Senior Attorney Match Podcast

Poock’s Post from Ep. 21 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show: Digital disruption will continue eroding the Books of Business of Senior Attorney-led law firms in the Mid-2020s

During the Poock’s Post segment of Ep. 21 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. addresses the following question:

Digital disruption will continue eroding the Books of Business of Senior Attorney-led law firms in the Mid-2020s

 

As Poock explains, 2020 introduced the “digital pivot” to the legal industry, where consumers, i.e., would be clients pivoted in 2020 to searching for lawyers and law firms online, primarily by searching Google.

 

By the Mid-2020s, Growing Law Firms have adjusted and adopted Multi-Channel Digital Marketing to attract the attention of clients who seek to know, like, and trust lawyers and law firms before contacting them.

 

As Poock points out, Uncle Google has become America’s greatest referral source for lawyers and law firms, replacing the pre-Google Word-of-Mouth Era and by-passing yester-year’s Rainmakers.

 

Regarding the impact of digital marketing disruption upon the value of the Books of Business of Senior Attorney-led firms, Poock states, “If you are not generating clients digitally via Multi-Channel Digital Marketing, what we are seeing is that [the] Books of Business of Senior Attorney-led law firms [are] not replenishing as much as it did in yesteryear. So really senior attorneys in particular.”

 

Poock also addresses the following to Senior Attorney law firm owners:

 

“We really want to get the message across that you are on notice that if you are not replenishing your Book of Business as much as you did in yester-year, your law firm is just going to be worth less and less as this decade continues.”

 

In addition, Poock shares the following good news with Senior Attorneys in the mid-2020s:

 

Even if today’s Senior Attorneys do not replenish their Books of Business similar to yester-year due to not adopting Multi-Channel Digital Marketing, they continue to offer the following value to Growing Law Firm buyers:

 

(1) A Book of Business filled with clients that Senior Attorneys worked during an entire career to develop.

 

(2) An experienced workforce, including senior associates and junior partners who prefer to continue as key employee lawyers rather than purchase their boss’ law practice, as well as well trained and experienced paralegals and legal assistants; and

 

(3) The ability to convert decades worth of subject matter knowledge into digital content to post to Multi-Channel Digital Marketing platforms, which today’s Growing Law Firms need to attract the attention of today’s and tomorrow’s would-be clients who search Google and social media when researching lawyers and law firms to retain for the legal needs.

 

As Poock states, “[N]ow, in the mid-2020s, is the best time for Senior Attorney-led firms that are not committed to Multi-Channel Digital Marketing to consider selling your law firms . . . [w]hile you still have these three resources that Growing Law Firms want and need . . . .”

Q.1 from Ep. 21 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show: What do Sellers share with Senior Attorney Match months or years after selling their law firms?

During Ep. 21 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. addresses the following question:

 

“What do Sellers share with Senior Attorney Match months or years after selling their law firms?”

 

In response, Poock first explains that when Senior Attorneys sell their law firms to Growing Law Firms, they often continue practicing for a number of months, and sometimes even years.

 

In addition to the financial benefits that Senior Attorneys experience by selling their law firms, Poock shares the following benefits that Senior Attorney Match clients enjoy when they continue practicing at the Growing Law Firms that they join prior to partially and then fully retiring:

 

(1) The freedom of no longer managing “the office,” including not having to make payroll every two weeks and not needing to pay a rent check every month, and instead.

 

(2) Benefiting by having access to a “deeper bench” of attorneys who can capably represent their clients.

 

(3) The ability and flexibility to spend more time outside of the office, including taking multi-week and sometimes, multi-month vacations.

 

While practicing at the Growing Law Firms that they join, Senior Attorneys also benefit greatly by utilizing the following MVP-level skills and achievements that they have developed during the course of their careers:

 

(1) Subject Matter Knowledge;

 

(2) Good Will among their community and sometimes regionally, nationally, and even, internationally; and

 

(3) Client development skills.

 

And, as a bonus MVP-level opportunity, digital savvy Growing Law Firms present opportunities for Senior Attorneys to convert their Subject Matter knowledge in multiple practice areas to Digital Content, including Digital Content for (a) E-newsletters; (b) Podcasts; (c) YouTube videos; and (d) Posts to LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and more.

Why the Mid-2020s Present the Right Time for Senior Attorneys to Sell Their Law Firms

In Ep. 56, Senior Attorney Match’s Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. explains why the mid-2020s present the right time for Senior Attorneys to sell their law firms.

