibilities of each partner. 

Although a formal agreement is not required, it can smoothen future operations and decision-making. The ‘nominated partner' may be selected when a regular partnership is formed. This person sets up the company's tax affairs with HMRC and files the company's tax returns.

4. Obtain a business licence

There are clear-cut procedures that must be followed in order to officially launch your company. These are distinct from one another in light of the nature of the proposed collaboration — so, the next step is licensing .

Registration with HMRC is required to operate as a normal partnership. Your designated partner is accountable for this. A company name and a designated partner are all that is needed to form a partnership. This registration can be completed either online or using a paper SA400 form. Appointing a representative to handle interactions with HMRC on the company's behalf is a viable option.

Companies House is where limited liability partnerships file their formation paperwork. There must be at least two “designated members” and an LLP agreement in place before a company may legally operate in most jurisdictions. Designated members have the same financial responsibilities as nominated partners. 

With Companies House, register the name, address, and both limited and ordinary partners must file. Companies House will register a limited liability partnership or a limited partnership within five business days after receiving an application and a nominal fee.

Which should you choose for low-liability: Limited partnership or limited company?

Unlike general partnerships, members or shareholders of both an LLP and a Limited Company have the protection of limited liability. 

Whether one prefers a more businesslike or collaborative mindset is not a deciding factor. Both corporations and partnerships can, still, be run in a manner that is comparable to that of an informal partnership.

A key need of the selected structure is that it should not stand in the way of doing business, and this is best shown by the fact that the LLP and Limited structures can use quite different business philosophies. 

First and foremost, tax efficiency and the capacity to adapt to the evolving commercial needs of the organisation and its owners are essential. The LLP is a more adaptable structure (and a possible better option) than the other two since it does not need a share capital or regular capital maintenance.

An LLP's revenues are subject to the partners' exclusive discretion when deciding how to distribute them. In contrast, a Limited Liability Company is limited in its ability to distribute profits to its shareholders by the percentages of ownership they actually hold (although this can be worked around through the creation of different classes of shares, so-called alphabet share arrangements ).

Why LLP's have adaptability

The LLP is also given some leeway in another important respect: the ability to make distributions quickly and easily. 

Profits, loans, and returned capital may all be distributed by the LLP with little red tape provided there is enough cash on hand to cover the expenses. The Limited Company needs liquid assets to disperse, and it must adhere to stringent lending and return of share capital rules under company law.

The LLP also offers a high degree of adaptability in that new members may be added (and deleted) with relative simplicity. Again, this pliability can be contrasted with the Limited Company's more onerous procedures for admitting new members, replacing directors, and recovering shareholders' stakes.

Most importantly, the LLP may exercise its discretion without incurring any additional tax liability. There are no taxable consequences for either the LLP or its members when earnings are shared, money is returned, or members are added or removed. 

In contrast, for corporations or a Limited Company, shareholders may owe taxes in the event of the payment of dividends , return of capital, transfer of shares between members, or admission of new shareholders under advantageous circumstances. Therefore, at first glance, the LLP seems to be superior to the Limited Company in terms of both flexibility and tax efficiency.

LLC tax implications

A Limited Liability Company, on the other hand, is taxed separately from its stockholders and must pay a 20% corporation tax on its income:

Until gains are dispersed as dividends or returned in liquidation , shareholders do not have to pay tax on them. Therefore, a limited liability company (LLC) provides a significant tax deferral (up to 27%) compared to an LLP, where an individual's marginal income tax rate may be as high as 47%.

But what if the company has to keep some of its earnings in order to finance its expansion and ongoing operations? For all the desired flexibility of the LLP, the Limited Company will be preferred due to the capacity to keep such earnings taxed at corporate rates of 20% rather than gains taxed at marginal rates of income tax as high as 47%.

However, this presumes that the choice between an LLP and a Limited is as simple as weighing the benefits of more flexibility against those of more tax-efficient finance. These are often the most crucial factors to think about; nevertheless, there are situations in which they are not. 

There will never be a “right” solution. Whether a partnership or corporation mentality more accurately represents the connection between the owners will depend on a variety of factors, including, as was hinted at earlier, ‘soft' benefits like tax advantages. 

The most that can be said is that the LLP's adaptability may once again work in its favour in times of uncertainty; after all, it is much easier to successfully get an LLP incorporated into a Limited Company (while keeping things tax-neutral) than trying restructuring the opposite way.

Verdict: Creating business partnerships

Establishing a business partnership between two or more persons can be a straightforward process.  

The lack of limited liability implies that all partners are ‘jointly and severally' responsible for the business's obligations. That is to say, if the company goes under, you can be on the hook for a lot of money.

