Senior Attorney Match Podcast

Episode 8 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 8 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 2 segments. In Segment 1, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 3 questions: (1) What are examples of important items to update before selling a law practice? (2) How long does it take to sell a law practice? and (3) What is a “Random Tuesday?” in the context of valuing a law firm?

In Segment 2, “Poock’s Post” addresses: The Importance to Senior Attorneys of the Vanishing Rainmaker

 

Poock’s Post Segment of Episode 7 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show” Why More Growing Law Firms Should Pursue Growth by Acquisition

Episode 7 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 3, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., presents the following “Poock’s Post:” Why More Growing Law Firms Should Pursue Growth by Acquisition.

 

As Poock states: “[O]ur overall message here is that as Growing Law Firms are considering how they can continue to grow their firms, they really should be considering more and more that the Books of Business that Senior Attorneys provide - presents an amazing, under-utilized opportunity to grow your firm, to grow by acquisition.”

 

“When it comes to the business development opportunities that Senior Attorney-led firms present,” Poock states, “we like to say that they offer windmills of energy. They really power business development for Growing Law Firms because that Client List and Referral Source List. . . powers and generates new clients. . . [A]lso, the Goodwill of Senior Attorneys and other attorneys at their firm; the Subject Matter Knowledge; and that Digital Value really presents a very powerful way for Growing Law Firms to continue growing, that is, growth by acquisition.”

Guest Appearance Segment of Episode 7 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 6 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 2, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., welcomes David L. Cohen, Esq. of David L. Cohen, P.C. to discuss David’s thoughts and insights from the perspective of a potential purchaser of a Senior Attorney’s practice.

 

A particular opportunity that Poock and Cohen discuss relates to a “player-manager” analogy, namely, the value that a solo attorney acquirer presents to a Senior Attorney-led firm, where solo attorneys present the following dual value:

 

1. The lawyer skillset to succeed to representing a Senior Attorney’s clients;

 

2. Small business owner experience to succeed to operating and growing a Senior Attorney-led firm.

Q&A Segment of Episode 7 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 7 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 1., host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 4 questions: (1) When a lawyer sells a practice to another firm, who is entitled to the uncollected receivables for previously billed work? (2) How do the parties in law firm sales typically deal with ongoing ethical obligations such as client file retention, original records, and roles like trustee appointments? (3) How should a lawyer handle malpractice risk in succession planning? and (4) How do you envision the market for law firm sales in the mid-2020s?

Episode 7 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 7 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 1, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 4 questions: (1) When a lawyer sells a practice to another firm, who is entitled to the uncollected receivables for previously billed work? (2) How do the parties in law firm sales typically deal with ongoing ethical obligations such as client file retention, original records, and roles like trustee appointments? (3) How should a lawyer handle malpractice risk in succession planning? and (4) How do you envision the market for law firm sales in the mid-2020s?

 

In Segment 2, Poock welcomes David L. Cohen, Esq. of David L. Cohen, P.C. to discuss: (1) What excites you about succeeding to a Senior Attorney’s practice? and (2) How do you foresee growth by acquisition by a solo attorney?

 

And, in Segment 3, “Poock’s Post” addresses: Why More Growing Law Firms Should Pursue Growth by Acquisition.

Poock’s Post Segment of Episode 3 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 6 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 3, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., presents the following “Poock’s Post:” The Risk to Law Firm Value in the 2020’s When Senior Attorneys Do Not Adopt Digital Marketing – And, 2 Solutions

As Poock explains: “Today's Senior Attorneys, that is, attorneys that have practiced more than 30 years - they developed their Books of Business by and large, pre-Google, and they did it what we call the “hard way.”

That “hard way” consisted of:

1. In-Person Networking (ex. handing out thousands of business cards at networking events)
2. Non-Digital Thought Leadership (egs. writing articles & speaking at CLE’s)
3. Event Sponsorship (ex. placing ads in event ad books)
4. Pre-Y2K Advertising (egs. Yellow Pages; newspaper ads; radio; TV)

Poock also points out the following:

“What we're consistently seeing is that Senior Attorneys that maintain their Status Quo, that is, attorneys who are aged today between 55 and 75 and maintain their Status Quo in terms of how they market for new business, or really how they are not marketing for new business by not adopting Multi-Channel Digital Marketing - their revenues are going down.”

Poock offers the following 2 solutions for Senior Attorneys to consider to address those revenues going down:

1. Join a Growing Law Firm: As Poock explains, Senior Attorneys have what growing law firms want and need, namely: (1) Instant client growth; (2) Lawyer and non-lawyer staff; (3) Cumulative expertise in multiple practice areas; and (3) Untapped digital content for Growing Law Firms to develop and distribute among a Senior Attorney’s Book of Business and clients of a Growing Law Firm; or
2. Do It Yourself (DIY): Per this solution, Senior Attorneys can adopt the following 5-pronged approach to market for new clients in today’s 3.0 Digital Era for the legal industry: (1) Invest in Google (egs. pay-per-click and SEO); (2) Increase a Senior Attorney’s social media presence (egs. LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, X, Instagram, and more); (3) Optimize a Senior Attorney’s website, together with increasing Google reviews; (4) Establishing an audio and video presence (egs. podcasts, YouTube videos, and even TikTok posts); and (5) Old School networking (egs. attend in-person networking & place in-print ads).

