Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Trial

Breaking up is hard to do: for lawyers with dreams of leaving their law firms to start a new practice, careful planning and attention to pertinent law and ethics rules can help smooth the process.

Article Excerpt
Veronica is one of many partners at a mid-sized firm in a large city. She and her partners have been working at the firm for most of their professional lives and together have built a successful practice. The firm is recognized as one of the best in the area for its specialties and has a broad, constantly renewing client base.

The only problem is that Veronica is no longer happy at the firm. She has found herself increasingly frustrated by the prolonged process of reaching consensus on partnership management decisions. She disagrees with some of the firm's decisions but consents for the sake of expedience. A gap has grown between the firm's philosophies and practice orientation and her own. She is discouraged by the firm's compensation scheme. Host important, Veronica has felt a strong desire to be independent, establish her own client base, be in control, and stand on her own. She senses that a smaller practice will provide her a level of professional fulfillment the firm cannot.

Thoughts about leaving, however, cause Veronica major anxiety. No matter how amicable she intends her departure to be, it will undoubtedly ruffle many feathers. Further, taking care of practical necessities like office space and equipment, banking, and support staff will require a tremendous amount of work, all of which Veronica will have to do discreetly before she announces her departure.

Veronica knows the viability of her future endeavor will depend on her keeping most of her current clients, but she wants to be sure not to violate any legal or ethical obligations in soliciting their continued allegiance. (1) She and her partners will have to negotiate the terms of her departure in an atmosphere of high tension and hurt feelings. Can she exit gracefully?

While leaving a firm is hard, it does not have to be ugly. Acrimonious breakups in law firms can cause deep anger, lasting animosity, and years of entanglement in litigation that saps the parties' time, energy, and resources. Conflict can be avoided through careful planning and attention to the law and ethics of leaving a law firm. (2) What Veronica wants to do has been done many times before, and while the law is far from settled on the subject of withdrawal from a firm, certain principles have emerged to guide the prudent lawyer through the process.

Lay the groundwork

Veronica must take certain preparatory measures before letting anyone at the firm know of her intentions. Even if she trusts her partners not to undermine her plans to leave, she must exercise discretion. When the partners learn that she intends to leave, they might dismiss her before she has had a chance to plan for her departure. Worse, the firm might try to undermine her relationship with clients. By preparing fully before announcing her plans, Veronica minimizes her partners' ability to adversely affect her.

It is important for her to keep in mind through these initial stages that although she is not keeping her partners apprised of her intentions, she is not violating any legal or ethical obligations merely by preparing to leave. She may feel guilty about taking a long lunch break to look at office space and telling a partner she had lunch with a friend. However, she should remember that she must pick the right moment to announce a split and that there is nothing wrong with taking measures to create that moment. In fact, it is the responsible thing to do. (3)

Veronica must first heed a piece of advice she herself would give anyone contemplating an action with serious legal implications beyond her ken: Consult a lawyer before starting the process. Various areas of law bear on a partner's departure from a firm. (4) Partnership law determines lawyers' obligations to each other as business associates. Tort law defines lawyers' expectations regarding contractual relationships with present or prospective clients. Legal-ethics rules determine lawyers' obligations to clients. And different areas of law might prescribe contradictory courses of action with regard to a single issue? For example, while Veronica is ethically permitted to solicit clients she...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!