Senior Attorney Match Podcast

Guest Appearance Segment of Episode 5 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 5 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 2, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., welcomes Attorney Paul Tetzel of Boston based Tetzel Law, which acquired a Senior Attorney lead Personal Injury Law firm in early 2020.

During their conversation, Tetzel and Poock discuss:

1. How welcoming 2 Senior Attorney PI attorneys to Tetzel Law has benefited the practice

 

2. Tetzel’s advice for Senior Attorney PI attorneys considering selling their law practices?

 

3. Tetzel’s answer to the following question: “Would You Purchase Another Law Firm?”

State of the Market for Law Firm Sales in 7 Minutes: The Top 3 Lessons Learned in 2023

In the Top 3 Lessons learned in 2023, Senior Attorney Match’s Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. shares “The Top 3 Lessons Learned in 2023:”

Lesson #1: Internal Successors Want a Job & Not a Business: The #1 lesson learned in law firm sales in 2023 is: Internal Successors do not want to purchase their boss’ law firm.  Instead, Growing Law Firms want and need Senior Attorneys and their lawyer and non-lawyer staffs, together with the client list, cumulative expertise, and marketing value that Senior Attorneys present.

Lesson #2: Trust Transfer Works: Trust Transfer fulfills the dual functions of: (1) Transferring the trust of Senior Attorneys’ longtime clients to lawyers at the Growing Law Firms that Senior Attorneys join; and (2) Ensuring compensation to Senior Attorneys, which typically derives from fee sharing upon revenues attributable to a Senior Attorney’s Book of Business.  

Lesson #3: The Books of Businesses for Senior Attorneys Do Not Replenish as Much as Yester-Year: For those Senior Attorneys who do not adopt Multi-Channel Digital Marketing to generate new clients in the 2020s, their all-important Books of Business will not replenish as much as during yester-year’s Pre-Google Word-of-Mouth Era.

Q&A Segment of Episode 5 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 5 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) If I plan to sell my law practice within the next 1-2 years, what do you recommend? (2) What are typical financial terms in law firm sales? (3) Should I consider selling to a growing law firm that wants to add my practice area to its practice? and (4) I am worried that if I ask my Internal Successor to purchase my practice, she will look for another job. What do you recommend that I do?

Episode 5 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 5 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) If I plan to sell my law practice within the next 1-2 years, what do you recommend? (2) What are typical financial terms in law firm sales? (3) Should I consider selling to a growing law firm that wants to add my practice area to its practice? and (4) I am worried that if I ask my Internal Successor to purchase my practice, she will look for another job. What do you recommend that I do?

In Segment 2, Poock welcomes Attorney Paul Tetzel of Tetzel Law, which acquired a Senior Attorney lead Personal Injury Law firm in early 2020.

And, in Segment 3., “Poock’s Post” addresses why Books of Business are not evergreen.

Poock’s Post Segment of Episode 5 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 5 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:” Your Book of Business is Not Evergreen.

As Poock explains, the Book of Business is the most important asset that Senior Attorneys and Senior Attorney led firms have when they're selling their law practices.

The Books of Business for today's Senior Attorneys are absolutely not evergreen for the following reason: If Senior Attorneys do not generate clients via Digital Marketing in today’s Post-2020 3.0 Digital Era for the legal industry, they will not replenish their Books of Business similar to yester-year’s Pre-Google 1.0 Word-of-Mouth Era.

And, if a Senior Attorney’s Book of Business has less clients than yester-year, the practice does not offer as much value to a purchaser.

As Poock states, “[T]he overall point for today's Poock’s Post . . . is that if you're starting to see that you are not generating as many clients as you did pre-[2020], or even as you did in the pre-Google world . . . because your firm is based upon Word-of-Mouth, we highly recommend that now is the right time to consider selling because your practice is worth more now than it very well could be tomorrow, next month, next year.”

Poock’s Post Segment of Episode 4 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 4 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 2 segments. In Segment 2, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., presents the following “Poock’s Post:” Why Growing Law Firms Need to Invest Money & Time Post-Sale.

As Poock explains, Growing Law Firms need to invest time and money post-sale because the benefits of a “Listening Tour,” followed by adapting and adopting, leads to Senior Attorneys and lawyers at a Growing Law Firm (1) Working together; and (2) Benefiting from the “Trust Transfer” of long-time clients and referral sources of a Senior Attorney to attorneys at the Growing Law Firm.

As Poock also points out, if Growing Law Firms do not invest that time and money, “both sides will not realize the tremendous opportunity that growth by acquisition presents to Growing Law Firms.”

Q&A Segment of Episode 4 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 4 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 2 segments. In Segment 1., host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 6 questions: (1) How long does it to sell a law firm? (2) What Are the Payment Terms in Law Firm Sales? (3) What Are the Expectations of a Seller Post-Sale? (4) What Are Examples of Post-Sale Headaches That a Buyer and Seller Should Know in Advance? (5) What is the ROI on a Law Firm's Value by Introducing a Trade Name? and (6) If I was going to buy a law firm, I would want to know: Is their client list up to date?

Episode 4 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 4 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 2 segments. In Segment 1, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 6 questions: (1) How long does it to sell a law firm? (2) What Are the Payment Terms in Law Firm Sales? (3) What Are the Expectations of a Seller Post-Sale? (4) What Are Examples of Post-Sale Headaches That a Buyer and Seller Should Know in Advance? (5) What is the ROI on a Law Firm's Value by Introducing a Trade Name? and (6) If I was going to buy a law firm, I would want to know: Is their client list up to date?

In Segment 2, “Poock’s Post” addresses the following: Why Growing Law Firms Need to Invest Money & Time Post-Sale

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

Episode 3 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:” When is the Right Time to Sell a Law Practice? Poock points out the following indicators for when attorneys should know that now is the right time to sell: (1) Upon realizing that a would-be Internal Successor is really not ever going to purchase your law firm; (2) Recognizing that Growth by Acquisition has arrived to the legal industry; (3) Personal reasons such as wanting to spend more time outside of the office post-Covid; (4) You’re not generating as much business as yester-year; and (5) Disinterest to renew a multi-year office lease. Poock also describes the importance of Synergy Value when selling a law practice to a Growing Law Firm.  

Guest Appearance Segment of Episode 3 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 3 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 2, host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., welcomes Attorney Steve Horenstein of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt to discuss his experience after joining Schwabe in May 2022. During their conversation, Steve explains why he chose to merge Horenstein Law Group (HLG) with a regional law firm; the Synergy Value that HLG presented to Schwabe; and insights about transitioning HLG into Schwabe.