“[T]he reality of Senior Attorneys shifting towards adopting Multi-Channel Digital Marketing - in our experience is pretty low,” Poock states.

Poock further explains that the lower revenues that Senior Attorney-led firms experience short-term as a result of not adopting Multi-Channel Digital Marketing in the mid-2020s will have following unintended future consequence: Lower values when Senior Attorneys later sell their firms due to their Books of Business having less clients and referral sources than yester-year.

As Poock states, “So, as Senior Attorneys are thinking about how the value of their firms is going to go in the 2020s, if you maintain that Status Quo, your revenues short-term could go down, and the value of your practice could go down. For those Senior Attorneys that join Growing Law Firms, their revenues, while they continue to practice, are going to go up. That is our experience, and you're going to get higher value on that all important Book of Business that is the key component to the sale of your law practice.”

Guest Appearance Segment of Episode 6 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 6 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 2, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., welcomes Attorney Christine Morgan who joined a growing law firm in 2020.

During their conversation, Morgan and Poock discuss:

1. Attorney Morgan’s methodical approach to succession planning for her practice.
2. The importance of joining a law firm with a “Deep Bench” that will continue representing Attorney Morgan’s clients after she retires.
3. Attorney Morgan’s experience with “Trust Transfer,” including how she has transferred the trust of her longtime clients to a particular attorney at the growing law firm that she joined in 2020.
4. How Attorney Morgan’s work-life Balance has changed since joining a Growing Law Firm
5. Attorney Morgan’s advice for Senior Attorneys considering selling a law practice

Q&A Segment of Episode 6 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 6 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 1., host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 4 questions: (1) From a buyer’s perspective, should I purchase a firm to deepen our Subject Matter Knowledge in a particular practice area? (2) What is the importance of Firm Culture in law firm sales? (3) How do you value a Contingency Fee Practice? and (4) If I join a Growing Law Firm, won’t I suddenly have a boss? Hell, no!

State of the Market for Law Firm Sales in 7 Minutes: The Top 4 Trends for Law Firm Sales in 2024 – Part 1 of 2

In this Part 1 of the Top 4 Trends for Law Firm Sales in 2024, Senior Attorney Match’s Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. shares the following trends for Law Firm Sales in 2024, plus a prediction for the Personal Injury Law industry:

 

Trend #1: Law Firm Sales 1.0 will continue in 2024

As Poock explains, we foresee the continuation of Law Firm Sales 1.0 in 2024.

“The key feature of Law Firm Sales 1.0 is that the payment terms are based upon earnout terms, as compared to significant consideration paid at a closing table because the buyers are typically more prepared to pay earnout terms [based upon the] personal goodwill nature of the Book of Business that Senior Attorneys are selling,” Poock states.

Poock also points out the following 2 warnings for Senior Attorneys who will pursue Law Firm Sales 1.0 type sales in the mid-2020s:

Warning #1: Would-be Internal Successors do not want to purchase the small business law firms that their Senior Attorney bosses have developed for the following 4 reasons: (i) Today’s Senior Attorneys hired their now would-be Internal Successors as key employees, and they want to remain employees; (ii) They went to law school and not business school; (iii) They cannot afford to purchase a small business law firm; and (iv) They assume that their Senior Attorney bosses will never retire.

Warning #2: In today’s 3.0 Digital Era for the Legal Industry, those Senior Attorneys who do not keep pace with digital marketing to attract new clients will not replenish their Books of Business as much as they did in yester-year, which means that their practices will not offer as much value to Growing Law Firm buyers later in the 2020s.

 

Trend #2: Law Firms Sales 2.0 Will Gain Momentum in 2024

As Poock explains, “A huge differentiator between Law Firm Sales 1.0 and Law Firm Sales 2.0 is the introduction of fixed pricing. That is, we're not just selling in Law Firm Sales 2.0 the Goodwill of a Senior Attorney’s practice. What is also for sale is the Digital Value and the Brand Awareness that law firms continue to develop.”

As Poock also points out, “[W]hen law firms have the data analytics to support . . . Brand Equity, they are going to be receiving fixed prices at closings that not only will buyers be prepared to pay, but banks will be lending on. And, we're going to see this more and more throughout the mid-2020s.”

 

Poock concludes this episode with the following prediction for the Personal Injury Law industry for 2024 and throughout the mid-2020s:

 

“If you are a Personal Injury law firm and if you have developed significant Digital Value and Brand Awareness, our prediction is that we are going to see significant 8-figure and maybe even 9-figure sales, let alone, 7-figure sales on Personal Injury law firms because buyers are going to be very interested in that Brand Equity that that these types of firms continue to develop, and banks will lend on them as well, as well as the introduction, interestingly, in the mid-2020s of the growth - the introduction and growth of Alternative Business Structures.”

Episode 6 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 6 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 1, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 4 questions: (1) From a buyer’s perspective, should I purchase a firm to deepen our Subject Matter Knowledge in a particular practice area? (2) What is the importance of Firm Culture in law firm sales? (3) How do you value a Contingency Fee Practice? and (4) If I join a Growing Law Firm, won’t I suddenly have a boss? Hell, no!

In Segment 2, Poock welcomes Attorney Christine Morgan to discuss her experience after joining a growing law firm in 2020.

And, in Segment 3., “Poock’s Post” addresses: The Risk to Law Firm Value in the 2020’s When Senior Attorneys Do Not Adopt Digital Marketing – And, 2 Solutions