“Virtual Law Partners” – Is This Firm Indicative of a New Trend?

I recently heard about a firm called Virtual Law Partners (VLP).  Check out: virtuallawpartners.com, which is a virtual law firm consisting of experienced attorneys (most former big firm refugees).

According to the website, “We work primarily with in-house legal departments of large and mid-sized companies to provide general corporate, licensing, contract, IP protection, securities regulation, financing, real estate, employment, merger and acquisition and other legal services.”

All of the attorneys are “partners”, and work from home.  Some of the touted benefits include better cost control/lower billing rates, more experience attorneys (all of the work is performed by the partners, not associates, and work typically assigned to junior associates is given to highly trained “legal specialists”).  Of interest, they highlight that they don’t have an “up or out” promotional system, which enables attorneys to stay with the company (and clients) for a longer time.

For the attorneys, some of the stated benefits include a better work/life balance, better technology for virtual collaboration, and the ability to keep a much higher percentage of collections (they state that over 85% of their revenue goes to compensation, versus the 33% usually given at large firms).

I think this is a very interesting company and we will see a rise in this type of business model given the number of very capable attorneys who are simply unable to remain in the large firm model.

My first reaction is that litigation is not within the practice areas at VLP, so litigators may be out of luck for these types of virtual practices, which makes sense given the face-to-face, collaborative, and document-intensive nature of litigation.  The focus seems to be transaction- and counseling-based.  My second reaction is that the website touts better compensation in terms of keeping a higher percentage of billings, but does not mention anything about salary.  As such, it appears that if you don’t have your own clients, this type of model could prove challenging.  For most associates, probably not a very workable business model to join.

Overall, this seems like a very cool and promising business model … for the right type of entrepreneur.

Keeping it in perspective

I ran into an acquaintance the other day in an elevator.  Now this is a person I don’t know very well, but who I would say “Hi” to, occasionally while passing by.  That day, we chatted about random things like the weather and other “small talk” topics of conversation.  I asked her how her dogs were doing, as I knew she was a dog owner.  She told me that they were doing well and were enjoying their new house.

Now I thought this was a happy move, but I soon learned that it wasn’t.  Within a span of 7 minutes, I had learned that 1) this person had been forced to leave her home and rent a house in a faraway city, 2) this person’s significant other had deserted her, 22 months ago, and 3) that her salary had been reduced by 60%.  I was blown away by the number of unfortunate events that she experienced in such a short span of time.  Before I could empathize with her, she simply stated that she felt lucky despite everything- because she still had a job.

I was really impressed by this person’s strength and positive thinking.  With so many things that had gone wrong in the past year or two, she was still resilient, moving forward, and looking for the silver linings.  I think it is important for all of us to keep things in perspective during this economic recession.  One can easily become consumed with dread and fear by simply reading the news.  In times of crisis, it becomes really important to remember to be grateful for the many things you are blessed with.  Having a positive attitude and focus will help you get through many tough times, whether it be stress from work or even unemployment.  As hard as it is to hear and believe sometimes, every obstacle we face is an opportunity for growth or an improvement in the quality of our lives.  So when life gets rough, try to keep things in perspective and move forward- one step at a time.