 

As Poock states, “[F]or Senior Attorneys that are considering selling their law firms, we need to recognize that post-2020 clients are searching online for lawyers to hire. As a result, if you're not investing in Multi-Channel Digital Marketing with a significant investment in Google for clients to find you when they're searching Google . . . you're just not going to generate as many clients as you did in yester-year. . . And, as your Book of Business does not replenish as much as yester-year, your Book of Business is going to become less valuable to a Growing Law Firm if you're not presenting as many clients as you could when your Book of Business is as filled with clients and referral sources as it is now in the mid-2020s, as compared to later in this decade and into the 2030s.”

 

Poock also distinguishes between today’s digital marketing disruption to business development in the legal industry to the following 3 digital disruptions outside of law: (1) Uber to taxis; (2) Netflix to Blockbuster; and (3) Amazon to Sears.

 

Unlike Uber that did not need taxi cars or taxi medallions, Netflix that made VHS cassettes and DVDs obsolete, and Amazon, which proved that consumers can conveniently shop for everything and anything online rather than visiting a big box store, today’s Growing Law Firms still need the following from Senior Attorney-led firms:

 

(a) Their well-established Books of Business because Growing Law Firms always need new clients;

 

(b) Their experienced workforce (lawyers, paralegals, and legal assistants) to do the sophisticated work that law firms produce on behalf of their clients; and

 

(c) The treasure chests of digital content that attorneys at Senior Attorney-led firms offer by converting their decades of subject matter knowledge into posts for Multi-Channel Digital Marketing to attract the online attention of today’s would-be clients who search Google and social media for lawyers and law firms to retain, as compared to the pre-Google Word of Mouth Era.

 

Poock also explains that today’s 3.0 Digital Era for the legal industry coincides with the Age of the Vanishing Rainmaker.

 

“We want to make it very clear to Senior Attorneys, in particular, who may not be adopting Multi-Channel Digital Marketing, that you are on notice that the Age of the Vanishing Rainmaker has begun, and that the writing is on the wall that you are not going to develop as many new clients as you did in yester-year.”

Q.2 from Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show: What are the Top 3 Reasons Why Senior Attorneys Question Selling to a Growing Law Firm?

During Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. addresses the following question:

“What are the top 3 reasons why Senior Attorneys question selling to a Growing Law Firm?”

Reason #1: Maybe now is not the right time for change

As Poock explains, the mid-2020s presents the best time for Senior Attorneys to consider change by selling their law practices because of Google’s ongoing disruption to business development in the legal industry.

As Poock states, “[F]or those lawyers and law firms that continue to rely on word of mouth, our concern concern for those firms is [that] you're going to generate less clients [and] have a less valuable book of business over time.”

If Senior Attorneys, in particular, do not invest in Google and Multi-Channel Digital Marketing, their law firm’s most valuable asset, namely, their Book of Business will not replenish similar to the pre-Google Word of Mouth era, which will result in realizing less value for Senior Attorney-led firms.

As Poock states, now “is the right time to consider selling your law firm by joining a Growing Law Firm that wants and needs what you have, which is your Book of Business.  And, you want to sell that Book of Business . . . when your Book of Business is as filled as possible with clients and referral sources.”

Reason #2: Concern about having a Boss by joining a Growing Law Firm

When considering selling their law firm by joining a Growing Law Firm, Senior Attorneys often raise the following concern: “[I]f I join a growing law firm and practice there for X number of years, then I'm just going to have a boss again. And, at this point in my career, when I'm in my late 50s, 60s, or into my 70s, I don't want to have a boss.

As Poock states, “I can reassure you, in our experience . . . when our clients sell their firms to Growing Law Firms . . . [t]hey do not have a boss.”

Poock explains the following reason why: Unlike the 20-something version of themselves whose former bosses assigned work to them, today’s Senior Attorney sellers make their own schedules and do not have bosses because Senior Attorney sellers deliver a Book of Business to Growing Law Firms.  As a result, Senior Attorney sellers, who join Growing Law Firms as Of Counsel attorneys, non-equity partners, and sometimes, partners, travel often, delegate, and choose clients with whom they want to work.

“Simply stated, when you join a Growing Law Firm as part of selling your practice, you do not have a boss,” Poock states.

Reason #3: Maybe, this year, the Firm’s would-be an Internal Successor(s) will offer to purchase the Firm from its Senior Attorney Owner(s)

As Poock explains, most would-be Internal Successors are really key employee lawyers who do not want to purchase their boss’ law firm and cannot afford to either.

