Law Firm Management & Structure

Law firm managers should be frequently thinking about the future. Where will their firm be in 1-5-10 years?  Whether a firm is considering a lateral hire, a new practice area, a merger, or a partner is considering retiring, every strategic decision should rest on a financial foundation. Succession plan reports provide a foundation. They answer […]

KPI Reporting can be one of the best underutilized tools for a firm. But is your data accurate?  A report that gives law firm leadership false confidence can be more dangerous than having no KPI report at all, because many important firm decisions are made based on it. So, KPIs are only as good as […]

When a partner or senior associate leaves, the cost to the firm is rarely calculated — but it should be. Between lost billable hours during the search, recruiting fees, onboarding time, and the client relationships that walk out the door, replacing a mid-level attorney can cost anywhere from half to twice their annual salary. The […]

Are you always in a cash crunch when payroll comes around? Are your partner’s drawings inconsistent? Accounts Receivable (AR) aging with a large concentration of receivables in the 60–90+ day buckets indicates a warning sign of possible upcoming cash flow pressure. Firms that review AR aging monthly can forecast short-term cash needs with far more […]

In law firms where partner compensation is tied to performance, KPI reports create an objective foundation for compensation discussions. They replace opinion-based debates with data-driven ones. High-performing attorneys who can see clearly how their contributions are valued are less likely to leave. A well-structured attorney performance report goes beyond simply tracking billable hours. The metrics […]

A law firm can be billing at full capacity and still wonder why it isn’t profitable. High revenue means little if client write-offs are excessive, individual attorneys are not billing at capacity, collection efforts aren’t being met, or overhead is increasing.  Without a structured KPI report, these inefficiencies often go unnoticed until it becomes a […]

Law firms are experts at managing complexity for their clients. But when it comes to managing their own firm finances, many still rely on just the basics—a combination of the bank balance, total invoices, and the tax return summary—to gauge how their firm is doing. Those are pieces of a larger puzzle: a financial KPI […]

Remote work for lawyers is commonplace these days. With the blessing of ABA Opinion 495 (Dec. 2020) and state ethics rules, it’s now routine for attorneys to practice virtually in jurisdictions where they’re licensed, without being physically located in them. In New York, however, remote practice is still governed by Judiciary Law § 470. Under […]

Effective September 1, 2025, the State Bar of California implemented a new online registration and renewal process for all law corporations and partnerships, and has stated that it will not accept paper submissions going forward.  The State Bar now will require all law firms first to register for Agency Billing, their online portal for managing […]

Limited liability is a smart choice for any law firm. It shields owners’ personal assets from the firm’s contractual debts and other liabilities and from liability for malpractice by other partners or owners in the firm. The forms of limited-liability entities available for law firms differ from state to state. In New York, a law […]