BigLaw + Law School = Collaborative, Nonprofit Law Firm

The Georgetown University Law Center, pictured, has partnered with Arent Fox and DLA Piper to form a nonprofit law firm accessible to lower income clients in an effort to make the law more accessible to those in need of legal assistance. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

 

I am intrigued by the collaboration of my law school alma mater, Georgetown University Law Center, and two for-profit law firms that, together, have launched a “low bono” nonprofit law firm intended for clients whose incomes are between 200 and 400 percent above the poverty line. Part of an industry-wide awareness that the law needs to become more accessible to many people who cannot afford legal fees at standard rates, but who typically don’t qualify for free representation through legal aid organizations, the initiative pairs Georgetown with two BigLaw firms, Arent Fox and DLA Piper. It will be staffed by LL.M fellows at Georgetown with BigLaw lawyers training and supervising on a pro bono basis. Even more interesting is that leadership of the newly formed organization, the D.C. Affordable Law Firm, is looking to include nonlawyers as well in some way. It’s an exciting path given the realization that not only does the law need to be more accessible, but law does not operate in a silo; it overlaps with business, social needs, and so on—so why not make different types of professionals more accessible, too?

This sort of law school/law firm collaboration could become a trend. After the Georgetown/Arent Fox/DLA Piper initiative was announced, a number of New York law firms, the City University of New York School of Law, and the New York City Bar Association disclosed another “low bono” collaboration called Court Square that will also feature legal fellows working for clients of modest income under the mentorship of lawyers. These fellows will also be learning how to run a small law practice.

Exciting times in the legal industry, indeed.

—Lori Tripoli

Interested in how the legal industry is evolving? You might like these posts:

• The Takeaway from the Dewey Mistrial
•  Mistakes that Small Law Firms Make
•  How to Thrive in the Diminishing World of the Legal Business
•  How to Survive a Depression, a Recession, and a Free-Fall Plummet
•  Lawyers, Make the Most of Market Unrest

 

Useful Resource: Client Data Security Audit Checklist

Can client data ever be sufficiently secure? Can we assure clients their data is sufficiently secure? Here is a helpful checklist if you’re considering a client data security audit of your own.

—Lori Tripoli

Looking for other useful resources on law office management? Consider these posts:

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• No Need to Re-Create that Wheel

 

 

 

 

Are You Embarrassed by Your Firm’s Inversions?

As much as I might find corporate inversions (in which companies reincorporate in countries with preferable tax laws) unfortunate, I don’t have any problem with any law firm assisting companies looking to do this. If the practice is legal and a client seeks it, why shouldn’t a lawyer assist?  Some lawyers, apparently, prefer not to. See, e.g., Susan Beck, Top Tax Lawyers Mum on Inversion Debate, Law.com, Aug. 12, 2014. If lawyers or others find corporate inversions so deplorable, then they can try to have the law changed. 

There’s a lot that major law firms might be embarrassed about (starting with that whole gender inequity thing), but doing corporate inversions isn’t one of them.

—Lori Tripoli

Law Firms: From Small to Nuts

Score one for the little guy: Clients and mainstream media are noticing that mega firms might not just be the cure-all for the legal industry. E.g., Basha Rubin, Big Law, Big Problems: The Bright Future For Small Firms, Forbes.com (July 7, 2014 12:59 pm). Sure, there’s money, prestige, and comfort associated with hiring one: we can afford this, we mean business, I’m toast if we went with the smaller firm and it lost.  But there’s also a benefit to a client for choosing a smaller firm: probably lower fees, possibly more attentive service, fewer headache-inducing conflicts-of-interest issues.

There’s also benefit to the lawyer or support staff who opts for the small firm. Yes, there may well be less money, less prestige, and possibly less glamorous workspace.  But there may well be greater opportunity, more responsibility early on, exciting challenges on a daily basis, and a real sense of contribution to something being built. Is big firm v. small firm really such a tough decision?

—Lori Tripoli

You might also be interested in:

How to Thrive in the Diminishing World of the Legal Business

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