As Poock shares, “[W]hat we see often in the marketplace is those same key employees who you hired . . . [t]hey still want only a reliable, predictable, and safe job. . . They're not going to walk down the hallway and offer to purchase your practice.”

Instead, as Poock explains, they enhance the value of a Senior Attorney-led firm because Growing Law Firms want and need a Senior Attorney’s Book of Business, plus the firm’s talented, experienced workforce.

Q.1 from Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show: I am considering retiring within the next 12 months by closing my office. Could I sell my law practice instead?

During Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. addresses the following question:

“I am considering retiring within the next 12 months by closing my office. Could I sell my law practice instead?”

When considering selling a law firm, as compared to retiring, Poock points out that Growing Law Firms, in particular, want and need the following 3 resources that Senior Attorney-led firms offer:

(a) Clients & referral sources (a Book of Business);

(b) An experienced workforce, often including attorneys, plus paralegals and legal assistants; and

(c) Digital content, which involves converting the Subject Matter Knowledge that Senior Attorneys and additional lawyers at their law firms have developed in multiple practice areas into digital content for posting via Multi-Channel Digital Marketing (egs. posts to LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and more, plus content for e-newsletters).

Poock also explains the following consideration that Growing Law Firms pay to Senior Attorney sellers in Law Firm Sales 1.0:

Earnout payments, consisting of a percentage of revenues derived from a Senior Attorney-led firm’s defined Book of Business, payable over a negotiated number of years.

And, based upon the dependency of revenues from the Book of Business of a Senior Attorney-led firm, Poock explains Trust Transfer as the “flux capacitor” of Law Firm Sales 1.0, where Senior Attorneys transfer the trust of their clients to lawyers at a purchasing law firm per the following 3 ways:

(a) In-person;

(b) Via Zoom, or another video platform; and

(c) Social Media

As Poock states, “Trust transfer absolutely works.”

Abridged Episode 3 Law Firm Sale Trends in 2025 - From the Poock’s Post Segment of Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show

During Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. shares the following Poock’s Post:

3 Law Firm Sale Trends in 2025

The 3 law firm sale trends in 2025 are as follows:

Trend No 1. for Law Firm Sales in 2025: Growing Law Firms will continue purchasing Senior Attorney-led Firms because they offer the following 3 resources that Growing Law Firms Need: (a) Clients; (b) An experienced workforce; and (c) Digital content.

Trend No. 2 for Law Firm Sales in 2025: Law firms that invest in Multi-Channel Digital Marketing will experience the following short and long-term benefits: (a) Continued business development expansion by attracting the attention of today’s post-2020 clients who search for lawyers and law firms online; and (b) Increased Brand Equity value as the ROI from investing in Multi-Channel Digital Marketing.

Trend No. 3 for Law Firm Sales in 2025: Law Firm Sales 2.0 has arrived! The consideration in Law Firm Sales 2.0 consists of the following 2 payments: (a) The same earnout payment terms as Law Firm Sales 1.0; plus (b) An upfront payment, attributable to a selling law firm’s Brand Equity and Digital Value, as evidenced by data analytics upon which a purchasing firm, as well as a bank, may rely when determining the upfront payment component of Law Firm Sales 2.0.

3 Law Firm Sale Trends in 2025 - From the Poock’s Post Segment of Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show

During Ep. 20 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. shares the following Poock’s Post:

3 Law Firm Sale Trends in 2025

The 3 law firm sale trends in 2025 are as follows:

Trend No 1. for Law Firm Sales in 2025: Growing Law Firms will continue purchasing Senior Attorney-led Firms because Growing Law Firms need the following 3 resources that Senior Attorney-led firms have: (a) Access to new clients from Books of Business developed over the course of decades; (b) An experienced workforce, consisting of lawyers, paralegals, and legal assistants; and (c) Treasure chests of digital content available from subject matter knowledge gained in multiple practice areas.

Trend No. 2 for Law Firm Sales in 2025: Law firms that invest in Multi-Channel Digital Marketing will experience the following two-fold benefits: (a) Continued business development expansion, and its accompanying increase in annual revenues, by attracting the attention of today’s post-2020 clients who search for lawyers and law firms digitally, as compared to the pre-Google Word of Mouth Era; and (b) A transition in law firm value from the good will attributable to particular Rainmaker attorneys to Brand Equity value as the ROI from investing in Multi-Channel Digital Marketing.

