Is the High Street firm an endangered species? We don’t think so, but many individual law firms face a real risk of extinction.
“There are some [law firms] ……….. with an element of thinking the old world is going to return, and they are likely to become more vulnerable.” Professor Stephen Mayson
Is your law firm at risk?
If you think your firm is vulnerable to the tsunami that continues to batter the legal profession every day, but your individual client base is strong and robust enough to provide you with a decent income, you need a law firm whose finances are secure and whose strategy is clear – a law firm which can provide you with all security and support you need to continue earning a decent living from the law.
Consultancy with us – 7 good reasons to consider it
1. you continue to earn your own income under a fee sharing arrangement – without the risk of partnership failure
2. you don’t have to subsidise fellow partners who work shorter hours, are less efficient, are running out of cases or whose work is simply less profitable than yours
3. you create your own job description – part-time or full-time, based in the office, or at home – or a combination of both
4. you don’t need to spend any time on management issues
5. you won’t have to cope with the overwhelming hassle and risk involved in setting up your own firm – or the increasing levels of over-regulation that sole practitioners struggle with
6. we know how to make consultancy work – alongside our conventionally employed solicitors, we currently have five very different types of fee earning consultants working with us, with a sixth lined up to join shortly
7. we won’t take you on just make a quick buck. We have already turned dozens and dozens of potential consultants away. If we think we can’t provide what you really need, we simply won’t go ahead
Our position
Here at Bonallack and Bishop, we refuse to take part in the gloom rapidly settling on the legal profession. We believe that despite the very real threats growing in the marketplace for most law firms, there is the possibility for great lawyers and great firms to thrive. But only if they’re flexible, if they know how and when to change – and if they provide great client service.
Building a job around you
We would shape the job around your particular needs and requirements, but we anticipate that it could involve part time or flexible working and regular working from home. Or you might prefer to be based full time in one of our three offices in Salisbury, Amesbury or Andover. It’s up to you.
Our culture, not to mention our phone and IT system, by the way, make regular working from home easy. Most of our salaried lawyers spend at least one day working from home – and are happier and more productive as a result.
Geography -it doesn’t matter
There is no particular geographic limitation – we have taken on 6 such consultants already, a number of whom are based nowhere near our 3 offices in Wiltshire and Hampshire [e.g. one of our new consultant solicitors lives and works in Cornwall!].
Generating your own work
We have successfully generated work for a number of our consultants – but currently we don’t have any excess work available [except possibly in the personal injury field], so we are particularly keen on recruiting lawyers who have an existing following, or who are able to generate their own work.
Your area of work
Provided you’re able to bring work with you, or continue to generate it, where happy to look at any hour of law – though we particularly like niche areas of practice that are easier to market.
No standard deal
Because will be building the role around you, there is no standard deal we are offering. However, any financial package will depend on, amongst others, on the following factors;
o Employment status – do you have any other source of income and will you therefore be genuinely self-employed? If not, despite being described as a consultant, we will still have to pay National Insurance for you
o Support – how much support you need? Just accounts and the barest of admin backup – or more?
o Practising certificate and training – are you proposing to pay for your own, or will that be down to us?
o Marketing – are you able to produce all your own work – or do you need our help in sourcing clients?
Who this role might suit?
Everybody’s circumstances vary – but this job might suit, for example;
o a partner, with a strong personal client base, who has worries about the ability of their current law firm to survive, and who wants to find a safe and secure home for themselves and their clients
o a partner who is looking to gradually wind down their career with as much flexibility as possible
Important
If you’re interested in talking to us, remember that this is a purely fee sharing role – so please make sure you have thought about how you will fund yourself in the period from when you start to when your fees will realistically start rolling in.
Looking for a highly flexible job? Contact us now for a chat
If you are interested in having a job built to your specifications with a dynamic law firm, we would love to hear from you.
Email Tim Bishop, Senior Partner, at tim.bishop@bishopslaw.com or call 01722 422300 today.
