O'Rielly & Roche LLP | Daniel O’Rielly

Daniel O’Rielly

Managing Partner

With more than 25 years of experience in law firms—including large, medium, and small firms, and running his own law firm for more than 15 years—Mr. O’Rielly counsels and advises California law firms on critical issues at every stage of law firm life. He provides insight, analysis, and judgment to California law firms seeking to solve their most important challenges:

O'Rielly & Roche LLP | Daniel O’Rielly

Law firm General Counsel

Serves as an outside General Counsel to California law firms, advising on attorney ethics, compliance, and practice management. Identifies and implements best practices for risk management, including identifying and resolving potential ethics compliance and practice management issues.

O'Rielly & Roche LLP | Daniel O’Rielly

Law firm formation, structure, and policies

Counsels and advises California law firms on strategic business issues, including developing and drafting partnership agreements and other firm organizing documents; developing and documenting compensation systems, attorney promotion systems, and retirement systems; developing and executing law firm start-up planning and growth planning.

O'Rielly & Roche LLP | Daniel O’Rielly

Law firm transitions, partner departures, and dissolutions

Counsels and advises California law firms in partner or group departures, acquiring lateral partners or groups, and managing law firm mergers. Counsels and advises law firms on dissolution, winding up, and partnership terminations.

 

Mr. O’Rielly began his legal career in Chicago, working at large and small firms in commercial and complex litigation. He later moved to California, continuing to focus on complex litigation as a trial attorney at mid-sized and small law firms.

In 2007, he founded this law firm with raw optimism and one client. He built the firm into an industry-leading practice in California that is now exclusively focused on helping law firms to navigate their most vexing problems, to structure and grow their practices in the right ways, to plan for and properly manage transitions, and to minimize and avoid risks.

Mr. O’Rielly calls on his diverse legal background in his work for California law firms every day. He knows litigation firms, because he has been a litigator and a trial attorney. He knows transactional practices, because his practice now is focused on law firm advice and planning. He knows the challenges of law firm founders, because he is one. He knows the challenges of running and growing a law firm, because he does it every day.

Mr. O’Rielly’s practice focus and experience also give him a valuable perspective on the many complex issues facing law firms, because he sees law firm best practices—and worst practices—on a daily basis.

 

We bring a unique combination of experience to the task of solving our clients’ problems—we have worked in many law firms, we focus our practice on law firms, and we run our own law firm—so our advice and counsel to California law firms is based on a practical perspective of the daily practice of law and law firm management.”

Education

Cornell University J.D., 1998

Colgate University B.A in Economics, 1995

Memberships

State Bar of California, Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC)
– Vice-Chair (2024-2025)
– Member (2022-2026)

American Bar Association

Los Angeles County Bar Association
–Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (2020-2022)

Beverly Hills Bar Association

ABA Center for Professional Responsibility

ABA Law Practice Division
–Ethics and Professionalism Committee
–Lawyer Leadership and Management Committee

Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers

California Lawyers Association, Business Law Section

State Bar of California

Illinois State Bar

Oregon State Bar

Recent Presentations
August 27, 2024

“Partnership Agreements & Compensation as they Relate to Firm Culture and Succession Planning”, presentation to the Managing Partners’ Roundtable

May 6, 2022

The Changing Culture of Law Firm Practice and Managing Law Firm Departures, PilotLegis Risk Prevention Group, Mid-Year Member Program, 2022.

January 27, 2022

Silo Sanity: Legal Professional Responsibilities Relating to Competence, presentation to the Bar Association of San Francisco

November 19, 2019

Exit Stage Right: Terminating a Client Representation, presentation to the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association

April 12, 2019

Sex, Lies, and Diligence: Legal Ethics in a New Era, presentation to the California Lawyers Association, Labor and Employment Section

March 26, 2019

Legal Ethics in the Era of Law Firm Mergers and Vereins: Navigating Fee-Splitting, Referral, Conflicts, and Other Ethical Issues, CLE Webinar presentation

May 9, 2017

The Importance of Attorney Succession Planning, presentation to the Professional Advisors Roundtable, The Community Foundation of Mendocino County

May 9, 2017

Client Confidences and the Attorney-Client Privilege, presentation to the Professional Advisors Roundtable, The Community Foundation of Mendocino County

Recent Publications
May 15, 2024

“Every Lawyer Should Access Legal Ethics Guidance for Generative AI”, California Attorney Ethics Counsel

April 4, 2024

“Does Your Law Firm Have New Reporting Requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act?”, California Attorney Ethics Counsel

May 3, 2023

“Do Law Firms Fear AI for the Right Reasons?” Los Angeles Daily Journal

January 4, 2023

“Get Your Law Firm’s Succession Planning Out of Your Lizard Brain,” Los Angeles Daily Journal

March 29, 2022

Legal Ethics and Your Law Firm Partnership Agreement, California Attorney Ethics Counsel

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Bar Admissions

California; Oregon; Illinois

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circut

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California

U.S District Court for the Northern District of Illinois