Senior Attorney Match Podcast

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

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?