Trend No. 3 for Law Firm Sales in 2025: Law Firm Sales 2.0 has arrived! The distinction between Law Firm Sales 1.0 and 2.0 is as follows:

The consideration in Law Firm Sales 1.0 depends entirely upon earnout payments in which selling law firms receive a percentage of revenues attributable to collections from the defined Book of Business of a selling law firm, payable over a negotiated period of time. Stated differently, Law Firm Sales 1.0 involves 100% seller financing due to the risk that a selling law firm’s Book of Business will not generate similar client revenues for a purchasing law firm, post-sale.

By contrast, the consideration in Law Firm Sales 2.0 consists of the following 2 payments: (a) The same earnout payment terms as Law Firm Sales 1.0; plus (b) An upfront payment, attributable to a selling law firm’s Brand Equity and Digital Value, as evidenced by data analytics upon which a purchasing firm, as well as a bank, may rely when determining the upfront payment component of Law Firm Sales 2.0.

Lessons Learned in 2024 for Law Firm Sales - From the Poock’s Post Segment of Ep. 19 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show

During Ep. 19 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. shares the following Poock’s Post:

Lessons Learned in 2024 for Law Firm Sales

The 4 lessons learned that Poock shares include:

(1) Growing Law Firms continue recognizing the value of growth by acquisition because Senior Attorney-led firms offer: (a) Instant client growth; (b) Experienced lawyers and support staff; and (c) Treasure chests of subject matter knowledge to convert to Digital Content to gain the attention of would-be clients who search for lawyers and law firms online today, as compared to yester-year’s Word-of-Mouth era.

(2) Trust Transfer works to transfer the trust of Senior Attorneys to lawyers at Growing Law Firms that they join via the following 3 methods: (a) In-person; (b) Via Zoom; and (c) Via social media.

(3) Key employee lawyers at Senior Attorney-led firms do not want to purchase their boss’ law firms and can’t afford to either.

(4) The writing is on the wall that those Senior Attorney-led firms that do not adopt multi-channel digital marketing for business development will not replenish their all-important Books of Business similar to yester-year, thereby leading to less value for their law firms.

Mini Podcast from the Ep. 9 of the Ask Show: Why are today’s Senior Attorneys tired of running their law firms?

During Ep. 9 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. addresses the following question:

Why are today’s Senior Attorneys tired of running their law firms?

As Poock explains, Senior Attorneys feel tired of running their law firms for the following 3 reasons:

(1) Post-Covid, Senior Attorney owners of law firms have not enjoyed returning the “status quo ante” of managing their law firms, including making payroll twice per month, paying rent every month, and essentially, continue as the “buck stops hear” leader of their practices as they continue contemplating retirement and thinking about succession planning options for their practices.

(2) As time goes by, Senior Attorney owners of law firms realize that their key employee lawyers likely do not want to purchase their law firms, which adds stress and fatigue to their professional and personal lives.

Even though Senior Attorneys wish and hope that their key employee lawyers will someday walk down the hall one day to offer to purchase the practice, in reality, most key employee lawyers do not want to purchase their boss’ small business law firm and instead, want a reliable, safe, and predictable job.

(3) Post-2020 the world has changed, including how business development for lawyers works during today’s 3.0 Digital Era for the legal industry.  Unlike yester-year’s Word-of-Mouth era that led to Senior Attorney rainmakers developing and regularly replenishing their Books of Business based upon personal relationships, today’s (and tomorrow’s) clients by-pass rainmaker attorneys by searching online via Google and social media outlets when considering lawyers and law firms to retain.

As Poock states, “Google is also becoming America's greatest rainmaker for developing business for attorneys and law firms, and for those Senior Attorneys that are not investing in that multi-channel digital marketing, it's becoming even harder to develop business. And, hence why Senior Attorneys are tired.”

Poock also addresses how today’s Senior Attorneys can transform from:

Tired à Inspired à Retired

Episode 9 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 9 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 2 segments. In Segment 1, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 2 questions:

(1) Why are today’s Senior Attorneys tired of running their law firms? and

(2) What Will the Market for Selling Personal Injury Law Firms Look Like by 2030?

In Segment 2, Poock presents the following “Poock’s Post:”

“The writing is on the wall about Digital Marketing impacting the value of Senior Attorney-led law firms”

As Poock states during Segment 2, “In the post-2020, 3.0 digital world . . . [w]e are saying that Uncle Google is America's greatest referral source for lawyers. Uncle Google is also becoming America's greatest Rainmaker for developing business for attorneys and law firms.  And, for those Senior Attorneys that are not investing in that Multi-Channel Digital Marketing, it's becoming even harder to develop business.”