Small General Practice Firms
Working with Small General Practice Firms
Small general practice law firms usually have a number of practice areas such as residential real estate, litigation, divorce, business and estate planning.
The ratio of partners to associates varies from firm to firm; some firms do not have any associates.
The summary below describes some of the advantages, disadvantages and other variables when working with a small general practice law firm.
Competitive Advantages
- Attorney you hire does most of the work
- Good for simple matters and more routine legal work, such as residential real estate, wills, divorce and certain litigation
- Often use non-lawyers for support and administration
- Typically lower rates/fees
- Usually convenient location
- Limited firm bureaucracy
- •Opportunity to develop personal relationships with clients
Cometitive Disadvantages
- Limited depth of experience in any one practice area
- Partner can become overextended due to high number of clients/cases
- Limited name recognition outside of local area
- Often a solo attorney with limited back up resources
- Too often compete on price alone
- High volume is needed to achieve firm financial objectives
Variables
- Staffing level and experience
- Covers multiple practice areas
- Often a local practice
- Tends to be more reactive than proactive to client needs
- Much of work done by non-lawyers
- Quality of work product
- Effective use of technology resources
- Accessibility to primary attorney may be limited or difficult
- Overhead cost structure
- Administrative organization
- Turnaround time & responsiveness