Running a company can be a solitary endeavour, so finding the perfect partner is important; a partner may be desirable if they can provide resources or skills that you lack. 

Like a limited liability corporation, a limited liability partnership must register with Companies House. You can find detailed instructions on how to set up a partnership on their website. HMRC registration is also required for the LLP.

Limited liability partnerships are taxed in the same manner as commercial partnerships. However, similar to limited liability corporations, limited partnerships are subject to additional paperwork and yearly filing requirements with corporations House.

Related Guides:

• A Small Business Guide To Making Tax Digital
• How To Set Up A Limited Company
• How To Start An Online Business
• How To Set Buiness Aims and Objectives
• What Is a Virtual Mailing Address?

Is there anything we can't do with the company name?

Yes. Depending on the sort of partnership, there may be further limits on the name that may be used. If you’re forming a limited liability company or limited partnership, you can’t use the abbreviations “LLP” or “PLC” in the name.

Names cannot include certain words due to legal constraints. Unless there is an actual connection to the government or a relevant authority, the name must not imply such. The name can’t be similar to or include an existing trademark unless one of the partners already owns the brand. To aid, companies have provided incorporation and name advice in the form of “guides to incorporation” and “guidance on registration”.

Why do we need a registered mailing address?

Companies House will send official correspondence to the partnership’s registered address. A physical location in the same nation as where you formed your firm is all that’s required. You or your business partner’s home address is okay, but keep in mind that once registered with Companies House, it will be exposed to the public.

Who can form a business partnership?

Anyone over the age of 18 who is eligible to work in the United Kingdom may become a partner. One of the partners can also be a corporation.

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Big Whiskey's closes after 16 years in Downtown Little Rock, new prospects ahead

by Ashley Luningham

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Another business in the Downtown Little Rock River Market strip is closing its doors after 16 years of business.

Big Whiskey's American Bar and Grill announced the news on Facebook saying they were sad to leave but excited to see what new changes would be coming alluding there might be something new moving in soon.

Abigail Nugent who works at Flying Saucer, another staple along the riverfront, said they are interested to see what is next.

"Kind of sad to see them go, I feel like they are a staple just like we are to Downtown Little Rock but definitely excited to see what comes in and what business it generates for the downtown area for sure,” said Nugent.

The Downtown Little Rock Partnership has been working to revamp the riverfront with the first draft of the Downtown Little Rock master plan released to the public a few weeks ago.

Executive Director Gabe Holstrom said while Big Whiskey's gave many years to the city, this will open up for more.

"If you tell them you are going to be able to be in business for 16 years, they are going to take that," said Holstrom. "They had a great run and they have provided many years of service but these are great spaces that will provide a new opportunity for a new operator to come in and we have no doubt that will happen.”

He said they are continuing to move forward with bringing vitality back to the strip.

"With the master plan, talking about reorienting a lot of these buildings to focus on the river and making it more of the focus of the city and downtown, this will provide nothing but opportunity for the city moving forward," said Holstrom.

Nugent said they are on board with plans to bring life to the river market.

"After COVID, we have seen a decline in people but it has really started to pick back up a little bit," said Nugent. "So with them revamping everything and giving us more stuff to do in general is exciting and I hope that it will be very prosperous for our business as well.”

Big Whiskey's will be open until the end of this month and it is unknown at this time who will take over that space after the restaurant is closed.

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What's the best state for you », uk's sunak confirms anti-smoking plan will not become law before election.

UK's Sunak Confirms Anti-Smoking Plan Will Not Become Law Before Election

FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attends a Conservative party rally, after he called for a general election, in London, Britain, May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to ban smoking for younger generations will not become law after he called a snap election leaving no time to push through one of his flagship policies.

"The smoking ban, of course, disappointed not to be able to get that through at the end of the session given the time available," Sunak told reporters on Friday.

Sunak had wanted to bring in some of the world's strictest anti-smoking rules by banning anyone aged 15 and under from ever buying cigarettes, but the bill to make that happen was left off the parliamentary agenda, leading to speculation it would be shelved.

He called an election for July 4 on Wednesday, giving the government just days to complete outstanding legislative business in a so-called "wash-up" period.

In his speech calling for the election, Sunak had boasted that his government had ensured the next generation would be "smoke-free".

But that claim - seen as a key part of his intended legacy - will be undermined without the anti-smoking bill becoming law, even if the next government reintroduces the legislation.

The bill had passed its first parliamentary hurdle in April despite dozens of lawmakers in Sunak's Conservative party voting against it.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by William James)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

Photos You Should See - May 2024

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